Elliott v. Water, & Transit Co.

• Decision Date: 04 December 1922
• Docket Number: No. 14501.,14501.
• Citation: 245 S.W. 568
• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals
• Parties: ELLIOTT v. WATER, & TRANSIT CO.

245 S.W. 568

ELLIOTT v. WATER, & TRANSIT CO.

No. 14501.

Kansas City Court of Appeals. Missouri.

December 4, 1922.

Appeal from Circuit Court, Chariton County; Fred Lamb, Judge.

"Not to be officially published."

Action by Frank M. Elliott, administrator of the estate of Harry C. Wilson, deceased, against the Water, Light & Transit Company. Judgment for plaintiff, and defendant appeals. Reversed, and remanded for new trial.

Collet & McKittrick, of Salisbury, F. C. Sasse, of Brunswick, and S. F. & G. C. Jones, of Carrollton, for appellant.

John D. Taylor, of Keytesville, for respondent.

ARNOLD, J.

This is a suit for damages based upon negligence of defendant in the death of Harry C. Wilson.

The defendant is a corporation having its principal (ace at Carrollton, Carroll county, Mo. It has transmission lines running from that place to the town of Brunswick in the western part of Chariton county and thence to Keytesville, in said county, a distance of approximately 14 miles, and lines extending east and south of Keytesville, over which electric current is furnished to consumers thereof in Chariton county, from its principal office in Carrollton.

On July 12, 1920, Harry C. Wilson, an employee of defendant about 25 years of age, was killed while engaged in work on one of defendant's lines in said county of Chariton. At that time and prior thereto the defendant company maintained an office at Brunswick, which was in charge of one Albert Wires. Said Wires was designated as the manager of defendant's properties in Chariton county, Mo., and as such had charge of all of its lines and equipment and supervision and control of its employees in said county.

One of defendant's said lines extended south from the town of Keytesville about one mile to the station of the Wabash Railroad, for the purpose of furnishing current to said railroad company, to the Keytesville Grain Company, and perhaps some others in that vicinity. The wires over which the current for this purpose was transmitted were supported along this distance by 25 poles, each having a cross arm about 36 inches in length and supporting two wires. In its original construction these were insulated copper wires. Early in July, 1920, defendant was reconstructing some of its lines leading from Keytesville to the station aforesaid, taking down the insulated copper wires and replacing them with new aluminum wires which were uninsulated.

The current coming from Carrollton to Brunswick and from Brunswick to Keytesville was of 13,000 voltage. Defendant maintained what is known as a "step-down transformer" at the west limits of Keytesville. Said transformer would reduce the current of 13,000 to 2,300 volts. The construction of this transformer was such that by pulling a certain plug or switch thereon the entire current would be cut off from the town of Keytesville.

The testimony tends to show that while the work on an extension east from Keytesville had been going on, during a period of a week or more, it had been the custom for the foreman, Wires, who accompanied the workmen on the way from Brunswick to Keytesville, to stop at said transformer and cut off the current, thus rendering "cold" the wires upon which the men were working, which is to say there was no current passing over the wires.

The testimony further tends to show that deceased had had little or no experience in working with wires while the current was being carried, and that he had been assured by the manager, Wires, that he would not be expected to handle electric wires with current on, commonly known as "hot" wires. It further appears that on Saturday the work on that line from Keytesville south to the depot had so far progressed that the new wires had been tied to the center of the pole at the south city limits of Keytesville, and had been strung across the cross-arms, thence south to the depot ready to be stretched and tied in; that on Monday morning following Manager Wires, with an employee named Dearing and the deceased, came over to Keytesville to stretch and tie the wires. The testimony also shows that on Saturday afternoon, in the absence of deceased, Wires had the new wires tied around the insulators over the old wires at the last pole south so as to take the slack out of them, thereby making a connection between the old and the new wires.

It further appears in evidence that in reconstructing this line they ran out of the steel core aluminum wire to such an extent that one of said wires near the depot was spliced out and continued over a space of 750 to 1,000 feet, supported by from five to seven poles, one wire being uninsulated and the other an insulated copper wire.

On the morning of July 12, as above stated, Manager Wires, together with said Dearing and the deceased, went to the south end of the line, nearest the station, and directed the tying of the wires. In doing this work, they were to take the poles alternately, Manager Wires going up one pole, Dearing another, and deceased another. In this manner it happened that Wilson went up the first pole, upon which both wires to be tied were uninsulated. About the time he got up this pole the attention of Wires and Dearing was called to the fact that something had happened to him. They found him lying at the foot of the pole in an unconscious condition, with burns on his right wrist and left hand. They started to take him to Keytesville, but he died before reaching there.

The testimony developed the fact that the current had not been cut off at Keytesville prior to beginning the work on the wires in question, and that the wires were charged. It also appeared that Dearing had...