Osborne v. Borough of Belmar, 33501.
| Decision Date | 19 January 1943 |
| Docket Number | No. 33501.,33501. |
| Citation | 21 N.J.Misc. 24,29 A.2d 894 |
| Parties | OSBORNE v. BOROUGH OF BELMAR. |
| Court | New Jersey Court of Common Pleas |
Appeal from Workmen's Compensation Bureau.
Proceeding under the Employers' Liability Act by Margaret Osborne, compensation claimant, against the Borough of Belmar, employer, to recover compensation for the death of Newall S. Osborne, deceased. From an award of the Workmen's Compensation Bureau, in favor of the claimant, the Borough of Belmar appeals.
Judgment sustained.
Anschelewitz & Barr, of Asbury Park, for petitioner-appellee.
Durand, Ivins & Carton, of Asbury Park, for respondent-appellant.
The subject of this appeal arises out of the Employers' Liability Act, N.J.S.A. 34:15-1 et seq. Plaintiff's decedent died under circumstances hereafter related while at his place of employment on July 6, 1940, The Workmen's Compensation Bureau determined that the petitioner-appellee had carried the burden of proof and held that Newall S. Osborne, the deceased, died as a result of an accident arising out of and in the course of his employment and that death was caused by coronary thrombosis, precipitated by the activities of his employment on that date.
The decedent was employed by the Borough of Belmar as superintendent of streets and had so been employed for five years prior to his death. He was 47 years of age at the time of his death. The testimony discloses that he regularly performed all of the duties required of him during this period without any loss of time or any outward physical manifestation of incapacity. It is uncontradicted that the decedent had previously suffered from a cardiac condition that required periodic consultation with physicians up until approximately the year 1936. Between the year 1936, when he last consulted a doctor with respect to his condition, and July 6, 1940, the date of his death, he demonstrated no outward indication or symptom of that ailment in any manner and was not impeded in the regular performance of his work.
On the morning of July 6, 1940, he left his home in apparent good health and reported for work as usual. After assigning the various men under his control to their respective tasks, he proceeded to the Yacht Basin on K Street, in Belmar. There he mounted a Case Tractor which was operated from a seat and by means of a steering wheel in the same manner as an automobile. To the rear of the tractor was attached a "scoop" or "scraper" by means of which the washed-up sand was to be conveyed from the upper portion of the beach and road to the lower part of the beach, in order to cover up the mud at the water line and thus permit the same to be used for bathing.
The decedent was in the act of demonstrating to his men, who were already on the job, the manner in which the tractor was to be operated, and drove it for some period of time over and across the sandy beach. The witnesses produced disclosed that he made some four or five trips, causing the tractor to be turned in the soft sand twice during each trip. The proofs further show that just prior to his death he had been seen driving the tractor on the hard surfaces of streets or roads, but that this was the first time that the decedent was observed operating this vehicle in soft sand. After he had completed making one of these turns and as the tractor was proceeding toward the opposite point, the decedent was seen to slump from his seat and fall over the left side of the tractor to the ground. The men ran to his assistance and shut off the motor of the tractor. The first witness who reached the decedent found him speechless and according to his testimony he was breathing hard and he started to turn blue. Artificial respiration was attempted by some of the men and a physician was summoned who arrived some five or ten minutes later. Dr. Hancock was the physician and he testified that the decedent appeared to be dead, however, he injected adrenalin into decedent's heart and the First Aid Squad gave him extended artificial respiration. At 9:15 A. M, on the morning of July 6, 1940, the decedent was pronounced dead by the doctor and the death certificate indicated the cause of death as "probable cardiac insufficiency." Dr. Hancock further testified that when he first reached the decedent, whom he knew, he was lying on his back, apparently dead. His face was ecchymotic and discolored and cyanosis was prominent around and about his lips. The pupils of his eyes were dilated and respiratory motion was absent, and...
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