262 Pa. 510 | Pa. | 1919
Opinion by
The action was brought by Jacob Sebastian as father and next friend of Peter Sebastian, a minor, as well in his own right. Peter Sebastian who sustained the personal injuries complained of was at the time of the accident about seventeen years of age, and was employed at a colliery owned and operated by the defendant company. His employment was that of a driver, his duty being to take empty cars or wagons from the turnout within the mine to the face of the gangway and return the cars when reloaded to the turnout. He had been so employed some two or three months, during which time, on five or six occasions, he had been required to haul into the mine wagons or cars loaded with such timber as is used in mines. It was on one such occasion, when unloading the timber, that he received the injury. The timber while on the wagon is secured in place by a door or gate at the end; when it is to be unloaded this door or gate, attached by hinges to the upper part of the wagon is lifted so as to admit of the timber being drawn from the wagon piece by piece by means of a mule hitched by chain thereto. To keep the gate in its elevated position while this is being done, so as not to interfere with the unloading, an iron bar is used to protect those working thereabouts from injury by accidental falling of the gate if insecurely fastened. On this occasion when plaintiff was injured no bar was used, but in its stead a wet wedge was used to hold the gate in place, and while plaintiff was attempting to attach to a timber for the purpose of pulling it out, the gate of the wagon fell down and struck him in the back, inflicting serious injury.
The negligence charged was failure to furnish the employee with the customary bar or other sufficient appliance to support the end gate when raised. That the