Storrs v. Michigan Starch Co.
| Decision Date | 21 May 1901 |
| Citation | 126 Mich. 666,86 N.W. 134 |
| Court | Michigan Supreme Court |
| Parties | STORRS v. MICHIGAN STARCH CO. |
Error to circuit court, Grand Traverse county; Frederick W. Mayne Judge.
Action by Addison E. Storrs against the Michigan Starch Company. From a judgment in favor of plaintiff, defendant brings error. Reversed.
W. H. Foster, for appellant.
Parm C Gilbert (Harry E. Hooker, of counsel), for appellee.
Plaintiff while at work for defendant, was injured by coming in contact with some of its machinery. For these injuries he sued the defendant and recovered a judgment. The case is brought here by writ of error. According to the testimony of plaintiff, he was 22 years of age when he received his injuries. For seven years he had worked in a basket factory, making baskets upon a form. There was some machinery in this factory, but plaintiff says he did not work in that part of the building where the machinery was. He also worked about three weeks in a sawmill, carrying slabs from a slitting saw. He worked for defendant about a month, first on the second floor, and then on the first floor, before he was put to the employment where he received his hurt. He disclaimed upon the trial any knowledge of machinery. Two or three days before he was hurt he was put in charge of six shakers, and that portion of a conveyor which they supplied. These shakers were sieves having an inclination of about three inches. They were separated by an alley between them. A continuous supply through slides came to them, at the upper side, of ground potato pulp. The supply was regulated by opening or shutting slides. A quick motion was imparted to these sieves, and the starchy part of the potatoes passed through the sieves, while the more solid portions of the potatoes passed over the surface of the sieves or shakers, and dropped from the lower edge thereof into a long square box, called a 'conveyor,' the open upper side of which was a little lower than the lowest portion of the sieves. This was a long box running in front of all the shakers. It was about seven inches wide, and running the entire length of it was a spiral conveyor or screw, which revolved; and, as a result of its revolutions, the pulp which fell into the box was conveyed to a tank at the end of the conveyor. To prevent the pulp from clogging on the sieves, and to facilitate the separation of the starch from the mass, it was necessary for the operator to thump upon the sieves, and also to throw, by means of a hose, water upon them. There was also a tendency on the part of the pulp after it reached the conveyor to clog, and then accumulate and run over the box upon the floor. This tendency was remedied by also throwing water, by means of the hose, upon the pulp in the conveyor. The plaintiff says the top of the conveyor was but 13 or 14 inches from the floor. The man who planned and constructed it testifies it was 17 inches from the floor. The top of the revolving screw was a little ways below the top of the box. To pass from one of the alleys between the shakers to another, it was necessary for the workman to step over the conveyor. Upon the morning plaintiff was hired, the foreman went with him to the place where he was at work, and showed him how to do the work, passing from one shaker to the other, and stepping over the conveyor as he did so, showing him...
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