Steffenson v. Roehr Co.
| Decision Date | 01 February 1909 |
| Citation | 116 S.W. 451,136 Mo.App. 225 |
| Parties | CHRISTOPHER G. STEFFENSON, Respondent, v. THE ROEHR COMPANY, Appellant |
| Court | Kansas Court of Appeals |
Appeal from Jackson Circuit Court.--Hon. James H. Slover, Judge.
REVERSED.
Judgment reversed.
S. M Hutchison for appellant.
(1) There was a total failure to prove, and the jury did not find that the servant Kincaid had committed any act of negligence on his part, and, in the absence of such proof and finding there could be no recovery against the Roehr Company in this kind of an action. Doremus v. Root, 23 Wash. 719, 63 P. 572; McGinnis v. Railroad, 200 Mo. 347; Delaplain v. Kansas City, 109 Mo.App. 107; Stevick v. Railroad, 39 Wash. 501, 81 P. 999. (2) The evidence shows that any injuries received by plaintiff were directly caused by his own negligence and the negligence of his fellow-servants. Herbert v. Wiggins Ferry Co., 107 Mo.App. 287; Bowen v. Railway, 95 Mo 268; Kelly v. Narcross, 121 Mass. 508; Killea v Faxon, 125 Mass. 485; Ross v. Walker, 139 Pa. St. 42.
The plaintiff was guilty of negligence on his part which directly contributed to his injury. Sindlinger v. Kansas City, 126 Mo. 315; Holwerson v. Railroad, 157 Mo. L. C. 230; Moore v. Railroad, 146 Mo. 572; Dunphy v. Stock Yards Co., 118 Mo.App. L. C. 519; Hulett v. Railroad, 67 Mo. L. C. 241; Shore v. Bridge Co., 111 Mo.App. l. c. 289; 1 Bailey on Personal Injuries relating to Master and Servant, 1121.
Laughlin & Kenworthy, for respondent, submitted an argument.
Plaintiff was an employee of defendant as a carpenter. He was injured while engaged in such service and brought this action for damages. He recovered a judgment for two thousand dollars.
The work consisted in putting on finish in the interior of a large banking building in Kansas City, and it was in charge of one Kincaid as defendant's representative and foreman of the work. Plaintiff was a witness in his own behalf. He stated that he and one Beals worked together. He called him his "partner,"--and that he, Beals and another were engaged in putting on some finish lumber around a hallway up near the ceiling and that it required scaffolding, for them to stand upon, of between seven and eight feet in height. This scaffolding was constructed by placing two "horses" or trestles near the wall about fifteen feet apart, and then putting two boards thereon about sixteen feet long, ten to twelve inches in width and two inches thick. These were braced or strengthened near the center by putting under them a piece of pine timber, one inch thick and six inches wide, one end being tacked to the boards and the other resting on the floor. All three were on the scaffold, Beals near one end, the other man near the other end and himself in the center. They were endeavoring to get a piece of lumber, about fourteen feet long, in a place prepared for it to fit into. It was a little too large, or, as expressed by plaintiff, it fit too tight near the center, and plaintiff was endeavoring to force it in place. He placed a large chisel under it by which he "pried it up" with one hand, and hammered it with a hammer with the other hand. In thus prying with the chisel it threw more pressure on the scaffold, and the brace and one of the boards broke, whereby he fell to the floor, the other two falling on top of him, seriously injuring him. The board broke in the center where there was a defect made by a knot, which could not be seen by casual examination on account of being covered with dry plastering. The plank, though defective by reason of the knot, could not have given way but for the breaking of the small support or brace underneath it, and that also was found to have a small knot in it.
According to Beals, who was a witness for plaintiff, several days before, when the foreman set them to work, he said to them (speaking directly to Beal) that there was scaffold material,--"you gentlemen select your own material and build these scaffolds for the work." Plaintiff endeavors to show that there was not enough proper material; but that there...
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