Matthews v. Blackwood Lumber Co.

The validity of the trial is assailed upon the ground that the judge, in charging the'jury, used the technical expressions “proximate cause,” “burden of proof,” “greater weight of the evidence,” without explaining their meaning in language which the jury could understand.

The case is a very simple one, both as to the law and the facts. The plaintiff was a woods “swamper,” cutting tree laps and brush in the Balsam Mountains. He was given an ax with a defective, switchy handle, which caused him to strike a limb and cut himself. McKinney v. Adams, 184 N. C., 562, 114 S. E., 817; Mercer v. R. R.,…