Price v. Lee Lumber Co., Limited
| Decision Date | 14 March 1910 |
| Docket Number | 17,857 |
| Citation | 51 So. 1025,125 La. 888 |
| Court | Louisiana Supreme Court |
| Parties | PRICE v. LEE LUMBER CO., Limited |
Rehearing Denied April 11, 1910.
Appeal from Thirteenth Judicial District Court, Parish of Rapides W. F. Blackman, Judge.
Action by W. H. D. Price, for use, etc., against the Lee Lumber Company, Limited. Judgment for defendant, and plaintiff appeals. Affirmed.
R. H McGimsey, for appellant.
Blackman & Overton, for appellee.
Statement of the Case.
Plaintiff sued for damages for the use and benefit of his minor son, who was injured whilst in defendant's employ; the allegations of the petition being that the injury was the result of negligence for which defendant is responsible. The answer is a general denial, coupled with a plea of contributory negligence and negligence of the minor's fellow servants.
It appears that the minor was 19 years and 7 months old, at the time of the accident, and that, for more than three years prior thereto, had been working for a logging company, sometimes at one of the jobs incidental to that business, and sometimes at another. His father testifies that he was "mighty healthy, strong, and stout. * * *" He was a tolerable strong boy; nothing uncommon; "good and stout, and able to make a living." About February 1, 1908, he applied to defendant's foreman for work in the "loading crew," and on February 4th he was assigned to work in that crew, as switchman, and worked during that day, and the next day, until 2:30 o'clock in the afternoon, when a log rolled off the car and, falling on him, inflicted the injuries here complained of. The loading was being done by means of a steam machine and a crew of six men. The machine was provided with wheels whereby it could be moved on the railroad track from one place to another; but, when in operation, those wheels were raised and the machine was allowed to rest on the track, for greater stability. The crew consisted of a "top loader," who was the foreman, and who superintended and aided in the spacing and arranging of the logs on the car; a "steam loader man," who operated the machine and placed the logs on the car as he was directed by the "top loader"; a fireman for the steam loader, who also acted as helper to the crew; two "tongmen," who attached and detached the tongs to and from the logs; and a switchman, who coupled and uncoupled cars, aided the top loader in arranging and spacing the logs on them, and, at the proper moment, handed the toggle, or binder chain, to the top loader, from one side of the car, and, it being passed by the top loader over the logs, made it fast on the other side, in order to secure the logs and prevent them from rolling off. The minor himself testifies as follows concerning the duties of switchman and the modus operandi of loading a car, to wit:
Elsewhere in the testimony it appears that the "bunkers" are the heavy pieces of timber, running across the logging car upon which the logs rest, and it also appears that, whilst the term "bunkers" is applied to the tiers of logs, the "bunker logs" are more particularly the logs of the lower tier, which rest upon the bunkers of the car. Just prior to the accident here in question, Frank Sasser, the top loader, had, as usual, superintended (whilst standing or moving about on the ground) the loading of the logs on the car and the minor, Price, had rendered such assistance as he was called on for; both of them being on the west side of the car, whilst the logs were being pulled from the east side. Among other things, it was found necessary to chock the outside bunker log in order to hold it steady, and Sasser and...
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