ACTION FOR DAMAGES A LABOURER'S CLAIM.

Evening Post, Volume LXXV, Issue 47, 25 February 1908, Page 7

ACTION FOR DAMAGES A LABOURER'S CLAIM.

ALLEGED NEGLIGENCE. A claim for £1000 compensation for injuries alleged to havo been sustained on the 26th September last in the earlier stages of tho erection of the new destructor house through the negligence of the contractors, was brought beforo Mr. Justice Chapman this morning, by fleber Brown, labourer, residjng in Willis.strect, Wellington, against Messrs. Heenan and Froudo, Ltd., tha builders, in whoso employment ho was at th© time. -Mr. Skerretfc, K.C., supported by Mr. Ostler, appeared for the plaintiff; Mr. Menteath represented the defendants. The statement of claim showed thr-o causes of action. The first involving ft • d ? 1I V f £1000 > and the se cond and third £500 each respectively. The alleged cause of the accident was the use of a strut, or cross beam insufficiently secured, and unsafe for a scaffold, through the negligence of tha defendant s manager, T. O. Ormiston Chant or his foreman, Edward Taylor. . Mr. Skerrett, ia his address to the .l{ u 'y> Pointed out that the reason fo* the difference in tho damages claimed under tho -alternate causes of action was that in- common law the jury was entitled to give whatever damages it thought adequato for tho injuries sustained ; but under the terms of th» ■Employers' Liability Act dama<*. Os were restricted, except imdor exceptional conditions, to the sum of tho average wageu for a person ia similar employment during a period 2. c Ji • £ ears ' a snm nofc exceeding sioOO in all. The masters, in this case, ho submitted, were guilty of not providing proper appliances to enable the plaintiff to work above the- ground. In default of proper appliances they permitted tha raen to v.c rtmts, iusto-.fl of scaffolds, -j result was tho strut broke, and the man fell and wos injure. Workmen had to carry gu their work above tha giopnd in placing heavy machinery in position. There was an extraordinary scarcity of appliances. The strut Was ui,ed for the purpose of keeping an iron upright in position for tho erection of a boiler. Its only purpose was to prevent lateral movement. On the day of the accident a heavy iron-bark log v/as suspended at a, considerable elevation from the ground, and the plaintiff Btown, and Jones, a carpenter, were instructed to remove tho log. Brown r-toc'J on tha strut waiting, while the ioreip an, Taylor, decided where to attach iho rope Tha strut gave way, and plaintiff fell to the ground, sustaining the injuries described in the statement of claim. It was, contended counsel, Hie duty of the employers to provida proper appliances to enable the men to vw.rli in safety. There had been, ha submitted, tho highest degree of nogligence on the part of th© contractors, who were thus liable for damages. Dr. Ewatt gave evidence of examining the plaintiff on the 26th September, and finding a fractured ankle, ruptured ligaments, and s&vere contusions The plaintiff had not recovered, and would not, in the opinion of witness, be able to wort within six months ivom the present. Some permanent weakness was fco ba apprehended. In cross-examination the -witness reiterated his estimate of the time which, he considered must bo allowed before ths plaintiff could return to work. Heber Brown, the plaintiff, stated that he was 42 years of age, and married. Ho lia'J followed » seafaring career, and. had risen from A.B. to socond officer on an ocean-going ship. H<i had also befin a locomotive-dTivcr in J'outh America. H» was employed at the destructor erection for 9s a day. The gear, especially th« rope gear, on the job was very scarce. When witness asked >for gear tie others told him to go ( and fossick round for it. There were only two laddsra used on tho job, and the- engineers stood on them. Ho had seen men walking over the sama kind of stints as the one which had given way with him. Thd ironbark log was suspended in slings. Witness and Jones , were instructed to move it. Jones went up to the roof to prepare to receive tho tackle. Taylor was standing on another strut, like that which supported thtr plaintiff. Witness asked Jones to move down towards him a little in order to facilitate the removal of the- log. Witnets fell at the moment when he waa saying to Taylor, "How will that do?" Witness remembered striking obstacles in falling. TheTe was no other way of getting to the work except by the struts. Witness gave evidence also as to the weakness of his ankle, and the pain lie atill suffered whenever he put the injured foot to the ground. In cross-examination tho witness stated' that the strut was about five decrees tilted above the horizontal. He had to g«t on to the strut in order to give tha line to Jonas, and subsequently to get up on the ironbark spar, co he did nofc throw the rope to Jones. The fact that the foreman walked over th© struts gave him confidence. Had the strut been cut one half-inch longer tlie accident could never have happened. There had been a lashing before th« dtiv, but mthout a lashing it was not secure. In all big oxpenence he had: taken care that all stagf ing was properly fixed. In repairing the Melville Island he had himself looked! after the wliole staging, jtnd mado himself -responsible for every part. Dr Fnulke. stated that on examining the > plaintiff ho had found the ligaments of the leg badly torn. The plaintiff might also feei a permanent weakness ; tha movement would be deficient. Masfia<ro would be required to effect inrprovemonl Abraham Frederick Jones, carpenter, stated that he received instructions from laylor, tin- foreman, to help Brown in removing the ironbark timber. He had frequently soeu dm struts, nsed by different men, including the foreman. Tiiere liacl been a lashjng on the ktrut previously, and if it had remained- there, there would have been no accident. Since then anotner strut had como down, and th«re was a man with a broken Jeg in. th> hospital. The foreman wa's aware of the shortage, of appliance* Cross-examined, the witness said that after the aeddenfc he- went, at tho instruction of the foreman, to get soroa iron ladders, whioh wero in another department under a tarpauliii covering tamo cement. (Left sitting.)

In all probability tho Petone Borough Council will not hold any ceremony on the occasion of the driving of the first pile in connection with the pew whayf. At its meeting last evening tha Mayor reported having seen one of the contractors, who had enquired as to whether tho council intended to ohservc any opening ceremony, as a start in driving operations was goon to ho mada. Councillor Nioholson considered the council should, for opce, depart from the usual and somewhat extravagant procedure. Councillor Lodder suggested that any opening ceremony should be deferred until the wharf was finished. Councillor Short spoke in favour of a ceyemony, he being of the opinion that it was a "rare chance to "boom" the borough. The majority being against incuring any expenditure in the direction indicated, tfo# Mayor was asked to confer with the contractors, 60 as to ascertain what they \ intended to do in the matter,