Leahy v. Standard Oil Co. of New York
| Decision Date | 07 January 1915 |
| Citation | 220 Mass. 90,107 N.E. 458 |
| Parties | LEAHY v. STANDARD OIL CO. OF NEW YORK. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court |
John C. Hammond and Wm. J. Reilley, both of Northampton, for plaintiff.
Herbert Parker and H. H. Fuller, both of Boston, for defendant.
The plaintiff's intestate, O'Rourke by name, was injured by an explosion of gasoline in the boiler room of a garage in which he was employed, and, after conscious suffering, died as the result of the accident. The garage was owned by the plaintiff's employer, Sullivan by name. The accident happened on March 4, 1913. About six weeks before that (on January 25, 1913) one Morton (an employé of the defendant company) undertook to fill the gasoline tank of the garage. While he was doing so 'he was informed by one Dalton, a plumber's helper who was working in the cellar that the gasoline was flowing into the cellar.' The cellar referred to by Dalton was an addition to Sullivan's garage which was then being constructed not by Sullivan but by the owner of the garage for Sullivan's use when completed. The cellar or addition was being built for a new steam-heating plant for the garage. On the day in question (January 25, 1913), steam fitters, plumbers and electricians employed by the owner, not by Sullivan, were at work in the cellar. In the middle of the cellar floor there was a pit to receive water which might come from the floor of the cellar or from the soil underneath the floor, and was about three feet square and two and a half feet deep. It had no outlet but there was an 'automatic arrangement' for pumping it out when the liquid in it was more then 7 inches deep. When the liquid in the pit was 7 inches deep the pit held about 33 gallons.
The reason for the gasoline flowing into the cellar was Morton's failure to insert the funnel (through which he was pouring the gasoline) into the filler pipe or the mouth of the tank of the garage which held the gasoline. Forty-five gallons of gasoline were in this way spilled upon the cellar floor (as we understand the bill of exceptions), and five gallons went into the tank. Upon being told by Dalton (the plumber's helper) that 'gasoline was flowing into the cellar,' Morton 'took a broom, went down to the cellar and swept the gasoline into the pit.' 'Morton then went upstairs, * * * where he received a check from Sullivan in payment for the gasoline which he had put into the tank.' Morton at this time said to Sullivan that he had forty-five gallons of gasoline to pay for himself, and on being asked how that happened he answered: 'I didn't put the funnel in the filler pipe.' While Morton was being paid by Sullivan 'one Dunn, a plumber, who was employed on the boiler, but was upstairs when the gasoline was spilled, had caused the doors [of the cellar] to be nailed up.' The doors were nailed up as a matter of safety because of the gasoline spilled upon the cellar floor. 'The doors remained nailed for some three or four days, when the plumbers, steam fitters and electricians went to work in the cellar and worked with torches and candles around the floor.' Sullivan testified that on January 25th he did not go into the cellar (which confessedly was not then in his control); that he was told that 'there was gasoline in the cellar' at that time but that he did not know that the gasoline had been swept into the pit.
The addition to the garage was turned over to Sullivan on February 1st, 'with the fire going' in the heating plant. On February 7th or 14th the plaintiff's intestate O'Rourke, entered Sullivan's employ. O'Rourke was employed (among other things) to wash cars, to stay at the garage in the evening, and to 'fix up the fires when he was leaving to go home.' On the evening of March 4, 1915, Sullivan left the garage between 6 and 7 o'clock, leaving O'Rourke in charge. O'Rourke, having occasion to get some warm water to wash a car, went down the stairs to the boiler room and drew off some water from the boiler. This was in accordance with the practice in use at the garage. Seeing that the water in the boiler was too low, he opened the feed valve but did not turn it off because he did not know how to do that. Sullivan returned to the garage later in the evening and was told by O'Rourke that he had turned the water onto the boiler and did not know how to shut it off. Sullivan thereupon went down into the cellar and turned the valve from the feed pipe into the boiler. Finding that the boiler was too full, he opened the cock and let the surplus water in the boiler run onto the cellar floor. As he reached the top of the stairs after doing this, he met O'Rourke, who said that he was going down to put on some coal for the night. For this purpose O'Rourke opened the door of the fire box. Thereupon three explosions occurred, causing the injury here complained of.
An expert testified in substance that the gasoline would remain on the surface of the water and the gasoline vapor (being heavier than air) would stay in the pit 'provided the cover of the pit were not removed'; that so long as the vapor remained in the pit there would be no explosion; that the explosion was due to the 'water that overflowed the basin'; that the gasoline, being lighter than water, then flowed out of the pit over the floor; that a vaporization of the gasoline ensued and coming in contact with the fire, the explosion occurred. He further testified that sweeping the gasoline into the pit was 'a very unsafe way' of disposing of it; that if the door of the fire box were opened (while there was a fire in the box) the raising of the diluted gasoline in the pit would be sufficient to cause an explosion.
It is to be inferred from...
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