70 A. 1082 | N.H. | 1908
It is not necessary to review the decision that putting the dynamite where the deceased could come in contact with it, after his presence on the premises was known, would be *74
active intervention within the rule as heretofore applied in this state. Hobbs v. Company,
There was no other direct evidence on this question, and the case rests upon the surrounding circumstances. It was the practice and the defendant's rule to leave the dynamite in a safe place. It was not seen by the men in camp, but its position was a little away from the path behind a tree. There was some contradiction in Lacombe's story of how he used his time the morning before the accident. From this it is argued that it is not likely that Lacombe left the dynamite there Saturday, in violation of his habit and of the rule, and to the danger of the men in camp, who would have seen it if it had been there over Sunday. It is further urged that Lacombe's unsatisfactory story of what he did Monday could be found to be a fabrication, and that he was in fact engaged in blasting. On the other hand, it is argued that violation of habit and rule was as likely to occur on Monday as on Saturday, that the dynamite was partly concealed, and that, as Lacombe did many kinds of work, it might as well be inferred that he did one thing as another in the time which he did not account for.
There is in this evidence no substantial preponderance in the plaintiff's favor. Habit and rule were as much violated by leaving the dynamite there on one day as on the other. The evidence that the men did not see it there is of no practical weight. The inference as to what Lacombe was doing Monday is too remote to be considered. It is quite similar to that in Cole v. Boardman,
The plaintiff was also permitted to go to the jury upon the theory that the defendant was liable to trespassers for unusual *75
and dangerous antecedent acts which the ordinarily prudent man would not have done in the prosecution of the same business. Authority for this proposition was evidently thought to be found in the opinion in this case. Hobbs v. Company,
The rule is elaborately stated by Judge Jeremiah Smith in 11 Harvard Law Review 349, et seq. "To adults entering without permission the landowner owes some legal duties. He is under a duty not to intentionally inflict harm upon a trespasser, save when he is exercising within legal limits the rights of defence and expulsion. He is also, by the better view, under a duty to avoid harming the trespasser by negligent acts which result in actively bringing force to bear upon the trespasser. In other words, he is under duty to use care not to harm the trespasser by bringing force to upon him. It is a mooted question whether this duty is confined to cases where the presence of the trespasser is known to the landowner. Some authorities hold that the owner may, in special circumstances, be under a duty to use care to ascertain whether trespassers are present before he sets in motion a force which would be likely to endanger any such persons if within reach. But the alleged duty, if admitted, is material only when it is sought to make the landowner liable for actively bringing force to bear upon the trespasser. On the other hand, the landowner is under no duty to have his land in safe condition for adult trespassers to enter upon. The law does not oblige him to keep his premises in repair for the benefit of a trespasser. The latter has ordinarily no remedy for harm happening to him from the nature of the property on which he intrudes; he takes the risk of the condition of the premises. It is not negligence in a landowner to use his land for his own convenience in a manner which may occasion danger to future trespassers thereon. It is no breach of duty to a trespasser, `that a man's premises were in a dangerous state of disorder, whatever the consequences to the former.' Nor is there any obligation to warn trespassers of dangers not readily apparent (assuming, of course, that the dangers were not prepared with intent to harm trespassers)." And after considering liability for active intervention, as contrasted with that for mere condition of premises, he says (p. 364): "The first case is that of a known, present, and immediate danger; one which is imminent and reasonably certain to result in harm, unless the owner then and there does, or omits to do, some act, the doing or omitting of which would avoid the danger. In the second case the danger may be said to exist chiefly in anticipation; it depends upon the course of *76 future events, upon circumstances as yet unknown and fortuitous. In the first case the duty imposed upon the landowner involves simply a temporary, generally only a momentary, interruption of his user; requires only temporary precautions; does not include a duty to put the premises in such condition as to prevent the recurrence of similar emergencies in the future, but merely requires the use of care in a present and known emergency. In the second case the duty sought to be established is to guard against future dangers; it must frequently involve permanent changes in the mode of user; sometimes necessitating such expense and trouble as would be practically prohibitive of certain modes of user, and in some cases compelling the abandonment of all profitable use."
