McKenzie v. North Coast Colliery Co.

Citations

• 55 Wash. 495
• 104 P. 801
• 1909 Wash. LEXIS 789

Syllabus

<p>Appeal — Review—Verdicts. The verdict of a jury upon conflicting evidence is conclusive on appeal.</p> <p>Master and Servant — Assumption of Risks — Safe Place. Coal miners, who are paid extra for work in putting in props to protect the safety of the place, do not assume the risk of insufficient props where the work was done under the direction and control of a pit boss whose duty it was to supervise and inspect the work.</p> <p>Same — Coal Mines. The duty of a master to supply a safe place in which to work applies to a coal mine where the miners put in props to secure safety under the direction and control of a pit boss who supervised and inspected the work.</p> <p>Same — Contributory Negligence — Assumption of Risks — Safe Place. A coal miner is not guilty of contributory negligence and does not assume the risk of the unsafety of the place in which he works, where injury resulted from a condition at another place, and could have been discovered only by an examination which it was not his duty to make.</p> <p>Same — Safe Place — Duty of Inspection- — Pleading and Proof. Under a complaint by a coal miner for negligence in not supplying a safe place to work, the walls of the mine having fallen in, evidence as to the master’s duty to make an inspection is admissible, since the duty to furnish a safe place necessarily requires inspection.</p> <p>Same — Fellow Servants — Pit Boss and Miners. A pit boss in a coal mine is not a fellow servant, but is a vice principal, of miners with reference to the putting in of props under his direction and control.</p> <p>Same — Safe Place — Preparation by Other Servants. While the master is not an insurer, a coal miner working in one- battery, and injured by the fall of walls in another battery where the propping was negligently done by other miners, may recover on the theory that the master guarantees the safety of the place to work prepared by him.</p> <p>Appeal — Review—Instructions Requested by Appellant. An appellant cannot co