ARBITRATION COURT.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11730, 21 June 1916, Page 6

ARBITRATION COURT.

COMPENSATION CLAIM. AST-1 .[it'll TON BOROUGH COUNCIL SUED. At the tilting to-day of tho Arbitration Court, his Honor Air Justice Stringer presided, and with him wero Mr -L A. AUCullough tor the employees and Air AW If Scott for tho employers. Reginald Charles Price (Mr Alpers) proceeded tho M avor and councillors oi' Asiiimrton (-Mr Ac.-iand), claimin or £SOO, together with luecheal exponses £l, for damages alleged to have been .sustained by plaintiff on April o, jyio, whilst employed' in the council s service, as assistant wacet engineer. Plaintiff alleged in his statement _ ol claim thai ho was engaged ait,ending to a gas engine when an explosion occurred* in tho expansion chamber. As a result; his rigjit ankle was badly sprained, the ligaments of his right toot were injured, and there were, contusions on his back. He also suffered from shock, and permanent injury had boon done to his heart. He. had been totally incapacitated sinco the accident'. His wages had been £8 13s Id weekly, and he 'had received compensation under tho Workmen's Compensation Act, but nothing since April o last. He had been offered £2O in lull settlement of his claim. Defendants denied liability. Plaintiff gave evidence in support, of his claim, and said that ho was not. cured of tho injuries to his limbs till August last. l>r Mullin attended to him, and Dr Lvon also saw him on ■hehalf of tho council. After a consultation between' the two doctors it was suggested that witness should go to Christ-church for X-ray treatment, and if that failed, Dr Mullin should operate. From his earliest years witness had goitre, hut it gave him no trouble, and he never consulted a medical man. He scarcely knew lie had it. Ho did both engineer's and labourer's work for tho council, for whom he had worked four years, to the time of the accident. Ho had done much strenuous work lor various firms, but since the accident had done no physical work, except what p.-married man did about the house, chopping wood, bringing in coal, etc. He was expert now on his pulse movements, and even the mowing of a lawn accelerated his pulse motion:;. His doctor warned .him to take a .spell after each length. Witness had decided nob to be operated on. He had submitted t-o X-ray treatment with unfortunate results, his chest being badly burned. He had' received • full wages from the council for nearly ono year from tho date of tho accident, but tho money paid by tho Ocean Insurance Company went to the council, although ho signed, receipts. He called on 'Nicholls Bros., tho local agents of the company, and was shown a letter from the Wellington office offering to pay the five months' back pay and £2O in full settlement. No back pay was really due to witness, as the council had been paying him. Witness the offer and instituted proceedings. The question of his heart trouble was never raised by the insurance company's ,agents. To Air Acland: Until tho time of the accident his goitre did not trouble him Ho was all right: if he did not exert himself, but ho could not rest for ever. He was not prepared to be operated on now, as three doctors had advised against it. William j. Mullin, medical practitioner, said that he was a ' Fellow of Surgery, but was not a specialist-. Ho attended' plaintiff after the accident. Whilst plaintiff was lying in bod there A 7 S . of the heart. Later plamf|ff complained of his heart, and witness on examination discovered the goitre. Tho plaintiff's heart action hid recently improved, but ho was not tit tor much exertion. Continuing, witness said that the normal pulse movement was 70 to SO, but plaintiff's now was about !)&, rising to 120 after physical exertion, such as lawn mowing. Plaintiff could not do a day ,s ordinary work. After an hour or so he would have to kneok off. The theory of goitre's effects ou the heart popularly explained in this way. The excessive secretion in tho thyroid glands caused a person to lose control over the heart's movements, which raced away. His Honor: One cannot- put the brake on P Witness : That is so. Continuing, witness said that plaintiff was normal before the accident-. Witness was tho family doctor, buthad never been called upon, before the accident, to attend plaintiff. Tho operation necessary to remove goitre trouble was risky, and should not bo entered on lightly. Medical treatment should first be tried. His Honor: How long should such medical treatment go on? Witness: Not very long, say .six months. To Air Acland: A goitre was simply an enlarged gland. It was recognised that emotional disturbance could bo a starting point. 1' rederick G. Gibson, medical practitioner, gave evidence as to plaintiffs physical condition, when witness examined him shortly after the accident. Witness was of opinion that the shock of tho explosion was possibly responsible for plaintiff's condition. To His Honor: The fact, that plaintiff worked for many years at- strenuous labour without showing sign of Graves' disease, would suggest that tho shock from tho explosion was an oxciting cause. Edward Jennings, medical practitioner, also agreed that the accident was the probablo cause of plaintiff's condition. To Air Alpers: There was no necessary connection between tho plaintiff's goitre trouble before the accident, and his present .symptoms of Graves's disease. To Air Acland: He did not regard plaintiff as permanently incapicitated, but it would probably take four or live years for him to completely recover. To Air Alpers: Surgeon's statistics suffered from the fact that a surgeon often did not know the past history of a patient and frequently heard nothing of his failureTo His Honor: He would not advise the plaintiff to undergo an operation. The mortality percentage in such operations was five. That, was too high. It. was nearly as bad as being in the trenches. Aforeover, the result not be guaranteed, and in face of the o per cent, mortality, it was asking the man too much to tako the chance. This closed the case for the. plaintiff, George Lvons. medical practitioner, gave evidence of his examinations of the plaintiff, and said that the X rays treatment did not improve Price's general condition. Witness had advised an opera.lion for the goitre. Price had received medical treatment for some time, but bad' no|;. obtained niuc-h benefit. In England, tho usual treatment for goitre \\a- bv X rays, and if that failed an operation would bo tried. The i;rivl.v of the disease- had advanced consider aMv during recent years. Richard AY. Anderson, medical practioner, said' that he had just examined Price. Some families had a tendency to goitre. Witness did not know of a. case : of goitre being caused through an accident. 11l plaintiff's case, witness was <if opini.7ll that a suririca] operation was desirable. The results of such operations in New Zen land and other parts of the world had been satisfactory. No further -evidence was offered by the defendants. Mr Acland' submitted that the plaintiff should undergo an operation, a.nd if the Court hold that his condition was the result of the accident, the defendants wer6 prepared to pay the expenses of a visit to the Alelbourne spcialis* ?nd to allow for a satisfactory period of convalescence. The best _ settlement from all narties' point, of view was to continue the half-pay allowances to plaintiff until his condition became more definitely established. < i'l no ■< ( liti^.J