Shea

This action is brought by the heirs of John H. Shea to recover damages for his death, he having been scalded to death while in the employ of defendant as a fireman, as the result of the blowing off of the mud-drum from defendant’s boiler.

The plaintiffs had a verdict for twenty-five thousand dollars. Rather than have a new trial of the ease, plaintiffs consented that the judgment should be for ten thousand dollars only. The defendant appeals from the judgment and from the order denying it a new trial.

The main contention of appellant is, that there is no evidence that the blowing off of the mud-drum was in any way the result of defendant’s negligence, and hence nothing to show that the death of Shea was caused by the negligence of defendant. It is argued that the parting of the mud-drum from the boiler was occasioned altogether by a structual weakness in the latter, and that it was caused by the failure on the part of the constructor of the boiler to properly bell or expand the nipple which connected the mud-drum with the headers of the boiler-tubes. It would serve no useful purpose to here recite the evidence. It is sufficient to say that in our opinion there was some…