Johnson v. Netherlands American Steam Navigation Co. — 32 N.Y. St. Rep. 916

Majority

p. 916

Frank Johnson, Resp’t, v. The Netherlands American Steam Navigation Co., App’lt.

(Supreme Court, General Term, Second Department

Filed July 18, 1890.)

Headnote

Master and servant — Negligence.

Plaintiff was employed by a stevedore, who. was engaged in unloading a vessel for defendant, which was to furnish power and men to apply it. Plaintiff was arranging the rope on the axle of the winch and told the men working it to come back, but they went forward and more rope was wound on the axle, catching plaintiff’s fingers and injuring them. . Reid, that the injury was caused by the negligence of defendant’s servants, and that it was liable.

Appeal from judgment in favor of plaintiff, entered on the verdict of a jury, and from order denying motion for a new trial on the minutes.

J. A. Shoudy, for app’lt; Charles J. Patterson, for resp’t

The facts of this case are very simple. The company hired a stevedore to unload its vessel. The company was to furnish the power and the men to apply the power. The vessel was unloaded by a rope which passed around a steam winch, and thereby the burden was lifted from the hold of the vessel and deposited on the dock. On the occasion of the accident the rope slipped out of the drum of the winch and became useless to couple the elevator of the particular burden upon the rope or fall. The plaintiff, who was an employee of the stevedore, endeavored to disentangle the rope when it became slackened by reason of a reversal of the winch. The plaintiff held the rope on the axle of the winch so as to get it on the winch when the tangle was removed. At the proper time the plaintiff gave word to the men at the winch to come back. The process would have remedied the difficulty, but the order was not heeded and the winch went forward, the effect of which was to wind

p. 917

more rope on the drum instead of freeing it from the disarranged coils. The motion forward caused more rope to suddenly wind on the drum, and the plaintiff’s fingers were caught and drawn between the rope and drum, and he was injured. The man at .the winch was the servant of the defendant. Sanford v. Standard Oil Co., 118 N. Y., 571 ; 29 N. Y. State Rep., 855; Kilroy v. Del. & Hud. Canal Co., 30 id., 724.

The question of fact having been settled by the jury, the case must be decided upon the evidence of the witnesses who support the verdict.

The judgment should be affirmed, with costs.

Dykman and Pratt, JJ., concur.