His conclusion that in the second case supposed the landowner owes no duty to the trespasser is supported by all that has been decided and by practically all that has been said on the subject by the court of this state. The first case in which the question arose was that of a child trespasser, injured by the dangerous condition of the premises trespassed upon. It was decided that "for injuries received by strangers upon his premises through his want of care, he [the landowner] is liable only to those who may at the time be there by invitation, by license express or implied, or upon legitimate errand." Clark v. Manchester,
Three years later (1886) the same rule was applied to a child trespasser who was attracted to and injured upon an unlocked turntable. "A trespasser ordinarily assumes all risk of danger from the condition of the premises; and to recover for an injury happening to him he must show that it was wantonly inflicted, or that the owner or occupant, being present and acting, might have prevented the injury by the exercise of reasonable care after discovering the danger." Frost v. Railroad,
Shortly after these cases were decided others were presented which illustrate another phase of the situation. The Clark and Frost cases related to the condition of premises only. The next case dealt with active intervention, and the condition of premises was not involved. It was held to be the defendant's duty to use ordinary care to discover the presence of the deceased; and the fact as to whether he was a trespasser or a licensee was said to be immaterial except as evidence bearing on the amount of watchfulness that could reasonably be required. Felch v. Railroad,
Mitchell v. Railroad,
In 1897, the case of a trespasser injured by the continued operation of machinery in a mill was decided adversely to the plaintiff. Buch v. Company,
Up to this time the distinction between the two lines of cases seems to have been carefully observed. In 1898, they were contrasted one with the other, and the suggestion was made that the decisions in the Felch case and the Mitchell case, — that there was duty to anticipate (to some extent) the trespasser's presence, so as not to actively do him injury, — were contrary to the doctrine of the other cases. Shea v. Railroad,
In the following year (1899) recovery by a trespasser upon a claim as to condition of premises only was denied in two cases. *78
Leavitt v. Company,
Davis v. Railroad,
The rule of the Mitchell and Shea cases "does not mean that the defendants were bound to ascertain and take precautions in reference to the plaintiff's possible or chance presence in a dangerous situation upon their premises, but that they were required not to actively injure him if circumstances existed that warranted their anticipating his presence in such a situation as a probable occurrence." Myers v. Railroad,
The case of Carney v. Railway,
In Minot v. Railroad,
Brown v. Railroad,
In Hughes v. Railroad,
It will be seen that every case in this state has attempted to follow the principles enunciated by Judge Smith. If expressions susceptible of a different construction are to be found in some opinions, yet, taken as a whole, they form a consistent body of authorities. In the absence of intentional injury, the landowner (or possessor) is not liable to trespassers except in the case of active intervention. A mere condition of his premises, Previously created, cannot be made the basis for such a liability.
If the former opinion in this case is capable of a construction which is a departure from the established law of the state, it is manifest that no such application of the language used was intended. It limits the proposition to "dangers created at the time," to "creating upon the land a concealed danger." to performing "at the time an unnecessary affirmative act." The court was merely elaborating the principle which is "otherwise expressed when it is said that the landowner is not liable to a trespasser or bare licensee for the careless use of his land, in the absence of his active intervention. See 11 Harv. Law Rev. 349, 360-366" Hobbs v. Company,
It is not necessary to now consider whether the theory that contributory negligence, or other fault of the plaintiff, is a defence to actions sounding in negligence, while such contributing fault is not a defence when the injury was intentionally inflicted (Cunningham v. Company,
There was in the present case no evidence either of intentional injury or of active intervention, and the plaintiff cannot recover unless the deceased was rightfully upon the premises. Upon the former transfer of the case, it was held that there was no evidence from which an implied invitation could be found. The test to determine when an invitation may be implied is thus stated by Chief Justice Bigelow: "There are cases where houses or lands are so situated, or their mode of occupation and use is such, that the owner or occupant is not absolved from all care for the safety of those who come upon the premises, but where the law imposes on him an obligation or duty to provide for their security against accident and injury. . . . The general rule or principle applicable to this class of cases is, that an owner or occupant is bound to keep his premises in a safe and suitable condition for those who come upon and pass over them, using due care, if he has held any invitation, allurement, or inducement, either expressed or implied, by which they have been led to enter thereon. A mere naked license or permission to enter or pass over an estate will not create a duty or impose an obligation on the part of the owner or person in possession to provide against the danger of accident. The gist of the liability consists in the fact that the person injured did not act merely for his own convenience and pleasure and from motives to which no act or sign of the owner or occupant contributed, but that he entered the premises because he was led to believe that they were intended to be used by visitors or passengers, and that such use was not only acquiesced in by the owner or person in possession and control of the premises, but that it was in accordance with the intention and design with which the way or place was adapted and prepared or allowed to be so used. The true distinction is this: A mere passive acquiescence by an owner or occupier in a certain use of his land by others involves no liability; *81
but if he directly or by implication induces persons to enter on and pass over his premises, he thereby assumes an obligation that they are in a safe condition, suitable for such use." Sweeny v. Railroad, 10 Allen 368, 373, 374; Nolan v. Traction Co.,
"The proof necessary to sustain an action of this aspect must be found in the circumstances of the particular case. In such cases, if there be evidence tending to show inducement or invitation, it becomes a question of fact for the jury whether the conditions exist under which a legal duty is imposed upon the owner of the premises to exercise care for the plaintiff's safety." Phillips v. Library Co.,
When, as a matter of habit and as an incident to the way business is carried on, customers wait about a creamery for an hour, it is not inappropriate to say that they are there by the owner's invitation. True v. Creamery,
Applying these principles to the proof produced at the trial, it appears that there was substantial evidence of implied invitation. The defendant maintained several small communities in the township of Success, at one time provided a school at one of them, and allowed the dwellers there to freely visit from one household to another. Dances were held there, and a short time before the accident a considerable number of outsiders visited this camp. There was also testimony that visitors came to Camp No. 38 "once in a while."
