Judgment of the Court
- J.-Without expressing any opinion whatever upon the possible liability "at common law of the defendant, a liability which was not charged upon the pleadings and was in no wise tin issue at the trial, I concur in the conclusion reached.- by the Court that the defendant is liable under " The Workmen's Compensation for Iijuries Act " for the negligence of the superintendent under whose orders the engine was braced and supported. There cannot be, in my opinion, any reasonable doubt that the findings of the jury are justified by the evidence as to this inefficient shoring up or bracing of the engine. It was the duty of the superintendent, considering the position in which the engine was placed, alike with respect to the bench j J where King was working and to the roadway along which heavy loads were constantly being hauled from the factory, to see not only that the bracing was sufficient to support the inherent weight of the engine and the probable forces the workmen engaged in its construction might bring against it, but also that it was tufficient to securely support the engine against any shook it was reasonably likely to receive from the drays and loads being hauled past it. That it was not so braced the result sufficiently proved, and -that the defendant's superintendent ought to have provided against such a shock as the engine received is, under the circumstances of this case, in my opinion quite clear. As a matter of fact the evidence shewed that between the end of the engine where struck by the loaded dray and the load on that dray there was only a space of about five inches. Of course a very slight swerve of the horses was sufficient under these conditions to press the load against the engine. The impact seems to have been slight but it was sufficient to overturn the engine and cause the death of the unfortunate man King. I think this danger of contact between the loaded drays and the engine where placed was one which the defendants' superintendents were under the circumstances reasonably bound to consider and provide against, and that for their neglect to do. so the defendant is under the statute liable for the damages resulting.