Wojciechowski v. Spreckels' Sugar Refining Co.

Citations

• 177 Pa. 57
• 35 A. 596
• 1896 Pa. LEXIS 950

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Master and servant — Evidence—Presumption.</p> <p>In an action by a servant against a master to recover damages for personal injuries, mere proof of the fact of the accident is not sufficient to warrant a recovery, but some specific negligence on the part of the master must be shown.</p> <p>In an action by an employee of a sugar refining company against his employer to recover damages for personal injuries, it appeared that it was plaintiff’s duty to empty bags of sugar upon a grating in a floor so that the sugar might be precipitated upon a screw conveyor which pushed it forward into a pan. The receptacle into which the sugar was dumped was a long box, the sides of which were composed of planks fifteen inches high, and at the bottom was a grating of iron bars two and a half inches apart, about half an inch thick, and about two and a half feet in length. The sugar was brought to the workman engaged in dumping, on trucks in bags, and two men lifted the bags and turned out the sugar into the dump. Plaintiff testified that he put one foot on the grate bars and the other foot on the outside, and while standing in that position with his foot crosswise the bars, the bars sank down, and let his foot through, and it was caught in the machinery below. No proof was offered to show that the bars were bent out of their position either before or after the accident, or that they were broken. No proof was made that the bars were not strong enough to hold the plaintiff’s weight, or that there was any defect in the material of which they were made. Held, that the evidence was insufficient to sustain a judgment on a verdict for plaintiff.</p> <p>Negligence — Release of damages.</p> <p>In an action by an employee against his employer the defendant offered a release of damages for a valuable consideration properly and formally executed and attested. The evidence showed that the release was both read and explained to the plaintiff in his own language, and that the plaint