Morrow v. Missouri Gas & Electric Service Co.
| Decision Date | 30 July 1926 |
| Docket Number | No. 25382.,25382. |
| Court | Missouri Supreme Court |
| Parties | MORROW v. MISSOURI GAS & ELECTRIC SERVICE CO. |
Appeal from Circuit Court, Clay County; Ralph Hughes, Judge.
Action by Lulu E. Morrow against the Missouri Gas & Electric Service Company. Judgment for plaintiff, and defendant appeals. Affirmed.
John H. Lucas and William C. Lucas, both of Kansas City, A. F. Wherritt, of Liberty, and Ludwick Graves, of Kansas City, for appellant.
James S. Simrall and Lawson & Hale, all of Liberty, for respondent.
Action by plaintiff (respondent) to recover damages for the death of her husband, Allen E. Morrow, because of the alleged negligence of defendant (appellant). The petition was filed on September 23, 1921, and alleges, in substance, that deceased met death on August 23, 1921; that he was survived by his widow and a minor son about two years of age, and that the suit was instituted within six months after deceased's death; that defendant was, at the time mentioned, engaged in furnishing and selling to consumers within the city of Liberty, Mo., electricity for domestic and commercial uses, and maintained and operated a distributing system within said city, consisting of wires, poles, and other equipment, for the purpose of transmitting electric current to and into private residences within said city for lighting and cooking purposes, and sold such electricity to such consumers for such purposes; that on August 23, 1921, and prior thereto, deceased was a consumer of electric furnished by defendant through its said distributing system, and said deceased used such electricity in his residence, located at the corner of Kansas and Lightburne streets, in said city, for lighting and cooking purposes; that, as a part of the lighting system of said residence, there had been installed in the basement a socket in the ceiling thereof, to which was attached an insulated drop cord, at the end of which was attached an ordinary light bulb; that electric current flowed from defendant's house service wires on said Kansas street through wires strung over the land on which deceased's residence was located, and through the same into the electric wiring in said residence, and thereby electric current was including the wires to which said residence, and, thereby electric current was brougt into the electric wiring in said residence, including the wires to which said drop cord and light bulb in the basement of said residence were attached at said socket; "that the said Allen E. Morrow, on the night of the 23d day of August, 1921, whilst in the exercise of ordinary care and caution for his own safety, and without negligence on his part, took hold of said drop cord in the basement of his residence, with the fingers of his right hand, for the purpose of moving the same from one place in said basement to another; that, at the time said Morrow so took hold of said drop cord, defendant and its servants and agents had carelessly and negligently caused or permitted said drop cord to become and be charged with electric current in such excessive quantities and of such high voltage as to be dangerous to any one touching, or in any manner coming into contract with, such drop cord, and by reason thereof the said Allen E. Morrow, when he touched said drop cord, received an electric shock and thereby suffered death as a result thereof." The answer is a general denial.
Deceased's residence was a one-story bungalow, with basement, at the southeast corner of the intersection of Kansas and Lightburne streets, in the city of Liberty. In the southeast corner of the basement was a shower bath, which had been used by deceased and his wife for a period of about two years. In another corner of the basement was a coal bin. Suspended from a plug or socket in the ceiling near the coal bin was an extension or drop cord, with a light bulb, or lamp, on the end thereof. When using the shower bath, it appears to have been the custom of deceased and his wife to move the lamp and hang the extension cord over a nail inside the door of the coal bin, "so there would not be so much light in the basement." The extension cord was attached to the ceiling by a separable plug or socket, which pulled apart. Near the middle of the basement were two wooden supports, or columns, a few feet apart, in a north and south line, to one of which supports were fastened two water faucets.
