Snipes v. Bomar Cotton Oil Co.

• Decision Date: 10 December 1913
• Citation: 161 S.W. 1
• Parties: SNIPES et al. v. BOMAR COTTON OIL CO.
• Court: Texas Supreme Court

Page 1

161 S.W. 1

SNIPES et al. v. BOMAR COTTON OIL CO.

Supreme Court of Texas.

December 10, 1913.

Error to Court of Civil Appeals of Sixth Supreme Judicial District.

Action by Mrs. Agnes Snipes and others against the Bomar Cotton Oil Company. A judgment for defendant on demurrer was affirmed by the Court of Civil Appeals (137 S. W. 428), and plaintiffs bring error. Affirmed.

Potter, Culp & Culp, of Gainesville, and Jas. T. Miller, of Dallas, for plaintiffs in error. Davis & Thomason and Garnett & Garnett, all of Gainesville, and Walter F. Seay, of Dallas, for defendant in error.

BROWN, C. J.

We copy from the opinion of the Court of Civil Appeals the following statement: "The suit is by the wife and children of James A. Snipes to recover the damages suffered on account of his death. The court sustained a general demurrer to the petition, and, upon the appellants declining to amend, judgment was entered in favor of the appellee. The ruling of the court in sustaining the demurrer is made the basis of the assignment for error. The petition alleged the facts to be that James A. Snipes was employed by appellee as an engineer to run and operate the engine and machinery at its cotton oil mill. The engine was set on a cement base, which was about six inches wider on the side than the engine, and about six inches higher than the surrounding floor of the room. In order to reach and oil the knuckle, or eccentric, on the engine, it was necessary and required that the engineer should stand on this extended space of the cement base upon which the engine rested. Connected to the engine by a shaft was a large drivewheel, which revolved with great rapidity and force. It was situated to the north and near the engine, and extended farther west than the engine. The space between the engine and the wheel was used as a passageway in performing duties about the machinery. This wheel revolved partly above the floor of the room and partly below the floor. To enable the wheel to properly revolve below the floor, an opening was made in the floor, and there was excavated beneath a pit just large enough for the wheel to have clear space in its revolutions. The opening in the floor on the side of the wheel was about fourteen inches, and was safeguarded by an iron rail, about four feet high, running across the middle of the same. It was alleged that Snipes had worked about the machinery and engine and room for about ten days before his death, and had frequently stepped upon and occupied the extension of the cement base to oil and handle the eccentric, as was his duty, and constantly used the passageway for his work. It is alleged that on October 15, 1909, `the said James A. Snipes, acting prudently and in the performance of his duty, went between the engine and the drivewheel and pit, and his feet slipped under him on the broken, uneven, and greasy floor, and he was precipitated into the unprotected pit around said...