Taggart v. Industrial Commission of Utah

• Decision Date: 18 June 1932
• Docket Number: 5281
• Citation: 79 Utah 598,12 P.2d 356
• Court: Utah Supreme Court
• Parties: TAGGART v. INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION OF UTAH et al

12 P.2d 356

79 Utah 598

TAGGART v. INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION OF UTAH et al

No. 5281

Supreme Court of Utah

June 18, 1932

Proceedings under the Workmen's Compensation Act by Mrs Adelgunda Taggart for the death of James H. Taggart, her husband, opposed by the Sperry Flour Company, employer, and the Ocean Accident & Guarantee Corporation, insurer. The Industrial Commission of Utah denied claimant's application, and she brings an original proceeding in the Supreme Court to review its order.

AFFIRMED.

C. R Hollingsworth, of Ogden, for plaintiff.

Geo. P. Parker, Atty. Gen., and Bagley, Judd & Ray, of Salt Lake City, for defendants.

WOLFE, District Judge. STRAUP, ELIAS HANSEN, FOLLAND, and EPHRAIM HANSON, JJ., concur. CHERRY, C. J., did not Participate.

OPINION

WOLFE, District Judge.

James H. Taggart died on April 27, 1931. His widow, the petitioner, Adelgunda Taggart, filed her application with the Industrial Commission claiming compensation for the death of her husband. This was on the ground that on August 11, 1928, he suffered an accident while in the course of his employment resulting in a hemorrhage of the nose involving a great loss of blood, which in turn weakened the heart muscles, from which weakened condition of the heart death resulted. It transpired from the evidence that Taggart worked for the Sperry Flour Company since 1920; that from that date until August, 1928, he had apparently been in good health and had no serious illnesses; that he weighed over 200 pounds at the time of his hemorrhage. At that time he was engaged in sifting phosphate which was to be mixed with self-rising flour; that for about a year previous to the hemorrhage he had been sifting phosphate several times a day for comparatively brief intervals; that there is always a certain amount of flour dust and other dust in a flour mill; that phosphate in this case meant calcium acid phosphate consisting of about 98 per cent phosphate calcium which caused, or was likely to cause, some irritation of the nose and respiratory tract as also did flour dust to some extent. Upon the day in question the deceased suffered a severe hemorrhage bleeding profusely from the nose. It is a fair conclusion from all the evidence that the hemorrhage indirectly caused or contributed to the death. The question is: Was the hemorrhage due to an accident arising out of or in the course of the employment?

The doctor testified that the hemorrhage was caused by an ulcer about two-thirds of the distance from the end of the nose to the top of the septum in the right nostril; that blood came from at least two blood vessels. Dr. Harding gave it as his opinion that the constant use of phosphate had dried the mucous membrane and that in a man of his age perhaps one of the small blood vessels was near the surface of the mucous membrane; that repetition of drying out the membrane and dilation of the small blood vessel due to blowing the nose burst the vessel. There was no direct evidence as to whether the bleeding had been caused by picking or blowing the nose or by sneezing, or by some other circumstance, although Dr. Harding testified that the deceased had stated that he felt all the time that he wanted to blow something out of his nose but there was nothing there. Dr. Donoher testified that in his opinion a single inhalation of calcium phosphate could not have caused the perforating ulcer, but that the development covered a considerable period of time; that the mucous membranes farthest from the blood supply would be attacked first by the dust and phosphate in the air at those places where...