Young's Adm'r v. Farmers & Depositors Bank
| Decision Date | 23 March 1937 |
| Citation | 267 Ky. 845,103 S.W.2d 667 |
| Parties | YOUNG'S ADM'R v. FARMERS & DEPOSITORS BANK. |
| Court | Kentucky Court of Appeals |
Appeal from Circuit Court, Jefferson County, Common Pleas Branch First Division.
Action by Edward A. Young's Administrator against the Farmers & Depositors Bank. Judgment for defendant, and plaintiff appeals.
Affirmed.
W. A Hubbard, of Louisville, for appellant.
Woodward, Dawson & Hobson, of Louisville, for appellee.
STANLEY Commissioner.
Upon a directed verdict, judgment was rendered for the defendant, the Farmers & Depositors Bank, in this suit by the administrator of the estate of Edward A. Young to recover damages for his death, alleged to have been caused by the bank's negligence.
On May 21, 1935, Butler, the proprietor of a plumbing establishment, and a representative of the gas company, went to the bank in St. Matthews to investigate what was thought to be a gas leak in the basement. At that time there was about 18 inches of water in the basement being pumped out by a fire engine. A peculiar odor, which seemed not to be of natural gas, but of gasoline or some other substance, was easily detected. Some small greasy or oily spots with a peculiar odor were found on the water. A gallon can was floating about which smelled as strong as the substance on the water. A very careful examination of the natural gas piping was made, but no leak was found in the basement. The tests did disclose that somewhere in the system other than in the basement there was a small leakage. It was then thought to be on the second floor, and was later discovered to have been there. This leakage, however, was so insignificant as not to be dangerous, and the cashier of the bank was so advised. Butler reported to him that he thought there had been some oil or something of the kind in the can, but there was no danger from it. However, if was later learned that this was a can used by the janitor for his mop, and it had never contained any explosive liquid. But Mulloy, the gas company's inspector, advised Butler and one of the bank's directors that, while there was no gas escaping, the substance on the water was dangerous. At that time an open grating in the pavement afforded ventilation for the basement.
Six days later, on Monday, May 27, when Brady, the colored janitor, went to the bank to open it, the fumes from the basement were very strong. He opened the transoms and when Mr. Nelson, the cashier, arrived, Brady told him of the gas and cautioned him and the assistant cashier not to strike any matches. Nelson, he testified, immediately called Butler, the plumber. This witness says that Mr. Nelson first talked to a woman and then to Butler and informed them there was water in the basement and the odor of gas there, and asked that some one be sent immediately. However, Butler's bookkeeper testified that only she talked with Mr. Nelson and that his request was to send some one to pump out the water. She was most positive that he said nothing whatever about the odor or presence of gas.
O'Leary a master plumber employee, first went to the bank and then returned to the shop. Butler went back with him. There was four or five feet of water in the basement. Butler testified that he smelled no gas. He had gone to the foot of the steps and instructed O'Leary about connecting the pump to one of the furnace pipes. It appears Nelson, the cashier, was there with him. O'Leary again returned to the shop and came back with the deceased Young as a helper. He had never been in the basement before that morning, and, so far as he knew, neither had Young. The entrance was through the bank's office. He went there, he testified, for no purpose other than to pump out the water. O'Leary further testified that no one suggested the presence of danger or of gas, but when he went into the basement on his first trip he smelled a faint odor of gas. After putting up a temporary scaffold and getting back on the furnace boiler to work, the fumes were stronger. He related that his knowledge as a plumber was that where there is an odor there is gas, but not necessarily enough to explode, and sometimes...
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