175 Mass. 424 | Mass. | 1900
In our opinion the court was right in ordering the verdict. The only ground for contending that the defendant was negligent was its having in use the appliance by the bursting of which the plaintiff was hurt. But upon the evidence introduced by the plaintiff that appliance was one well known,and in
Besides this, the plaintiff upon his own evidence must be taken to have known that the glass tube of the oiler was liable to burst from the pressure upon it from within. His own testimony shows that he knew that the pressure of the steam in the boiler acted in the tube. He had been a locomotive fireman for six months and had run a stationary engine before that time, and the necessary inference is that he was familiar with the action of steam. His own statements as a witness, and the undisputed facts as to his knowledge of steam and of appliances similar to the one which burst, were such that he must be deemed to have known that the tube was liajble to burst. It was in plain sight and the danger was obvious, and was one of the usual and accepted risks of his employment. Lehman v. Van Nostrand, 165 Mass. 233. Bell v. New York, New Haven, & Hartford Railroad, 168 Mass. 443, and cases cited.
Exceptions ovemded.