Peterson v. Johnson-Wentworth Company
| Decision Date | 21 December 1897 |
| Docket Number | 10,862--(206) |
| Citation | 73 N.W. 510,70 Minn. 538 |
| Parties | GUSTAF PETERSON v. JOHNSON-WENTWORTH COMPANY |
| Court | Minnesota Supreme Court |
Action in the district court for Carlton county to recover $ 20,250 for personal injuries suffered by plaintiff while employed in the defendant's saw-mill. The trial resulted in a verdict of $ 4,000 in favor of plaintiff. From an order denying defendant's motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, or for a new trial, Ensign, J., defendant appealed. Affirmed.
These are all the questions raised having any merit, and the order appealed from is affirmed.
H Oldenberg and Draper, Davis & Hollister, for appellant.
John Jenswold, Jr., for respondent.
1. Plaintiff, while in the employ of the defendant corporation in its saw-mill, was injured by getting his knee caught in a gearing; and he brought this action to recover damages for the injury on the ground that defendant was negligent in failing to properly cover or box the gearing so as to protect its employees, as required by Laws 1893, c. 7 (G. S. 1894 §§ 2248-2264). Plaintiff had a verdict, and from an order denying a new trial the defendant appeals.
This gearing was connected with a long "rollway," or "runway," used for conveying slabs, edgings, etc., from one part of the mill to another. The rollway consisted of a series of iron rolls set in across a long table. Some of the rolls were 2 1/2 feet apart, and some were further apart. This table was 2 1/2 feet high, 3 feet wide, and very long. The rolls were 2 1/2 feet long, and 12 or 14 inches in diameter, and were set in across the table, so that the curved surface of each roll extended about an inch or two above the flat surface of the top of the table.
On a revolving shaft, extending along one side of the table, there was a beveled cogwheel near the end of each roll. There was a corresponding cogwheel on the end of the axle of each roll, which engaged the cogwheel on the shaft, thus forming a beveled gear. When the shaft revolved, it in turn revolved all the rolls in the long table in one direction, so that the slabs and edgings placed length-wise on one end of the table or rollway were carried along to the other end. Each gearing was covered by a cast-iron cap, which extended down about halfway on each cogwheel. The lower half of each cogwheel was exposed, and that was the most dangerous part of it, because each pair of wheels revolved towards each other at the bottom, and the teeth came together at the bottom, and engaged each other as they came up, so that anything that came in contact with the lower side of the gearing was likely to be drawn into it.
The end of the long shaft extended to within about five feet of the end of the table. There was a beveled cogwheel on the end of this shaft which engaged the beveled cogwheel on the axle of the last roll. This last-mentioned cogwheel extended beyond the end of the shaft about 10 or 12 inches. This particular gearing was more dangerous than the others, because the shaft did not extend along outside of the point where the cogwheels meshed together, so as to act as a guard in keeping a person at work near the gearing from getting caught in it. The cogwheels had a speed of 110 revolutions per minute.
Plaintiff was first employed to work in this mill at 7 o'clock in the evening of the day on which he was injured, went to work immediately with the night crew, and worked about two hours, when the injury occurred. He worked helping around the mill and scraping sawdust off the floors. The rollway was in the habit of clogging up and, when it did so the slabs and edgings which collected had to be taken off. The foreman ordered plaintiff to clear the rollway, which he did. The foreman assisted plaintiff in throwing off the slabs, and in doing so stood at or near the...
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