Little v. Hyde Park Electric Light Co.
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Tort by a lamp trimmer against an electric light company by which he was employed, for injuries caused by his falling from a pole of the defendant at the corner of Maple Street and Pine Street in Hyde Park, owing to a step, consisting of a spike driven into the pole, coming out when grasped by the plaintiff in climbing the pole.
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Tort by a lamp trimmer against an electric light company by which he was employed, for injuries caused by his falling from a pole of the defendant at the corner of Maple Street and Pine Street in Hyde Park, owing to a step, consisting of a spike driven into the pole, coming out when grasped by the plaintiff in climbing the pole. Writ dated December 20,1900. In the Superior Court the case was tried before BeCourcy, J. A teamster who saw the accident described it as follows: “ The plaintiff was twelve or fifteen feet up the pole when he fell; before he fell he was going up the pole; he stepped…
1Opinion of the CourtLoring, J.
The plaintiff’s case was that the spike in question was not a suitable spike for the purpose for which it was used, and that it was not properly driven into the pole.
But in testifying that the superintendent promised a year before the accident to take out all driven spikes and substitute *388screw spikes, the plaintiff admitted that he knew that driven spikes were then in the poles. It is true that he did not admit that he knew that driven spikes of the kind in question were in use, and there was evidence that they were more dangerous than bevelled driven spikes. But he admitted in terms that “…
2Cases cited3 opinions
- Carroll v. Metropolitan Coal Co.Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1905
- Chisholm v. New England Telephone & Telegraph Co.Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1904
- O'Brien v. New York, New Haven, & Hartford RailroadMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1902
3Cited by2 opinions
- Mulvaney v. PeckMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1907
- Jennison v. Waltham Gas Light Co.Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1909