Norris v. Holt-Morgan Mills
| Decision Date | 05 April 1911 |
| Citation | 70 S.E. 912,154 N.C. 474 |
| Parties | NORRIS v. HOLT-MORGAN MILLS. |
| Court | North Carolina Supreme Court |
Appeal from Superior Court, Harnett County; Cooke, Judge.
Action by P. C. Norris against the Holt-Morgan Mills. Judgment for plaintiff, and defendant appeals. Affirmed.
In an action for injury to an employee, claimed to have been caused by absence of oil cups on machinery, evidence of such absence after the accident was made competent by defendant's evidence that the machinery had not been changed, and that the oil cups were on the machinery at the time of the injury and at the trial.
The plaintiff, an employé of the defendant, brought this action to recover damages for personal injuries, alleging that the defendant failed to furnish him a reasonably safe place to work, that the machinery of the defendant was defective, that the defendant failed to inspect it, and failed to instruct and warn him. The defendant denied that it was negligent alleged that if the plaintiff was injured by the negligence of any one it was by the negligence of a fellow servant; that if the defendant was negligent this negligence was not the cause of the injury; that the injury was the result of an accident, and that the plaintiff assumed the risk thereof. The defendant appeals from a judgment in favor of the plaintiff.
There was evidence on the part of the plaintiff tending to show that in March, 1908, and for six months prior thereto plaintiff was employed by defendant to work in its dyehouse and, among other things, it was his duty to pack lint cotton into packing rooms connected with said house, as the same was blown from the dyeing rooms into the packing rooms by means of a fan. These packing or storing rooms were about 7 feet wide, 14 to 16 feet long, and 14 feet or more in height. The bleached or dried cotton was blown in the top of the room and the doors of the packing rooms were kept closed. Formerly cotton had been put into these rooms by hand. It was carried by hand into each room through the door. After the fan was installed, it became necessary to close the door of each room, in order to prevent the draft from blowing the cotton out. Under the old system the doors were bolted from the outside, and after the fan was installed no change was made in this particular, and no other doors were added. The plaintiff and others assigned to work in the packing room entered the door, which was then closed and bolted by some of the employés on the outside. The packer remained in the room packing the cotton until the room was filled. He then knocked or kicked against the wall of the room, scratched a hole through the cotton, and was let out the door by some operative. This was the rule and custom of the defendant. On the morning of the plaintiff's injury he was assigned to work in the packing room. The cotton which was first blown in had been taken from the drying rooms the evening before and had cooled. After this had been blown in, the defendant commenced blowing in warm cotton, which was removed from the drying rooms that morning. At that time the cotton had been packed to a depth of 4 1/2 feet. Plaintiff, following the usual custom, had cotton over his eyes and nose to keep out the dust, and was on his knees, rolling the cotton back, when he heard an unusual sound about him. At once he discovered the cotton in the room was afire, and the blaze had flashed over him. He endeavored to get to the door. It was bolted from the outside; he called for help. In order to protect them he closed his eyes, and endeavored to reach the door, which was the only exit. The cotton was 4 or 4 1/2 feet high, and piled against the door. The fire was all over the room. No one opened the door or answered his call for assistance. Being almost strangled by the fire, he ran against the door with his head and hands and burst it open by forcing out the staple which held it on the outside. That the bearings had before become heated on account of defective construction, want of repair and failure to inspect; that defendant failed to warn and caution against danger; that the fan in operation at the time of plaintiff's injury was bolted to two-inch flooring; the floor was unsteady and would shake; that this jarring or shaking of the bolts and taps would cause them to become loose; that the bearings of the fan were usually covered with lint cotton; that the fan used was known as "the Buffalo Forge Company's" make. A cut of the same was introduced in evidence, and, among other things, showed two oil cups on the bearings of the fan for the purpose of oiling them. These cups were in plain view, and when kept on the fan disclosed the absence or presence of oil. When the oil cups were used, they served as a gauge by which those operating the machine knew when more oil was needed. There was evidence tending to show that one of the oil cups, at the time of the injury and prior thereto, for months had been off the fan, and the other one so broken or worn down that it would not retain oil; that instead of placing oil in the cups the machinery was oiled through the holes leading into the bearings. The oil would waste on the floor and there was no gauge; that in the defendant's mill was another fan bolted on a concrete foundation. This eliminated or lessened the vibration. That the fan to which plaintiff attributed his injury rattled and was not firmly placed; that the sparks seen at the time of the injury were near the ends of the bearings.
The defendant offered evidence tending to prove that the plaintiff was employed, among other things, to pack cotton in the storage rooms; that the cotton was not delivered in the said room while hot; that there was no such friction in the fans or pipes as to cause ignition; that the fan and machinery were not defective or out of repair or antiquated but were such as are approved and in general use; that the fan was bolted firmly to a two-inch floor, and that, while there was a vibration which caused the pipe to rattle, it was only such as is common to fans similarly secured, and that this fan was secured In the customary manner; that the method of delivering cotton used by the defendant has been universally adopted and is considered safe and prudent by the cotton mills of the country; that the defendant was not guilty of negligence in adopting the modern method of transferring cotton from one room to another which has been generally adopted; that the only precaution which the defendant could have taken was to altogether discontinue this mode of transferring cotton and return to the old mode of moving it by hand, or to provide a door with a latch inside; that, as the door in this instance proved no obstruction, no injury was suffered by reason of its being fastened on the outside; that if there had been a latch on the inside it would have been impossible for the plaintiff to have found it, because, surrounded by fire in the air and everywhere, he could not look for it and the latch would have been hidden by the cotton; that the fan and machinery were in good condition and in good running order at the time of the accident; that the bearings of the fan were at that time well oiled; that the oil cups to the fan were there, but if, as contended by the plaintiff, they had been removed, the holes from which the oil cups were taken were efficiently used in oiling the bearings; that the oil chambers were large enough to hold oil for lubrication many days, but that it was the rule and practice to fill them every morning; that the bearings of the fan were not heated at the time of the accident, but that, if they were, it was caused by the negligence of a fellow servant, whose duty it was to lubricate every morning when the fan was started; that the bearings were not loose or out of order and never had been, but if they were so at the time of the accident, it was through the negligence of a fellow servant, whose duty it was to keep the same in order or to report it to the machinist, who was charged with the operation of the fan; that if the machinist neglected to tighten the nuts and bolts and the bearings which may have become loose in the operation of the machine, or to oil the bearings so as to prevent friction and sparks and fire, he was but a fellow servant with the...
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