Henry Gillen's Sons Lighterage, Inc. v. Fernald
| Decision Date | 19 November 1923 |
| Docket Number | 61. |
| Citation | 294 F. 520 |
| Parties | HENRY GILLEN'S SONS LIGHTERAGE, Inc., v. FERNALD. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit |
E Clyde Sherwood, of New York City (William L. O'Brion, of New York City, of counsel), for plaintiff in error.
Austin & Abruzzo, of Brooklyn, N.Y. (George F. Hickey, of New York City, of counsel), for defendant in error.
Before ROGERS, MANTON, and MAYER, Circuit Judges.
The action was to recover damages for personal injuries sustained by plaintiff, a deckhand, while employed on the lighter Henry Gillen, owned by defendant. The lighter was being loaded with copper bars, and, to accomplish this, a boom attached to a mast was used to hoist the drafts of copper bars from the dock to the lighter. In each draft, there were from 10 to 15 bars, weighing 175 to 200 pounds apiece. To protect the deck a false deck or sheathing of boards had been placed over the permanent deck of the lighter, forward of the pilot house or cabin.
When the drafts of copper were loaded on the lighter, they would at times, splinter the boards or partially break them. A supply of boards, and a saw, ax, hammer, and nails to repair broken boards, was kept on hand on the lighter, and it was the duty of the chief deckhand, Thompson, to make these repairs.
When the drafts were swung over the lighter, it was the duty of plaintiff and other deckhands to aid in landing them at the proper place. While plaintiff was walking backwards, aiding in guiding a draft, his foot caught in a hole in the planking of the false deck, and he fell down, and before he could extricate himself from this position the draft of copper bars struck him, breaking his leg. This hole was of substantial proportions, about a foot and a half long, and about five inches wide at one end, and tapering down to about an inch at the other.
Plaintiff testified that he saw the hole about a week before, and also an hour or so before, the accident. Miner, a deckhand testified that he saw it the forepart of the week; i.e., some days before. Judge Goddard charged the jury carefully and comprehensively. He said:
Exception was taken to the second paragraph, supra, and the sole question here argued is that this part of the charge was erroneous. It is contended that the existence of the hole in the sheathing on the deck of the lighter did not render the ship unseaworthy, so as to permit the plaintiff to recover an indemnity.
The false deck was as much a part of the lighter as the permanent deck for the purposes of the work in hand. Where heavy loading, such as here done, is contemplated, it is the duty of the owner to see that the craft is reasonably equipped for that purpose. The...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Mesle v. Kea Steamship Corporation
...95 F.2d 738; The H. A. Scandrett, 2 Cir., 1937, 87 F.2d 708; Ives v. United States, 2 Cir., 1932, 58 F.2d 201; Henry Gillen's Sons Lighterage v. Fernald, 2 Cir., 1923, 294 F. 520; The Colusa, 9 Cir., 1918, 248 F. 21; Thompson Towing & Wrecking Ass'n v. McGregor, 6 Cir., 1913, 207 F. 209; Th......
-
Orleans Dredging Co. v. Frazie
... ... v. Doullut & Williams Shipbuilding Co., Inc., 156 La ... 412, 100 So. 547; Hargis v ... Steel Co., 234 F. 198; Henry Gillen's Sons Lighterage ... v. Fernald, 294 F ... ...
-
Dixon v. United States
...is "non-delegable." See Mahnich v. Southern Steamship Co., 1944, 321 U.S. 96, 64 S.Ct. 455, 88 L.Ed. 561; Henry Gillen's Sons Lighterage v. Fernald, 2 Cir., 1923, 294 F. 520; Hawn v. Pope & Talbot, Inc., 3 Cir., 1952, 198 F.2d 800, affirmed, 1953, 346 U.S. 406, 74 S.Ct. 202, 98 L.Ed. 143. I......
-
Olsen v. Isbrandtsen Company
...1008 (2d Cir.1941); Zinnel v. United States Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corp., 10 F.2d 47 (2d Cir.1925); Henry Gillen's Sons Lighterage, Inc. v. Fernald, 294 F. 520 (2d Cir.1923). 6 Rich v. Ellerman & Bucknall S.S. Co., 278 F.2d 704 (2d Cir. 1960); Grillea v. United States, 232 F.2d 919 ......