Tsoulufas v. National Enameling & Stamping Co.

• Decision Date: 06 July 1909
• Citation: 139 Mo. App. 141,120 S.W. 1188
• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals
• Parties: TSOULUFAS v. NATIONAL ENAMELING & STAMPING CO. et al.

120 S.W. 1188

139 Mo. App. 141

TSOULUFAS v. NATIONAL ENAMELING & STAMPING CO. et al.

St. Louis Court of Appeals. Missouri.

July 6, 1909.

1. MASTER AND SERVANT (§ 97)—INJURIES TO SERVANT—PROXIMATE CAUSE.

To recover for injuries alleged to have resulted from a defective spring in a metal stamping machine, it must appear probable that the defective spring operated proximately in a natural and continuing sequence to produce the injury.

2. MASTER AND SERVANT (§ 129)—INJURY TO SERVANT—PROXIMATE CAUSE.

If a servant working with a metal stamping machine was performing the two acts of removing the stamped metal with his right hand, which a defective spring intended to perform that office made necessary, and of inserting new metal under the die with his left hand at the same instant, and the removing of the stamped metal was impeded by the defective spring so as to injure his left hand while inserting the new metal, the defective spring was the proximate cause of the injury.

3. MASTER AND SERVANT (§ 296)—INJURIES TO SERVANT—INSTRUCTIONS.

In an action by a servant for injuries from a defective spring, where the evidence showed that the servant called the foreman and complained that the spring was not in good condition, and that the foreman stood behind the servant a few seconds and noticed that he was losing time because the spring did not lift, it sufficiently appeared that the foreman saw that the spring failed to perform its duty, and the servant was entitled to a charge submitting the question as to whether he had informed the foreman of the defective condition of the machine and directed his attention to the spring.

Appeal from St. Louis Circuit Court; Geo. H. Shields, Judge.

Personal injury action by Tamis Tsoulufas against the National Enameling & Stamping Company and another. Judgment for plaintiff, and defendants appeal. Affirmed.

Jones, Jones, Hocker & Davis, for appellants. Jas. P. Kerr, Bounds E. Hamilton, and Frank J. Wiget, for respondent.

NORTONI, J.

This is a suit for damages alleged to have accrued to plaintiff on account of personal injuries received through the negligence of the defendants. Plaintiff recovered, and defendants appeal.

At the time of his injury, plaintiff was in the employ of the defendant the National Enameling & Stamping Company, and the defendant Woerheide was foreman, exercising the authority of the master over plaintiff's movements. The National Enameling & Stamping Company is a corporation, engaged in manufacturing stamped and pressed tin, granite, and other metal ware. At the time of his injuries, plaintiff was engaged in operating a machine in the stamping or pressing of what is termed "stovepipe collars." These stovepipe collars were pressed from light metal resembling tin or sheet-iron, and used for the purpose of encircling ordinary stovepipes at the point where they enter the wall or flue. The machine consisted of a lower die and a plunger, which descended thereon into the same. It was operated by steam power, and made eight impressions per minute. It was plaintiff's duty to stand in front of this machine and insert some three or four plates of metal therein by laying them evenly upon the lower die during the interim the plunger was ascending, and before it descended to make the impression. After the impression on the several sheets of metal had been made by the descending plunger, it was the duty of the plaintiff to remove the finished product or impressed stovepipe collar from the machine with his right, and insert three or four new sheets of metal with his left hand, to the end another impression should be made when the plunger descended. As stated, the machine made eight impressions per minute. This consumed 7½ seconds for the plunger to descend, make the impression upon the material resting upon the die, and ascend for another operation. It ran continuously after starting, and the plaintiff was required to prosecute his calling with diligence and dispatch. As parcel of this machine, and imbedded in the lower die thereof, on which rested the sheets of metal while the impression was being made by the descending plunger, there were three spiral steel springs for the purpose of lifting and throwing out of the die the finished product as the plunger descended or receded from making the impression. The allegation of negligence relied upon in the petition is that the defendant had suffered one of the three steel springs mentioned to become defective in that it failed to perform its office. That is to say, that one of the springs referred to refused to operate and lift one side of the completed stovepipe collars from the die after the impression was made, and therefore the other two springs, in performing their function, partly lifted the completed collars out of the die in such a crooked or twisted manner as to impede plaintiff's operations, and required him to use his hand at times in aid of the defective spring. By reason of this fact, while plaintiff was at the same time removing the finished collar and inserting several new sheets for impression, the operation was so impeded by means of the defective spring as to cause the fingers of his left hand to be caught and crushed beneath the descending plunger. And that ...