Majority
Headnote
Defendant having discovered that two boilers which it had purchased with guaranty were defective, notified the vendor to repair them. 0., plaintiff’s intestate, was sent with others to make the repairs, their instructions being when the work was done, “ to fire the boilers up and test them.” When the repairs were substantially completed, ÍT-, defendant’s engineer, put fire under the boilers ; one of them exploded and 0. was.killed. In an action Í to recover damages,' it did not appear at whose request the fire was started. Held, that it was to be presumed it was either at the request of those intrusted with the work of repair for the purpose of making the test, or that the service was voluntarily rendered by N.; at any event, that it was not rendered by him as the servant of. defendant, and it was not responsible for the act.This action was brought to recover damages for the death of Joseph Olive caused by the explosion of a steam boiler owned by the defendant at Gouverneur in this State. The material facts are as follows : The defendant bought two boilers of the Watertown Steam Engine Company in September or 'October, 1883. They were placed side by side to furnish power for the same machinery and were used until May 3, 1884, when the southerly boiler exploded. The vendor guaranteed that the boilers should be good, constructed in first-class manner, and of good material. Shortly before the explosion, the defendant discovered that there were defects in the boilers and notified the vendor thereof and requested it to repair them. In compliance with this request, and to fulfill its contract and guaranty with the defendant, the vendor sent from Watertown one Heslop, the foreman of its boiler-sliop, and one Dashno, a boiler maker, to make the necessary repairs upon the boilers. They examined them and found that they leaked steam and needed calking and some new rivets .and bolts. Heslop told Dashno what to do and that he should have the boilers fired up and steam on and examine them thoroughly and not leave them until every thing was perfect and right. He then returned to Watertown and had some bolts made and sent Olive, a boiler-maker, who had been in the employ of the vendor for many years, with the bolts to Gouverneur with instructions to aid Dashno in making the repairs, and told him “ to help get the rivets driven and see that every thing was all right before he came home and left the boilers; to fire the boilers up and test them before he came home and see that every thing was all right.”
The plaintiff claims that Newcomb was both unskillful and careless and that the defendant is responsible for his acts. There was no proof whatever that the defendant had any notice that he was unskillful or that he was in fact unskillful. There is no proof whatever or just inference that he was then acting for the defendant. The vendor had undertaken on its own account to make these repairs, and then to test the boilers to see if the repairs were adequate; and it must be presumed, in the absence of proof on the part of the plaintiff who has the burden of establishing his case, that Newcomb either volunteered to aid the boiler-makers or was requested by them to aid in making the tests. In either event, he was not the servant of the defendant in what he did, and it did not become responsible for his acts.
But we should reach the same conclusion on this branch of the case,- if we assumed that N ewcomb was the servant of the
But the plaintiff also claims that the boiler which exploded was in an improper and unsafe condition, and that on account thereof the defendant is liable for the accident. It did not owe the same duty to Olive which would have been due to an employe into whose hands the boiler was placed for use. To such an employe it would have owed the duty of reasonable care and diligence to see to it that the boiler was in a safe and proper condition for use. Olive was there to repair this boiler, and if the accident occurred from any of the defects which the vendor, his employer, was bound to repair, no responsibility was thereby cast upon the defendant. Olive assumed all the risks incident to such defects. If there had been any concealed, dangerous defects known to the defendant, it would have been bound to notify the boiler-makers of them. But it did not guarantee that the boiler was safe. It does not appear that any one had knowledge of any concealed defects in the boiler making it dangerous. It was new—had been used but a few months and had been cleaned every two weeks. There is no evidence
We are, therefore, of opinion that the nonsuit was proper, and that the judgment should be affirmed, with costs.
All concur.
Judgment affirmed, with costs.
