Nortonsville Coal Co. v. Whited

• Decision Date: 27 January 1910
• Citation: 124 S.W. 397
• Parties: NORTONSVILLE COAL CO. v. WHITED.
• Court: Kentucky Court of Appeals

124 S.W. 397

NORTONSVILLE COAL CO. v. WHITED.

Court of Appeals of Kentucky.

January 27, 1910

Appeal from Circuit Court, Hopkins County.

"Not to be officially reported."

Action by J. W. Whited against the Nortonsville Coal Company. From a judgment for plaintiff, defendant appeals. Affirmed.

Belcher & Sparks, for appellant.

Waddill & Dempsey, for appellee.

CARROLL J.

The appellee brought this action against the appellant company to recover damages for personal injuries sustained in its mine by the premature explosion of a powder blast. He was seriously and permanently injured, and the jury assessed the damages in his favor at $1,750. The judgment on the verdict we are asked to reverse for either of two reasons: First error of the trial court in refusing to direct the jury to return a verdict in favor of the company; and, second because the verdict is flagrantly against the evidence. No other errors are complained of. The appellee at the time of his injury was about 52 years old. He had been working in the mine some four weeks, but during this time had not made any blasts or observed any being made until the day he was injured, but he had often seen fuse used in blasting rock and other material. The miner whose duty it was to set off the blasts had gone away, and the mine boss came to the place where appellee was loading coal and asked him to do the shooting. Appellee's version of the affair is, in substance, that when the mine boss approached him, and requested that he make the blasts, he told him he did not want to do it and did not know anything about the use of fuse, although he was familiar with the methods of using what are called squibs; that the mine boss showed him how to fix the fuse and told him there was no danger in its use, and further instructed him that, as several blasts were to be set off in the same room at the same time, if he failed to light the fuse for all the blasts that he should return immediately after the ones lighted had gone off and fire the ones that he had failed to light, before the smoke from the exploded ones had settled down in the mine.

We may observe here that it was shown that, when a powder blast is made, the smoke and fumes go to the top of the room or entry in which the blast is made, and in a few minutes it settles down on the bottom, and when it does so settle it is not safe to come in contact with it. That the mine boss did not tell him that there was any danger of the fuse in a blast not lighted becoming ignited from sparks from the blast that went off, and he (appellee) did not know that this occasionally happened. After receiving the instructions from the boss, he went to the room to which he...