Yearsley

Plaintiff brought an action against defendant to recover damages for personal injuries received by him while in its employ. He was non-suited, moved for a new trial, and now appeals from the judgment, and also from the order denying his motion.

The facts may be briefly stated as follows: Plaintiff was a lineman of defendant, a telephone and telegraph company, and was ordered by defendant to string a line of wire upon certain telephone poles. A pepper tree, situated upon private land and between two of these poles, was to some extent an obstruction in stringing the wire. Thereupon plaintiff climbed the tree, and, while engaged in arranging the wire, the limb upon which he was standing gave way, and he was precipitated to the ground with serious injury to himself.

The judgment of nonsuit was properly granted, as we fail to discover by the record any evidence of negligence upon the part of the defendant. Appellant’s argument goes to the extent that defendant was guilty of negligence in furnishing defective appliances to be used in stringing the wires. But it cannot be claimed that this pepper tree was an appliance furnished by defendant. It belonged to a stranger, and was upon…