Howarth v. United States Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corp.

(after stating the facts as above). The vital facts in this case were in dispute. Was the plaintiff, upon the occasion of the accident, engaged in opening the door, and, if so, was he furnished with such a defective appliance for keeping it open that the rolling of the vessel was likely to slam it suddenly and injure him, or was he closing the door, as the cook testified? If the latter, he should have kept hold of the door handle, and, had he done so, would have experienced no harm. The absence of the hook could not have affected him, if he had been shutting the door. Whether he was opening…