Reed v. Duquesne Light Co.

Opinion by

Mr. Justice Jones,

Ralph Thomas Reed, an employee of the American Bridge Company, was killed by electrocution on May 29, 1943, while at work on the premises of his employer. The lethal current came from overhead high tension wires of the Duquesne Light Company and was transmitted to Reed (who was on the ground) through a drop cable running over the outer end of the boom of a movable crane then operating near the wires. The wires carried a current of 22,000 volts; were uninsulated; and were elevated on poles at a height of thirty-six feet above the ground. The boom of the crane was…