Carol Lolie, Administratrix of the Estate of Allan Lolie, Deceased v. The Ohio Brass Company

Plaintiff’s husband, a coal miner, was fatally injured when a “power cable” fell from the roof of a mine. Defendant is a manufacturer of metal clips which were intended to hold the cable in place; they were dislodged, however, when the cable, having been struck by a heavy steel rail at a point some 439 feet from where decedent was standing, began to quiver violently. Since the clips did not prevent the cable from falling, plaintiff claimed that their design was defective and unreasonably dangerous, and defendant was strictly liable in tort. Cf. Suvada v. White Motor Co., 32 Ill.2d 612, 210…