Deceased and his family had been on a trip of several weeks to the state of Washington, and had rented their residence during their absence to a family named Hunt. Deceased had returned to Liberty a few days before his death, leaving his wife and son in Washington, and was occupying one of the bedrooms in his residence; the Hunt family occupying the other rooms. On the night of August 23, 1921, deceased had attended a lodge meeting, arriving home about 10 o'clock in the evening. He asked Mrs. Hunt, or her daughter, if he might take the electric fan back to his bedroom, saying that he was going down into the basement to take a shower bath, and went on back to his room. He was heard to turn off the light in his bedroom and go down into the basement. Shortly afterward, Mrs. Lewis, daughter of Mrs. Hunt, heard a noise which startled her, and which, as she expressed it, "was sort of a `ugh,' like that (indicating)." Next morning, Mrs. Hunt and her daughter were awakened about 5:30 o'clock by the ringing of an alarm clock in deceased's room. After waiting a few minutes, and not hearing deceased, they looked into his bedroom and discovered that the bed had not been slept in, and that the inside basement door was open. They summoned several neighbors, who found the lifeless body of deceased, stiff and rigid, lying on the concrete floor of the basement immediately east of, and parallel with, a sanitary couch, which was set between the two wooden supports or columns.
Deceased's body was lying flat on the back, the legs extended, the arms folded across the chest, with the feet to the north and the head to the south. The thumb and index finger of deceased's right hand were burned to the bone, there were several small burns on the right wrist, and the skull was fractured on the left side, about halfway between the ear, and the median line, or the middle of the back of the head. Blood had been flowing from the left ear. The coroner testified that the fracture of the skull was sufficient, independent of other causes, to have caused death. There was evidence that one of the water faucets on the wooden support near the feet of deceased had been dripping, and there was a damp spot on the concrete floor, the edge of which was near the feet of deceased. Deceased's body was naked, and his nightgown was lying over his feet. The extension cord suspended from the ceiling was burned in two about six or eight inches from the end of the lamp or light bulb, and the shorter part, with the lamp attached, was found upon the basement floor near the body of deceased. Neither the electric light bulb nor the glass standard through the middle of the bulb were' broken, and the bulb was not discolored ; but the filament within the lamp globe was broken. The remainder, or longer portion, of the extension cord was still attached to the plug or socket in the ceiling, and was hanging down, with the burned end thereof resting upon the concrete floor. Witnesses saw no sparkling or sputtering from the end of the extension cord on the concrete floor, nor were there any burned places upon the floor, where the end of the extension cord touched the floor.
The electrical current distributed by defendant is a 60-cycle alternating current. The electrical energy or current is brought from Kansas City to defendant's substation in Liberty on wires carrying 33,000 volts, and reduced at the substation through transformers to 2,300 volts, from whence it is transmitted on (so-called) primary wires throughout the city of Liberty to other transformers, some 50 in number, where the current or electrical energy is further reduced from 2,300 volts to approximately 110 volts, and then carried over secondary or house service wires to the residences of consumers. One of the latter transformers, connecting the primary with the secondary wires, was located on a pole at the northeast corner of Kansas and Lightburne streets, directly across the street from deceased's residence; from this transformer, both primary and secondary wires extended eastwardly to the Christian Church on an alley, about a half block distant, and south on the alley to Mill street, and east on the south side of Mill street about three or four houses, and also extended northwardly and westerly from the Morrow residence, serving in all some 17 different residences in addition to the Christian Church. The primary and secondary wires were strung on the same poles.
The poles were about 20 feet in height, and the two primary wires, carrying 2,300 volts, were placed on horizontal cross-arms near the tops of the poles. About 26 inches below the two primary wires were the two secondary or house service wires, normally carrying 110 volts, and these two secondary wires were also strung on cross-arms attached to the poles, almost directly under the primary wires. The first pole east of the transformer is distant about 125 fed, and from that pole the secondary or house service wires extended southwesterly to a connection with the house wiring under the eaves of deceased's residence. There was also a street-lighting circuit or wire extending down the alley on the west side of the Christian Church to Mill street, near the Morrow residence, carrying approximately 1,200 volts. This street-lighting circuit was strung upon the same poles which carried the primary and secondary wires of defendant's distributing system. At the time in question, no one other than defendant was furnishing electricity of high power in the city of Liberty. The evidence tended to show that the...
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