150 Mass. 125 | Mass. | 1889
The several plaintiffs, who were underground laborers in the defendant’s mine, were undertaking to descend into the mine through a perpendicular shaft by means of a bucket, as they had been in the habit of doing. The bucket was supported by a wire rope or cable, which wound around a drum, and it was usually controlled in its descent by means of a shoe-brake which pressed upon the rim of the drum. This shoe-brake was operated by the defendant’s assistant engineer, by means of a lever. On the occasion of the accident, the plaintiffs had all entered the bucket, and, upon word being given, the assistant engineer started to let down the bucket, and after it had descended a few feet he found the brake was not holding, and the bucket fell rapidly for about one hundred and twenty-five feet, when it was suddenly stopped by landing-planks across the shaft, and the plaintiffs were hurt. At the trial, much evidence was introduced by the plaintiffs and by the defendant, at the conclusion of all of which the defendant requested the court to instruct the jury to return verdicts in its favor ; but the court declined to do so, and submitted the cases to the jury, who returned verdicts for the several plaintiffs. There
One ground upon which the defendant has relied in the argument before us has been, that, upon the facts disclosed, the plaintiffs must be held to have assumed the risk of the safety of the machinery. There are many cases in which plaintiffs have for this reason been held to be debarred from recovering damages for injuries. But in the present case we do not find undisputed facts sufficient to make such a course proper. The risk of the safety of machinery is not assumed by an employee, unless he knows the danger, or unless it is so obvious that he will be presumed to know it. He takes the risk of known or obvious dangers, and not of others. Scanlon v. Boston Albany Railroad, 147 Mass. 484, 487. Ferren v. Old Colony Railroad, 143 Mass. 197. Linch v. Sagamore Manuf. Co. 143 Mass. 206. Ford v. Fitchburg Railroad, 110 Mass. 240, 259. It was no part of the plaintiffs’ duty to operate the machinery for lowering the bucket. . Their work was under ground. We cannot say that the risk was so obvious that they must be held to have assumed it. The defendant even now strongly resists the inference that the machinery was in fact dangerous or unsuitable for use, and argues that the evidence conclusively shows the contrary. The plaintiffs might well rely somewhat upon the expectation that the defendant would provide proper machinery for lowering them to their work, and they were not called upon to be over strict in an examination into its safety. We cannot say that, as matter of law, the plaintiffs must be held to have taken the risk, and that for this reason they are debarred from a recovery.
We have next to consider whether there was sufficient evidence to warrant a finding by the jury that the defendant did not exercise reasonable care in providing a safe machine. The court instructed the jury, in terms to which no exception was taken, that the defendant was not bound to procure and maintain machinery which should be absolutely safe, or to furnish the best appliances which were known or conceivable; that the
The plaintiffs also introduced evidence tending to show that the clutch gear, which was used in hoisting ore from the mine,
The defendant greatly relies upon the fact, that no person had ever before been injured in descending the shaft by means of this bucket, although it had been much used for that purpose, and urges us to adopt and apply to the present case a rule stated by the Court of Appeals of New York in the following terms: “ When an appliance or machine not obviously dangerous has been in daily use for a long time, and has uniformly proved adequate, safe and convenient, its use may be continued without the imputation of imprudence or carelessness.” Stringham v. Hilton, 111 N. Y. 188, citing Lafflin v. Buffalo & Southwestern Railroad, 106 N. Y. 136, and Burke v. Witherbee, 98 N. Y. 562. But it is hardly practicable to express by a single formula a rule which shall be applicable to all cases. The rule above stated may have needed no qualification as applicable to the case then before that court. The court had already declared that “ there is no ground for an apprehension even that the machine or its appliances had been impaired by use, or that, for any reason, it was less safe or efficient than at first”; and again, “If
Objections were made at the trial to the introduction of certain matters of evidence, which need to be considered. The
The plaintiffs were also permitted to prove instances of slips, brought home to the knowledge of the defendant’s superintendr ent, that had previously occurred in hoisting ores in the bucket in shaft No. 1. The defendant’s objection to this evidence rests chiefly on the ground that, in hoisting ores, the clutch gear was used, while in lowering the bucket its descent was regulated by the shoe-brake. It is not stated in the bill of exceptions that an exception was taken at the trial to the admission of this evidence; but both parties have argued the question of its competency, and we think it was competent. If the clutch gear for any reason failed to hold, the brake might be used to check the descent of the bucket; in like manner, according to the contention of the plaintiffs, the clutch gear might or ought to be available for the same purpose if the brake should fail to hold. There was evidence tending to show that, at the time of the accident to the plaintiffs, an attempt was made to check the descent of the bucket by means of the clutch gear, but that it was not successful. The plaintiffs contended that the machinery as a whole, with the shoe-brake and the clutch gear, was insufficient properly to control the descent of the bucket, and was therefore unsafe and defective; and that the defendant did not exercise reasonable care in continuing its use. We think the evidence objected to was competent. The defendant contended
The plaintiffs contended that the holding quality of the leather of the brake had become impaired from the effect of steam, which came up out of the shaft in large quantities, and frequently came into the room where the machinery was; that it came from pipes and from a pump used at the bottom of the shaft; and, as a part of the evidence tending to establish this, they were allowed to introduce evidence of the machinery down the mine, namely, the pump at the bottom of the shaft, operated by steam from the engine-building belonging to shaft No. 1, and its use, and the escape of steam from it into the engine-building. This was all with reference to the plaintiffs’ contention that the efficiency of the leather upon the shoe-brake had become impaired by the effect of the steam upon it; and was clearly competent. Whether the efficiency of, the brake could or naturally would be thus impaired, whether there was steam enough to produce this effect, and whether in point of fact this effect had been thus produced, were all matters of fact. The circumstance that there had been no steam for seven hours before the accident did not render the evidence incompetent. There was evidence that there was water from condensed steam upon the brake-band when the bucket started to descend. But, besides, the plaintiffs’ contention went further, and they insisted that the quality of the leather had become impaired from the effect of the steam which was habitually or often upon it.
Exceptions overruled.