Sloss-Sheffield Steel & Iron Co. v. Sharp

• Decision Date: 03 July 1908
• Citation: 47 So. 279,156 Ala. 284
• Parties: SLOSS-SHEFFIELD STEEL & IRON CO. v. SHARP.
• Court: Alabama Supreme Court

47 So. 279

156 Ala. 284

SLOSS-SHEFFIELD STEEL & IRON CO. v. SHARP.

Supreme Court of Alabama

July 3, 1908

Appeal from Circuit Court, Jefferson County; A. O. Lane, Judge.

Action by Sidney Sharp against the Sloss-Sheffield Steel & Iron Company. Judgment for plaintiff. Defendant appeals. Reversed and remanded.

Tillman Grubb, Bradley & Morrow, for appellant.

W. T Stewart and W. K. Terry, for appellee.

DENSON J.

This action sounds in damages for a personal injury suffered by the plaintiff (appellee) while working as an employé of defendant (appellant) in a mine operated by the defendant and known as "Bessie Mine." The complaint contained several counts, but all except the fourth count as amended were eliminated, either on demurrer or on charges given at the request of the defendant.

The fourth count as amended is in this language: "The plaintiff claims of the defendant the sum of $10,000 as damages, for this: That heretofore, to wit, on the 24th day of July, 1907, defendant was running and operating a coal mine at Bessie Mine, in Jefferson county, Ala., and on said day plaintiff was in the service or employment of the defendant in or about said business of defendant, and while plaintiff was in said mine, in and about said business as aforesaid, a fire broke out or was burning in said mine, said fire being caused by the ignition or explosion of gas or other explosive substance in said mine; and plaintiff avers that he was greatly burned in and about the hands, face head, neck, back, and shoulders, and otherwise injured in and about his lungs, body, and limbs, was made sick and sore, was crippled and disfigured, his nervous system impaired, and was rendered permanently less able to work and earn money; and plaintiff avers that he suffered and is likely to continue to suffer great mental anguish and physical pain, and was put to expense and will be put to further expense in and about procuring medicines for his wounds, nursing and medical attention, and lost time from his work and labor, and is likely to continue to lose time from work, all to the damage of plaintiff as aforesaid. Plaintiff avers that he received his said injuries by reason of and as a proximate consequence of a defect in the condition of the ways, work, machinery, or plant connected with or used in the business of the defendant, in this, to wit: That the defendant failed to provide a way to conduct air into the said mine in sufficient quantities to brush out the gas or other explosive substance or to keep it from accumulating in such quantities as to explode. And plaintiff avers that said defect had not been discovered or remedied, owing to the negligence of the defendant, or of some person in the service of the defendant, and intrusted by it with the duty of seeing that the ways, works, machinery, or plant were in proper condition."

It will be observed that this count is grounded on the first subdivision of section 1749 of the Code of 1896, which provides for a liability against the master, in favor of the servant, for an injury "caused by reason of any defect in the condition of the ways, works, machinery, or plant connected with or used in the business of the master or employer." Manifestly the count is presented in view of the duty fixed on the operator or superintendent of every coal mine by section 2914 of the Code of 1896. The duty fixed by this statute on the defendant is to provide and maintain ample means of ventilation for the circulation of air through the main entries and other working places in its mine, to an extent that will dilute, carry off, and render harmless the noxious gases generated in the mine. Assuming, without deciding, that the failure to put in and maintain the means specified would constitute a defect, within the meaning of the employer's liability statute, we must determine the sufficiency of the count in respect to the demurrer assigned thereto.

In addition to the duty...