Soria

Plaintiff sued to recover damages for personal injuries occurring in the course of his employment in the cement plant of the defendant. The • jury returned a verdict in favor of plaintiff for $11,500, to which the trial judge added $500 attorneys’ fees, the action being prosecuted under the special provisions of section 29(b) of the Workmen’s Compensation Act (Stats. 1917, p. 831), as amended in 1925 (Stats. 1925, p. 495). The defendant has appealed upon a bill of exceptions. .

The plaintiff plants his case upon the failure of the defendant to insure against liability to pay compensation to its employees under the act and upon the alleged negligence of the defendant in assigning plaintiff to work upon a cement conveyor in the defendant’s plant without having provided any guard or rail to prevent workmen from becoming entangled in the machinery, and, generally, in failing to provide plaintiff a safe place to work.

The evidence of negligence offered by the plaintiff was that this conveyor was fitted with unfastened covers, which lifted off at any time that there was too much cement in the conveyor, leaving the revolving screw, obstructed from view by the loose cement, open and…