Pleasants v. Barnes

• Decision Date: 08 April 1942
• Docket Number: 239.
• Citation: 19 S.E.2d 627,221 N.C. 173
• Parties: PLEASANTS v. BARNES et al.
• Court: North Carolina Supreme Court

19 S.E.2d 627

221 N.C. 173

PLEASANTS v. BARNES et al.

No. 239.

Supreme Court of North Carolina

April 8, 1942

Civil action to recover for injury allegedly resulting from actionable negligence.

Upon the trial below, plaintiff offered evidence tending to show these facts:

In November, 1939, plaintiff rented from defendants a farm in Johnston County, owned by them, for cultivation by him in year 1940, on "half shares, the old fashioned way" that is, plaintiff to "furnish labor and one half the guano" and receive half of the crops, and defendants to furnish "teams and tools" and receive the other half of the crops.

There was a field on this farm that had some stumps in it. In 1939 plaintiff had plowed and tended this field in tobacco, with the stumps there, and planned to plant it in corn in 1940. At the time the rental contract for 1940 was made, nothing was said about pulling the stumps, nor was anything said about plaintiff doing extra work on the farm. Pulling stumps was first mentioned on 8 March, 1940, when defendant, Weldon Barnes came to plaintiff in the field where he was plowing, and told him that he wanted to pull some of the stumps and wanted plaintiff to help him next day. Plaintiff testified: "He just asked me to help *** and I told him I would help him". Then, in response to this question, "Did you have any agreement with respect to what you were to get for it?", plaintiff testified, "No, sir, I didn't have any agreement". And on cross examination stated "Anybody ought to know that getting these stumps out would make it a much better field to plant, cultivate and tend."

Further while on morning of 9 March, before leaving the place where stumps were being pulled, Barnes asked Bandy if he wanted to work all day, he said nothing to plaintiff.

On this morning defendant, Weldon Barnes, returned to the farm. Lorenzo Bandy, a colored man who worked for Barnes and drove tractor practically all the time, brought a Case tractor and also a chain which was about 30 feet in length and about 300 pounds in weight. Barnes said he had figured out a way to pull the stumps with the chain,--the idea being, to wrap the chain around a stump two or three times and "run it under the chain that went out to the tractor" and to hold the end of the chain until it was tightened by the tractor. They went to work about 9 o'clock.

Regarding the work, plaintiff testified substantially as follows: Plaintiff told Barnes that, as the chain did not have a hook on it, he did not like to work with it. Barnes said nothing and "seemed to think it would be all right and he kept on pulling stumps". In pulling a stump, all of them, plaintiff, Barnes and Bandy, would wrap the chain around the stump and "run it under the chain that went out to the tractor and back". Barnes told plaintiff to hold one end of it "until it locked *** tightened". Then Barnes would motion to Bandy to drive the tractor, and he would drive off. In this manner six or seven stumps were pulled while Barnes was there and no accident happened. Then he went away. Before he left plaintiff told him that the chain was too heavy for two to handle, but "he left and didn't say anything, just spoke to Lorenzo Bandy about quitting time". After Barnes had gone, plaintiff and Bandy hooked to a stump, that is, put the chain around the stump and fastened it just like they did when Barnes was there so that when the tractor pulled on the chain it would catch in the links and tighten. Plaintiff said: "I saw this being done all the morning until I got hurt." Then after the chain was wrapped around the stump two or three times and fastened, Bandy got in the tractor and started it voluntarily without any signal or direction from plaintiff. In plaintiff's words: "He snatched the tractor up right quick instead of easy, like he did, and jerked me down on my hands *** he jerked it and that threw me down on my hands *** he gave me a snatch, the tractor did, and instead of the chain tightening it jerked me down on my hands *** he didn't go against it easy like he had been going against it. He hit it hard and it caused the chain to slip right quick and jerked me down on my hands, and before I could get up, it hit my leg. It pulled the end of the chain, gave it a quick jerk." Plaintiff further stated: "I was standing holding the end of the chain, between the tractor and the stump, about five feet from the stump *** about five feet from the chain *** out to one side."

Plaintiff, in reply to question as to why he went ahead and pulled stumps with that chain after he had stated to Barnes that it ought to have a "different fastener" on it, said: "Well, it was late in the year, and I was kind of under obligation, I felt like, to him; he was furnishing me everything I was getting and I felt like I was under obligation to go ahead and pull the stumps."

G. F Pleasants, seventeen year old son of, and witness for plaintiff, testified that, while at home during that same day, Mr. Otis Barnes came there, and, in conversation, "said that Weldon knew it was dangerous, because he had...