Johansen v. Pioneer Mining Co.

Citations

• 77 Wash. 421
• 137 P. 1019
• 1914 Wash. LEXIS 916

Syllabus

<p>Master and Servant — Injury to Servant — Employment of Negligent Foreman — Evidence—Sufficiency. Tbe negligence of a mine owner in employing and retaining a careless and negligent foreman is a question for tbe jury, where there was evidence that the foreman had, on several occasions, been negligent in his work and had a general reputation for carelessness in and about the mine and where he had previously worked.</p> <p>Same — Employment of Negligent Foreman — Evidence—Reputation — Admissibility. In an action for injuries caused by the employment of a negligent foreman, it is admissible to show numerous specific independent acts of negligence on the part of the foreman together with a general reputation for carelessness.</p> <p>Same — Negligence — Appliances — Signal System — Evidence— Sufficiency. In an action for personal injuries sustained by a miner, being elevated out of the mine, when the signal service failed to work, the negligence of the master in failing to maintain a safe appliance for signals is for the jury, where it appears that the bell cord was slack and without sufficient supports, so that, when three bells were given in the mine, the first pulls were not sufficient to ring the bell, and but one bell was rung, causing the engineer to mistake the signal and so run the elevator as to injure the plaintiff, and that this condition was known to the foreman for some time.</p> <p>Same — Assumption op Risks — Unsafe Ways — Evidence — Sufficiency. A miner, riding out of the mine on top or the elevator, as directed by the foreman, does not assume the risk from having adopted a perilous way out, when he might have adopted a safe way by climbing a ladder, where it was customary for men to ride out on the elevator, in which case it was stopped at the surface, and it would not have been dangerous if the elevator had been stopped at the surface according to the signal given, and the plaintiff did not know of the danger.</p> <p>Same — Employment of Incompetent Se