McGowan v. Peter Doelger Brewing Co.

• Decision Date: 06 December 1950
• Docket Number: No. A--393,A--393
• Citation: 77 A.2d 46,10 N.J.Super. 276
• Parties: McGOWAN v. PETER DOELGER BREWING CO.
• Court: New Jersey Superior Court — Appellate Division

Page 276

10 N.J.Super. 276

77 A.2d 46

McGOWAN v. PETER DOELGER BREWING CO.

No. A--393.

Superior Court of New Jersey Appellate Division.

Argued Oct. 30, 1950.

Decided Dec. 6, 1950.

Perry E. Belfatto, Newark, argued the cause for the appellant.

Andrew Lawrie, Newark, argued the cause for the respondent.

Before Judges JACOBS, EASTWOOD and BIGELOW.

The opinion of the court was delivered by

BIGELOW, J.A.D.

Appellant, who is the widow of John McGowan, made claim in the Workmen's Compensation Bureau that her husband's death August 22, 1946, resulted from an accident July 7, 1946, which arose out of and in the course of his employment. The Bureau made an award in favor of the petitioner but the County Court, upon rehearing hearing the matter, gave judgment for the employer, the Peter Doelger Brewing Co., on the ground that death was not caused or hastened by what occurred on July 7. There seem to be two questions in the case,--Just what did happen on July 7? And did that occurrence hasten McGowan's death that came to pass six weeks later?

Decedent worked as a fireman's helper, shoveling coal and taking out the ashes,--heavy work. Although he had had heart trouble for several years, he was able to perform his work satisfactorily and without interruption by illness, until July 7. That morning decedent went to the engine room to help 'throw an engine in.' Ten minutes or so later he came out, staggering. In response to a fellow worker's query, 'What's the matter, Mac?' he exclaimed, 'The ammonia got me.' He sat down by a table 30 or 40 feet from the engine room door, and leaned his head on the table. A police car happened to be in front of the brewery and in it he was taken to St. Michael's Hospital. We should explain that in the engine room were several refrigeration machines in which was used hydrous ammonia. The machines had not been maintained in good condition. In the engine room in hot weather, the odor of ammonia was constant. 'At times you couldn't go in there, the smell would be so strong of ammonia.'

On July 10, McGowan called on his physician. Dr. McGuire learned from his patient that after being at St. Michael's a few hours, he insisted on being brought home, but that he had not yet been back to work. The doctor had examined decedent the preceding January and again in June. On each of the examinations he made a diagnosis of 'auricular fibrillation (irregular heart action); cause, probably rheumatic heart disease.' But on the third examination, the doctor found also symptoms of 'early cardiac decompensation (heart failure),' and considered that the worsening of McGowan's condition was due to exposure to ammonia fumes three days earlier. Of course, he had no knowledge of that incident beyond what his patient told him. And his examination of decedent's nose and throat revealed nothing that the doctor attributed to the ammonia.

Decedent, against his doctor's advice, returned to work July 11. Then he had two weeks' vacation; then to work again, and on August 22, while at work at the brewery, suddenly he collapsed and died. It seems to be agreed by all the medical witnesses that death was caused by heart failure. In the interval between the accident of July 7, and his death, 'he couldn't do his work like he used to.' 'Always getting tired.' 'He didn't seem to be the same fellow.'

It is plain that something out of the ordinary happened to decedent on July 7 and that his heart thereafter was in much worse condition than before. One of respondent's experts thought decedent may have been 'a little bit overcome by the heat' that day and have had 'a little bit more congestive heart failure.' Another one believes that what decedent had was an 'episode related to his mitral stenosis' (heart disease). 'He may have developed an abnormal rhythm and had this sense of oppression in the chest.' Evidence that ammonia played a not unimportant part that day is found in the fact that ammonia was very noticeable in the engine room in hot weather--and the day in question was a hot one; and in decedent's own statement, 'The ammonia got me.' That statement was admissible as part of the Res gestae. It appears to have been an immediate emanation of whatever had just happened; it was uttered naturally and not produced by calculated policy. Hunter v. State, 40 N.J.L. 495, 539 (E. & A.1878); Andricsak v. National Fireproofing Corp., 3 N.J. 466, 70 A.2d 750 (1950). The respondent argues that several jurisdictions refuse to admit as part of the Res gestae, the answer to a question. But the rule is otherwise in New Jersey if the same answer seems spontaneous. Slayback Van Order Co. v. Eiben, 115 N.J.L. 17, 177 A. 671 (Sup.Ct.1935). Not only was decedent's declaration admissible, but it was persuasive evidence that the ammonia fumes were the cause of his sudden discomfort, or at least an important contributing factor. We also accept as proven that decedent did not inhale the gas in any considerable quantity or in a strong concentration, else Dr. McGuire would have discovered some evidence of it three days later. A man's involuntary reaction to ammonia fumes would make him hold his breath and run.

Did the incident of July 7 hasten the death of...