244 Pa. 325 | Pa. | 1914
Opinion by
The court below entered a nonsuit, which it subsequently refused to take off, and the plaintiff has appealed. The appellant states five questions involved; but the consideration of only two of them is necessary to the decision of this case, i. e., (1) “Was the negligence of the defendant legally established?” (2) “Was the plaintiff guilty of contributory negligence as a matter of law in performing the action resulting in the injury in an obviously dangerous manner when there was known to him a safe method of performance?”
Joseph Snyder, the plaintiff, was thirty-four years old at the time of the accident, and had had fifteen years experience in manufacturing establishments using ma
The foregoing summary of facts is as favorable to the plaintiff as the material evidence relative to the points before us warrants, and thereunder, it is apparent that both the questions involved must be determined against his right of recovery. The Act of May 2, 1905, P. L.
The principle of Solt v. Williamsport Radiator Co., 231 Pa. 585, controls, and the court below was right in holding that, under the facts in this case, when the plaintiff attempted to oil running machinery, he unnecessarily performed work in an obviously dangerous manner which could have been done in a perfectly safe way, by simply stopping the motion of the-machine while he was working upon it (Also see, Best v. Williams-port Staple Co., 218 Pa. 202). The case at bar is quite different from Ralston v. Baldwin Locomotive Works, 240 Pa. 14, cited by the appellant. In that case no guard had been provided, the injured man was an ordinary mechanic intent upon performing an act in the course of his work which seemed to require immediate attention, and at the time of the accident he stood in a place that was in common use and not manifestly dangerous; in the present case, however, a guard had been provided, and the plaintiff was a foreman with the duty to report its absence; moreover, although he had full power to stop the machinery, he did not do so, but, when there was no immediate necessity for oiling, he went into a place which at the time was dark and manifestly dangerous for the purpose, and undertook to lubricate running machinery, doing it in such a heedless manner that he could not tell how the accident happened. The Ralston case was a close one on the question of contributory negligence and must be confined to its own facts; neither it nor any other of the authorities cited by the appellant rules the present appeal. The chief counts of the declaration in the case at bar are that “no guards of any description were placed upon the cogs,” and “on the day of the accident the regular employee employed for oiling the machine was not at his regular place of employment”; but neither of these averments was sustained, and a review of the testimony convinces us there was no sufficient evidence to show negligence on the
The assignment of error is overruled and the judgment is affirmed.