Rodgers v. Lees
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
APPEAL BY DEFENDANTS FBOM THE COUBT OF COMMON PLEAS OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. No. 400 January Term 1890, Sup. Ct.; court below, No. 165 October Term 1889, O» P. On September 23, 1889, Mary Rodgers brought trespass against Joseph and John S. Lees, trading under the firm name of James Lees & Sons, to recover for alleged negligence of the defendants, causing the death of the plaintiff’s minor son. The defendants pleaded not guilty.
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APPEAL BY DEFENDANTS FBOM THE COUBT OF COMMON PLEAS OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. No. 400 January Term 1890, Sup. Ct.; court below, No. 165 October Term 1889, O» P. On September 23, 1889, Mary Rodgers brought trespass against Joseph and John S. Lees, trading under the firm name of James Lees & Sons, to recover for alleged negligence of the defendants, causing the death of the plaintiff’s minor son. The defendants pleaded not guilty. At the trial on March 19,1890, the plaintiff presented testimony tending to establish the following facts: The defendants owned and operated a woolen mill at Bridgeport,…
1Opinion of the Court
Opinion,
Mr. Justice Green:
If the chain and ball at the defendants’ mill had been running regularly in the actual business of raising or lowering grain or flour, and the plaintiff’s son had jumped upon the ball to ride up in the air, and fallen, it certainly could not be held that the defendants would be liable for the consequences. They would have been in the lawful prosecution of their business, with an apparatus proper for such uses, and owing no duty of protection to passing children against the consequences of their reckless acts in rushing into so manifest a danger. So, if a boy of…
2Cases cited12 opinions
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