Clymer v. Kellogg, Spencer & Sons
| Citation | 153 N.W. 602,130 Minn. 327 |
| Decision Date | 09 July 1915 |
| Docket Number | 19,369 - (244) |
| Parties | CHARLES O. CLYMER v. KELLOGG, SPENCER & SONS |
| Court | Minnesota Supreme Court |
Action in the district court for Hennepin county to recover $5,000 for personal injury received while in the employ of defendant corporation. The case was tried before Steele, J., who denied defendant's motion to dismiss the action and a jury which returned a verdict for $1,000. From an order denying its motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict or for a new trial, defendant appealed. Reversed.
Negligence -- evidence.
The evidence in this case fails, as a matter of law, to show any negligence on the part of defendant or any ground of liability.
Briggs Thygeson & Everall and Charles H. Weyl, for appellant.
George Harold Smith, for respondent.
This is a personal injury action in which defendant appeals from an order denying its motion for judgment non obstante or for a new trial, after a verdict for plaintiff.
The facts, which are not seriously in dispute, are as follows: Defendant is a corporation engaged in Minneapolis in the manufacture and sale of oils. It buys second-hand barrels for use in holding and marketing its product. It is necessary that these barrels be tested and glued before they are used. Any holes that are disclosed are plugged, and the glue fills up the pores and the smaller holes. The work was done in this way: There was a glue pot four feet in diameter and two or three feet deep which was filled with ten parts water and one part glue. Around this glue pot is a steam chest in which steam circulates and heats the mixture in the glue pot to the proper temperature. When a barrel is to be tested and glued, it is placed beside the glue pot, and a small pipe is run from a quick opening valve into the bung hole of the barrel, and a gallon of the hot glue allowed to go into the barrel. A bung is then driven into the bung hole, and the operator shakes the barrel so as to make the glue come in contact with all parts of the inside and thoroughly line it. The barrel is then placed in a conveyor, the bung taken out, and the barrel drained. This completes the operation. When the barrel is shaken there is considerable pressure caused by the hot mixture inside, which discloses any holes there may be. It also sometimes forces out the bung.
Plaintiff had been in the employ of defendant for four months prior to the accident. For the last two months of this time he was testing and gluing barrels in the manner pointed out. On the...
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