42 Ind. App. 433 | Ind. Ct. App. | 1908
Appellee, by his next friend, sued appellant for damages for injuries received by him while in the employ -of appellant. The complaint is in three paragraphs. The first avers, in substance, that appellee is an infant; that appellant is a corporation engaged in the business of manufacturing barrels; that in its factory it uses a planer to plane staves; that said planer consists of a plate made of metal, about five feet long, and one foot wide, and as used in said factory extended north and south; about one foot from the south end of said plate there is a hole therein; that below said hole is a shaft running at right angles with said plate, and into this shaft are set -knives which extend about four inches from said shaft and a slight distance above the upper plane of said plate; that said shaft and knives axe revolved at a high rate of speed, by a belt attached to an engine; that beneath said plate, and partly surrounding said knives, is a tin or sheet-iron pipe or boot, which is attached to the lower side of said plate, and runs from there to the floor, and then along the floor to a wall, a distance of about two hundred feet; that a fan is placed at the end of said pipe which causes a suction, intended to draw through said pipe the dust and shavings caused by said knives while planing said staves; that immediately below said plate, and in front of said knives, there is an open place, about eight inches long and eight inches wide, on the south side of said pipe extending down from said plate; that said planer is operated by a man’s placing the rough staves in at the north end, and the machine then rolls the staves along said plate over said knives, and they are drawn out by a boy
The second paragraph contains' substantially the same averments as the first, with the additional averment that on the day of the injury, when said pipe would dam and clog up, it did not draw off said dust and shavings regularly;
The third paragraph avers that appellee is a minor of the age of fifteen years, and inexperienced in the use of said planer; that appellant, with knowledge of his ignorance and inexperience, employed him to act as off-bearer to said planer; that appellee was instructed by appellant to jar said pipe and boot -with a stave when the same became clogged; that he was inexperienced and ignorant of any danger in jarring'said pipe, and appellant knew of his ignorance and inexperience; that appellant negligently failed to instruct appellee properly in relation to said work, or to caution him of the dangers incident thereto; that, in the course of his employment, appellee’s hand was.drawn into said hole in said pipe and severed from the arm at the wrist; that said injury was caused by the negligence of appellant in failing to instruct appellee properly in relation to the dangers of said work in regard to said planer.
There was a trial by jury, verdict and judgment for appellee in the sum of $800. With the general verdict the jury returned answers to interrogatories. Appellant moved for judgment upon the answers to interrogatories, which motion was overruled and judgment rendered in favor of appellee. The only question presented in this appeal is upon the ruling of the court upon appellant’s motion for judgment in its favor. The interrogatories answered show the
The cause is therefore reversed, with instructions to grant a new trial and leave to amend the pleadings, if requested, and for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.