Tomczak v. Susquehanna Coal Co.

Citations

• 250 Pa. 325
• 95 A. 465
• 1915 Pa. LEXIS 944

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Mines and mining — Unprotected shaft — Breach of statutory requirement — Evidence—Res gestae.</p> <p>1. In the trial of an action to recover damages for injuries sustained by plaintiff, through his having been struck by a falling object, while working in an unprotected shaft of defendant company, evidence was properly admitted of a statement made by plaintiff immediately, or within a very few minutes, after he was discovered, asserting that he had been struck by a lump of coal that fell through the shaft.</p> <p>2. In an action to recover damages for personal injuries sustained by plaintiff in consequence of his having been struck by a falling object, while working at the bottom of a shaft in defendant’s coal mine, the question as to whether plaintiff was injured by reason of defendant’s failure to provide a sufficient covering for the shaft as required by statute was for the jury and a verdict for the plaintiff was sustained, where it appeared that the covering for the shaft did not extend over the entire platform but left an unprotected margin from 12 to 18 inches on each side; that the wound which plaintiff received was of such a character that it might have been caused by a piece of coal falling down the shaft; that coal dust was found in the wound; that pieces of coal were permitted to lie about the surface at the mouth of the shaft, and that immediately upon the discovery of the plaintiff, following the accident, or within a few minutes thereafter, he stated .that he had been struck by a lump of coal, which fell through the shaft.</p>