Hitchman v. Kerbaugh, Inc.

Citations

• 242 Pa. 582
• 89 A. 669
• 1914 Pa. LEXIS 696

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Master and servant — Explosion of boiler — Burden of proof.</p> <p>1. In an action to recover damages for the death of plaintiff’s husband occasioned by the explosion of a boiler alleged to be the property of and at the time of the accident used by the defendant company, the case was properly taken from the jury where all that appeared by the plaintiff’s case was that the deceased was a fireman employed by the defendant company and was working around the boiler at the time of the explosion; that it was not clear whether the defendant owned or operated the particular boiler that exploded, but that there was at least one other contractor or subcontractor on the ground to whom, under the proofs, the exploded boiler might have belonged; that there was some doubt as to whether the boiler examined by an expert witness for the plaintifE ten days after the accident, and a quarter of a mile away from the place of the explosion, was in fact the boiler which caused the injury; that the evidence as to the condition of the boiler was very meagre, not showing how long it had been used, or for what purposes, or that it had not been properly inspected; that it was probable, according to the testimony of an expert witness for the plaintiff, that the explosion was occasioned by failure of deceased to keep the boiler supplied with water, or by “the sudden introduction of cold water to a hot crown sheet,” and that it was unlikely, according to the testimony of such witness, that the explosion was occasioned by reason of the boiler having been patched.</p> <p>Evidence — Negligence—Declarations—Bes gestae.</p> <p>2. In an action to recover damages for the death of plaintiff’s husband, caused by the explosion of a boiler, proof that deceased, in answer to a question as to how the explosion occurred, replied “God only knows; I had plenty of water and plenty of steam” lacked the essential elements to make it admissible as a declaration constituting part of the res gestee, an