Couto v. United Fruit Co.

FRANK, Circuit Judge.

This was a suit by plaintiff, a seaman, under the Jones Act, 46 U.S.C.A. § 688, for injuries sustained while serving on defendant’s ship. At the trial by judge and jury, there was evidence as follows: Plaintiff was directed by the boatswain to “slush” the stays, i. e., to apply a preservative compound to steel cables permanently installed between the ship’s side at deck level and a point on the masts about forty-five feet above the deck. To do this work, plaintiff used a “bosun’s chair,” i. <?., a board used as a seat, with short lengths of rope fastened to each corner.…