Law v. Central Dist. Printing & Telegraph Co.

Citations

• 140 F. 558
• 1905 U.S. App. LEXIS 4814

Syllabus

<p>1. Master and Servant — Injury of Servant — Negligence and Contributory Negligence.</p> <p>Plaintiff, who was in the employ of defendant telephone company as cable splicer, was sent by a superior in the daytime to locate and repair an injury to the cable sheathing which had been reported. He climbed a pole which stood at a place where the street curved and between two lines of electric light wire, the outer one of which had been fastened on a bracket to the telephone pole to hold it from swinging against such pole and wires. This wire had become detached from the insulator and had dropped against the pole, and was in contact with a guy wire, and plaintiff, taking hold of such guy wire, received a shock which caused him to fall, and he was injured. The displacement of the light wire could not be observed from the ground, and the placing of the pole between the light wires and the manner in which the light wire was fastened to the same were shown to have been usual and customary. Held, that defendant was not chargeable with negligence, either because of such mode of construction or.for failing to discover the dangerous condition of the wire, which could not have been done by the usual methods of inspection. Held, further, that plaintiff was guilty of negligence contributing, to his injury in failing to see and avoid the danger after he had climbed to the place of contact of the two wires.</p> <p>2. Same — Place to Work — Measure oe Care Required.</p> <p>A master is bound to the exercise of only reasonable care with respect to machinery, appliances, or places to work, and the measure of such care is that ordinarily exercised by others in the same business.</p> <p>TEd. Note. — For eases in point, see vol. 34, Cent. Dig. Master and Servant, §§ 173, 178, 179.]</p>