Cases cited
- Foot v. Bentley 44 N. Y. 166 p. 293
- Bacon v. Gilman 57 N. Y. 656 p. 293
- Hurd v. Cook 75 N. Y. 454 p. 293
- Dutchess Co. v. Harding 49 N. Y. 321 p. 293
- Rust v. Eckler 41 N. Y. 488 p. 293
- Kiernan v. Rocheleau 6 Bosw. 148 p. 293
- Gillespie v. Torrance 25 N. Y. 306 p. 293
- Day v. Pool 52 N. Y. 416 p. 293
- Ackart v. Lansing 48 How. Pr. 374 p. 293
- Swords v. Edgar 59 N. Y. 28 p. 294
- Wisser v. O'brien 44 How. Pr. 209 p. 294
- Jordan v. National Shoe & Leather Bank 74 N. Y. 467 at 471 p. 294
- McDonald v. North 47 Barb. 530 p. 294, p. 298
- Booth v. Bunce 31 N. Y. 246 at 251 p. 294, p. 298
- Osgood v. Toole 60 N. Y. 475 p. 294, p. 298
- Brown v. Cayuga & Susquehanna Railroad 12 N. Y. 486 p. 294
- Paige v. Fazackerly 36 Barb. 392 p. 294, p. 298
- Coon v. Syracuse & Utica Railroad 5 N. Y. 492 p. 294
- Svenson v. Atlantic Mail Steamship Co. 57 N. Y. 108 p. 295
- Smith v. New York & Harlem Railroad 19 N. Y. 127 p. 295
- Blair v. Erie Railway Co. 66 N. Y. 313 p. 295
- Yeomans v. Contra Costa Steam Navigation Co. 44 Cal. 71 p. 295
- Blake v. Ferris 5 N. Y. 48 p. 295
- Schular v. Hudson River Rail Road 38 Barb. 653 p. 295
- Town of Pierrepont v. Loveless 72 N. Y. 211 p. 295
- Quinn v. Power 87 N. Y. 535 p. 295
- Peck v. New York Central & Hudson River Railroad 70 N. Y. 587 p. 295
- Mott v. Consumers' Ice Company 73 N. Y. 543 p. 295
- Seybolt v. New York, Lake Erie & Western Railroad 95 N. Y. 562 p. 295
- Walker v. Erie Railway Co. 63 Barb. 260 p. 296
- Curtis v. Rochester & Syracuse Railroad 18 N. Y. 534 p. 296
- Caldwell v. New Jersey Steamboat Co. 47 N. Y. 282 at 293 p. 296
- Caldwell v. New Jersey Steamboat Co. 56 Barb. 425 p. 296
- Hart v. Hudson River Bridge Co. 80 N. Y. 622 p. 296, p. 297
- Althorf v. Wolfe 22 N. Y. 355 p. 296
- Simons v. Monier 29 Barb. 419 p. 296
- Hawley v. Northern Central Railway Co. 82 N. Y. 370 p. 296
- Durkin v. Sharp 88 N. Y. 225 p. 296
- Stackus v. New York Central & Hudson River Railroad 79 N. Y. 464 p. 296
- In re the Final Accounting Hayt 92 N. Y. 628 p. 296, p. 297
- Devlin v. Smith 89 N. Y. 470 at 475 p. 297
- Robinson v. New York Central & Hudson River Railroad 66 N. Y. 11 p. 297
- Robinson v. New York Central & Hudson River Railroad 65 Barb. 146 p. 297
- Spooner v. Brooklyn City Railroad Co. 54 N. Y. 230 p. 297
- Ellis v. New York, Lake Erie & Western Railroad 95 N. Y. 546 p. 297
- Dyer v. Erie Railway Co. 71 N. Y. 228 p. 297
- Robinson v. Wheeler 25 N. Y. 252 p. 297
- Smith v. Lippincott 49 Barb. 398 p. 297
- Rose v. Bell 38 Barb. 25 p. 297
- Dubois v. Beaver 25 N. Y. 123 p. 297
- Poirer v. Fisher 8 Bosw. 258 p. 298
- Underhill v. New York & Harlem Rail Road 21 Barb. 489 p. 298
- Stanton v. Wetherwax 16 Barb. 259 p. 298
- Jencks v. Smith 1 N. Y. 90 at 94 p. 298
- McCafferty v. Duyvil & Port Morris Railroad 61 N. Y. 178 p. 298
- Wright v. New York Central Railroad 25 N. Y. 562 p. 298
- Ferguson v. Hubbell 97 N. Y. 507 p. 299