Roberts v. Columbia R. & Nav. Co.

Decision Date22 March 1921
Docket Number10592.
Citation106 S.E. 505,115 S.C. 512
PartiesROBERTS v. COLUMBIA RY. & NAV. CO.
CourtSouth Carolina Supreme Court

Appeal from Common Pleas Circuit Court of Richland County; W. N Townsend, Judge.

Action by L. B. Roberts against the Columbia Railway & Navigation Company. From judgment for plaintiff, defendant appeals. Reversed.

J Fraser Lyon and T. H. Moffatt, both of Columbia, for appellant.

James H. Hammond, of Columbia, for respondent.

FRASER J.

"I live in Richland county. During the month of January, 1915, I was employed by the Columbia Railway & Navigation Company for the purpose of keeping the logs and rafts off the boat Ruth No. 2, which boat was owned by the said company. This was in the winter time, and the river was very high, and there was a snow storm. I was sent for one afternoon, and undertook the employment. One of the watchmen at the bank came for me. I went down to the bank, and Mr Shannon met me with a shall boat and took me to the large boat; he and Mr. Parr were keeping logs and drifts off the large boat, the Ruth No. 2. I then went out in the Ruth No 2, when they came to the bank and got me. They wanted me to keep the logs and rafts off which were coming down the river. The river was flooded, and when it floods the logs and that kind of matter drift down and must be kept away from the boat, else it might cause the boat to break loose. During that night I would keep the rafts and logs from accumulating by going down from the upper deck every time one would strike and taking a pole and punching it off. I punched some off that night. Nothing happened to the boat until about 12 that night. * * * About 12 o'clock on this night Parr, Shannon, and myself were on the upper deck eating peanuts and sitting by a heater when something struck the boat. We immediately went down, but before we could get there the boat had broken loose and was drifting down the river. These boats are each about 150 feet long and 25 or 30 feet wide. When the boat broke loose we all got frightened. The boat floated downstream about three-fourths of an hour, when we were rescued by a government boat and then taken by this boat to an island. After landing on this island we tried to wade to the main shore. They said, 'We are going.' I said, 'I will have to follow; I won't stay by myself.' I did not get wet until after I landed on this island and tried to wade to the mainland. I could not make it to shore, and had to climb a tree, and I stayed there until help came. I was in this tree until daylight, at about which time the government people sent a stove and blankets. The government boat did not overturn. I stayed in wet clothes until I got home, which was about 10 o'clock. Each of these boats was about 150 feet long and 25 or 30 feet wide. They were tied together. The Ruth No. 2 to a cottonwood tree about six inches in diameter. I was frightened going...

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