Barrango v. Hinckley Rendering Co.
| Decision Date | 22 May 1918 |
| Citation | 230 Mass. 93 |
| Parties | MARY BARRANGO v. HINCKLEY RENDERING COMPANY. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court |
March 4 1918.
Present: RUGG, C J., BRALEY, DE COURCY, CROSBY, & CARROLL, JJ.
Dangerous Substance. Soap. Negligence, Of merchant. Evidence, Res ipsa loquitur.
In the absence of negligence, a retail dealer in selling a commodity not inherently harmful or dangerous is not liable in tort for personal injury resulting from its condition.
Testimony of a driver of a team for a rendering plant, who in behalf of his employer collected soap grease, giving in payment therefor soap which it did not manufacture but acquired from others in the usual course of its business, that sometimes a nail was found in bars of the soap and that he examined them before delivering them to purchasers, is not evidence tending to show that the presence of a needle in a bar of soap given by the driver to a customer was due to negligence of the driver or of his employer.
The mere fact, that a member of the family of the customer to whom the bar of soap was delivered by the driver, as above described, was injured by a needle embedded in the soap, is not evidence of negligence of the driver or of his employer.
TORT for personal injuries caused by a needle in a bar of soap given to the plaintiff, acting for her mother, by the defendant in exchange for some bones. Writ dated March 20, 1916.
In the Superior Court the action was tried before White, J. The material evidence is described in the opinion. At the close of the evidence for the plaintiff, the presiding judge ordered a verdict for the defendant and the plaintiff alleged exceptions.
G. P. Beckford, for the plaintiff. J. F. Sullivan, for the defendant.
This is an action of tort to recover for personal injuries, received by the plaintiff while using a bar of soap in which a needle had become embedded. The plaintiff, a minor, acting as agent for her mother, exchanged with the defendant's employee "a dish of bones" for the soap in which the needle was concealed.
The defendant operated a rendering plant in Somerville and sent out its drivers and teams and collected soap grease, giving in payment therefor soap which it kept in large quantities in boxes at its factory. The defendant does not make soap from the grease which it purchases, nor does it manufacture the soap which it gives in exchange for grease; and while it does not appear from the record from whom the defendant purchased this soap, it is a reasonable inference that it was acquired either from...
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...not inherently dangerous, is not liable in tort for its defective condition which causes injury to another. Barrango v. Hinckley Rendering Co., 230 Mass. 93, 94, 119 N. E. 746. In the sale of an article not inherently dangerous the seller cannot be charged with negligence unless it be shown......
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