Burns

This is an action to recover damages for personal injuries alleged to have been caused by the negligence of defendants. Verdict and judgment were for plaintiff; and defendants appeal from the judgment and from an order denying their motion for a new trial.

Appellants were stevedores; and at the time respondent was injured they were engaged in loading wheat into a certain ship named “ Chala,” for which purpose they had employed a gang of workmen, and a foreman named Wyatt. On June 7, 1889, respondent was one of the gang, and assisting to load the wheat into said ship. His particular work at the time was that of what is called a “sling-man”—that is, it was his duty to place on the wharf a “sling” or endless ring of rope, and after the warehousemen had placed thereon a certain number of sacks of wheat, to bring the ends of the sling up over the load, to “ reeve” one end of the sling through the other, to put the lift hook through the loop, and to steady the ascending load while within his reach, and then get ready another sling for the next load. When the lift-hook was put into the loop, the load was raised by steam power applied through certain machinery and apparatus until it was…