Vitrano

This is an action to recover damages for the death of one Dominie Vitrano, the husband and father, respectively, of the plaintiffs. This appeal is from a judgment based upon a directed verdict in favor of the defendants.

The deceased met his death by falling into a vat of boiling water while assisting in the process of “tanning” a fishing net. He was a member of a crew of a boat used in commercial fishing. All of the fish caught from this boat wrere regularly sold and delivered to the respondent corporation. It appears from the evidence that the fishing nets used by such crews require “tanning” at intervals, approximately once a month. The purpose of this process was to remove the slime which accumulates upon the nets. In this process the fishermen would put ground tan-bark into a vat and fill it with water. Steam was then turned on and the mixture boiled several hours, after which the nets were placed in the solution.

The vat here in question was about 12 feet long, 6 feet wide and 4y2 feet high. Along each of its two long sides there was a plank or platform about 35 inches below the top of the vat, upon which the fishermen were supposed to stand while they lowered the nets…