McCrum v. Weil & Co.

• Decision Date: 04 December 1900
• Citation: 125 Mich. 297,84 N.W. 282
• Parties: McCRUM v. WEIL & CO.
• Court: Michigan Supreme Court

84 N.W. 282

125 Mich. 297

McCRUM v. WEIL & CO.

Supreme Court of Michigan

December 4, 1900

Error to circuit court, Wayne county; Byron S. Waite, Judge.

Action by Catherine McCrum, administratrix of Henry McCrum deceased, against Weil & Co. Judgment directed for defendant and plaintiff brings error. Reversed.

Plaintiff's decedent went to the store of the defendant company, went into its shipping room, fell into the open shaft of an elevator, and was killed. The name of the shipping clerk was Stowell. Mr. McCrum and Mr. Newman went to the store about the same time (midday) on business. A clerk named Marx took them to or near the door of the shipping room, called Mr Stowell, and told him there were two gentlemen for him to wait upon. Mr. Newman handed Stowell a receipt for a mattress. Stowell, followed by Newman, went to his desk, and while the two were in conversation, heard a fall, looked around, saw that Mr. McCrum was not in the room, and heard a moaning in the basement. They went to the shaft, and there found Mr. McCrum lying at the bottom. He was unconscious, and died shortly after. No one saw deceased after entering the shipping room, and how he fell into the shaft is matter of conjecture. This shipping room was 10 feet high, 30 feet 4 inches long, and 14 feet 4 inches wide. There were two windows in the rear wall, each 3 feet 9 inches wide, 3 feet 4 inches from the floor, and extending to the ceiling. Each was about 6 feet from the outside wall on each side. Between the windows was a door 5 feet 1 inch wide, which was open at the time. The elevator shaft is in the northwest corner of the room, is 8 feet 3 inches wide, and 6 feet 4 inches deep. From the left edge of the door, where the deceased entered, to the elevator shaft is 9 feet. The shipping clerk's desk was in the southwest corner back of the elevator, and the distance from the desk to the corner of the shaft was 26 inches. The sides of the elevator are inclosed. The front is open to the ceiling. Back of the shipping room, and running past the door and windows, is an alley 18 feet wide, with a one-story building opposite. An electric light was burning at the time in the corner of the room over the shipping clerk's desk. The elevator had just gone to the story above with a load of goods. There was a gate 3 feet high in front of the shaft, which was pushed up and down by hand. This gate the parties using the elevator had neglected to close. The negligence charged is the failure to protect this...