The Argo

[1] The appellant was the owrier of tlm tug Argo. The appellee, who was 20 years of age, and without experience as a marine fireman, had been five weeks on the Argo as a fireman and oiler, when on November 22, 1910, while he was oiling the machinery, he slipped, his left leg going against the lower part of a thin iron guard between the passageway and the crank pit. The guard gave way, allowing the appellee’s foot to go into the crank pit. He attempted to withdraw his foot, but the lower edge of the guard held it until the engine was stopped. His foot was so severely crushed under the revolving cranks that amputation became necessary. The guard was of sheet iron, not more than one-sixteenth of an inch in thickness, and possibly less. It had been placed in position about four years before the accidént, under the direction of one Chesley, who was at that time the manager of the owner. The guard was attached to the standards of the engines, which stood about five feet in height, and about two feet apart, and it- was placed on the inside of the columns, that is to say, on the side toward the crank pit, and not on the side toward the passageway. It was fastened at the top by bolts to…