Slates v. Joplin Butane Gas Co.

VAN OSDOL, Commissioner.

Action by Wilma Slates, widow of Glenn Slates, deceased, for $25,000 damages for the wrongful death of her husband Glenn who was fatally burned in an explosion of propane gas when the husband attempted to light the burner of a water heater in the basement of the farmhouse occupied by the Slates in Jasper County.

It was the theory of plaintiff’s case that defendants, Joplin Butane Gas Co., Inc., and Gayle Childress and Monte Taylor, respectively the president and secretary-treasurer of Gas Company, were negligent in failing to sufficiently odorize the gas as to indicate…