Ga. Power Co v. Puckett
| Decision Date | 16 February 1935 |
| Docket Number | No. 24044.,24044. |
| Parties | GEORGIA POWER CO. v. PUCKETT. |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
Syllabu by Editorial Staff.
Error from Superior Court, Harris County; C. F. McLaughlin, Judge.
Suit by J. R. Puckett against the Georgia Power Company. Judgment for plaintiff, defendant's motion for a new trial was overruled, and defendant brings error.
Affirmed.
Foley & Chappell, of Columbus, George Hul-ing, of Hamilton, and Colquitt, Parker. Troutman & Arkwright, of Atlanta, for plaintiff in error.
J. B. Peavy and A. L. Hardy, both of Hamilton, for defendant in error.
Syllabus Opinion by the Court.
This case arose on account of an injury received by the plaintiff in catching hold of a broken telephone wire that had become charged with electricity from adjacent high-tension power lines of the defendant company. The defendant company denied liability, setting up that the plaintiff's injuries were brought about by his own negligence and failure to exercise ordinary care to protect himself. It is contended by the defendant that the plaintiff's own testimony shows this fact; that he was in charge of the Hamilton Telephone Company, and was an experienced lineman; that he knew that the power company's lines were constructed over and so near the telephone lines that there was a leakage of current from the power company wires to the telephone lines at a place in front of the Field Rock Clubhouse in Hamilton, and that this condition had existed for as much as a year; that some of the wires of the power company were down in the alley near this clubhouse on the morning after the electrical storm; that plaintiff knew that if the wires came in contact with the telephone wires they would be charged with electric current; that his telephone system was disturbed and the service disrupted on the night of the storm; that immediately after seeing some of the wires of the power company down in the alley near the clubhouse, he walked down this alley a very short distance, where he saw a telephone wire burned or broken in two and hanging down by a telephone pole near the edge of the alley; and that he stepped over to this wire and took hold of it with his bare hand and received the injury complained of.
From the plaintiff's own version of the occurrence, the facts can be adduced substantially as follows: That at the time the defendant power company erected its power and electric light lines in Hamilton, Ga., the lines of the Hamilton Telephone Company were already there and being used by the telephone company; that at some places in the city of Hamilton the high-tension wires of the defendant power company were very close to those of the local telephone company, and at points crossed over such telephone lines, sagging down sometimes to not morethan three or four inches above the lines of the telephone company; that the insulation had become faulty and worn off from these high-voltage wires of the power company at certain places; that this had caused the electric current to leak onto the telephone wires, causing trouble with the telephone system, for instance causing the drops on the old-type switchboard to fall, as if some one were ringing for the operator; that one particular place where the high-tension electric wires crossed above the telephone wires was near the Field Rock Clubhouse; that the electric wires were only a few inches above the telephone lines at this point and the insulation was worn off the electric wires at this place; that the plaintiff was the manager and sole operator and linesman of the telephone company in Hamilton; that on the night of July 31, 1933, there was a violent wind, rain, and electric storm at this city; that electricity upon the telephone lines became so bad that the plaintiff had to cease the operation of the telephone system about 10 o'clock that night; that there was some trouble with the electric wires in the vicinity, plaintiff knowing this from the fact that there was a continual falling of the drops on the switchboard and burring sound over the wires; that lightning disturbed such telephone system in that manner, and there was an unusual amount of lightning that night; that plaintiff also knew that there was some trouble on the power lines from the fact that an alarm bell of the power company located in a nearby house rang several times; that the power company was informed by its agent that there was trouble with its wires in said city and sent a linesman there the next morning to make an examination of the condition; that about 7 o'clock a. m. the plaintiff, without being invited or requested to do so, went with the power company man to look over the situation and ascertain the extent of the damage and trouble, the plaintiff's object being to see about his telephone lines; that they walked out towards the Field Rock Clubhouse, where apparently there was trouble, and they saw some of the power company wires down in the alley just below the clubhouse; that the plaintiff knew that it was dangerous to touch a live wire and that a telephone wire could be charged with electricity by contact with an electric wire; that there was a switch there that could have been turned off and all the electric lines in the city would have been dead, but the defendant's servant did not turn it off; that the plaintiff observed a telephone wire broken in two and hanging down on a telephone pole to within about four feet of the ground; that this was just a few feet from the edge of the alley, and down near where this alley intersects with the Columbus highway and south of where the power company lines were down in this street or alley below the clubhouse; that plaintiff did not have any tools with him to repair his wires, but had come on this trip to make an examination of conditions; that the plaintiff, for no apparent reason, crossed the street and caught hold of the loose telephone wire and the same was alive, charged with electric current from the power lines, when he was shocked and immediately rendered unconscious,...
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