A lumber camp is not a prison, a fort, or a pest-house. It is the home provided by the employer for his employees. Unless the evident is to be disregarded, it must be acknowledged that the social instinct of humanity has some existence even among the persons who inhabit lumber camps. The camp and its environs were not the defendant's in the exclusive sense that the mill was the property (or possession) of the Amory Company, the turntable that of the railroad, or the reservoir that of the city of Manchester. Having established such a place of human abode, it could be found that the defendant impliedly invited visitors to come there to such an extent as would be reasonable, considering the station in life of the parties interested. While it could not be found that the men had authority to invite a visitor because of their positions in charge of the work, or because the presence of such invitee would directly promote the defendant's business, it could be found that they had such authority from the fact that the defendant undertook to there maintain for them a place of abode.
If it should be found that the invitation to the boy was a reasonable exercise of the implied authority to have visitors at the *82
camp, it is evident that there would be ample ground for finding that the defendant was negligent as to such invitees. True v. Creamery,
The conduct of the deceased remains to be considered. It now appears to be as probable that the explosion was caused by his intentionally striking the dynamite as by his coming in contact with it accidentally. As the case is now presented, the defendant's motion for a nonsuit should have been granted unless the plaintiff might recover on either view of the facts. Wright v. Railroad,
It is said that the test to determine whether the boy's acts bar a recovery by his administrator is to ascertain whether the defendant could recover from him the value of the exploded dynamite. If this is a correct statement of the law, it is but saying in other words that the test is whether the boy was doing an illegal act. The things permitted were legal acts. Things not permitted were illegal. The crux of the matter is: what acts were reasonably included in the tacit permission given him to enjoy his visit on the premises?
As has been said, it is not a question of ownership. It is one of reasonably using things one has a right to use to some extent. That the decedent had some right upon the premises, could be found from the facts as to the nature of the place and the knowledge of the defendant's agents. The question, then, is not one between a rightful possessor and an unexpected intruder, but one concerning the relative rights of two parties, each in some degree able to justify his presence upon the premises.
It is not enough to sustain the present motion for a nonsuit to show that the defendant, in its suit to recover the value of the exploded dynamite, could go to the jury. The state of the evidence must be such that in the supposed case a verdict would be directed for the plaintiff company as matter of law. If in that case the defendant might go to the jury, so may the plaintiff in the case at bar. Applying this test to the conduct of the deceased, *83 the conclusion is irresistible that it might be found that his act was not wrongful. Like any self-reliant backwoods boy, he had gathered the available material to construct a sled. He had some old barrel staves and a hammer, and was searching for nails. While presumably busied about this avocation, he exploded the dynamite which had been negligently left exposed near the camp door. Whether he did this entirely by accident, or by putting his staves upon it when driving nails, or even by striking it intentionally, as he might strike any of the surrounding brushwood, it might reasonably be found that his act was. one included in his permission to be in contact with the defendant's possessions. It was an act that might reasonably have been foreseen, and that without any element of malice or even of mischief on the part of the boy.
If a nugget of gold, closely resembling the cobblestones near the camp, had been left lying among them, and it had been lost because the boy (not being able to distinguish it from other cobblestones) threw it at an inquisitive hedgehog, it would be a strange rule of law which would direct that a verdict be ordered for the plaintiff in the company's suit to recover the concealed value of the nugget. Taylor v. Jones,
The evidence warranted the submission to the jury of the question whether the boy's act was either a trespass, or negligent, or whether it was a reasonable and lawful enjoyment of a permission to be upon the premises and to act as a boy naturally would in reference to his surroundings.
Verdict set aside: exception to the denial of the motion for a nonsuit overruled.
All concurred. *84