Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 4.djvu/507

 DWYBB l*.HATIONÀI. 8TBAM-SHIP 00. i WS �BwYER, Adm'x, etc., ». National Stbam-Ship Co. �(Circuit Cowrt, E. B. Heu York., 1880.) �1. Nbgugbnce— Open Hatchwat— Ship.— An open hatchway on a ship, �■when provided with the ugual combings, is not evidence of negligence on the part of the ship-owner. Murray v. McLean, 57 111. 378. �2. Samb— Employer— Indbpbkdbnt Conthactob.— An employer is not �answerable for the negligence of an independent contractor. Pickard v. Smith, 10 Com. Bench. N. 8. 470. �Motion to set aside verdict, and for new trial. �Morris e Pearsall, for plaintiff. �John Chetwood, for defendant. �Benedict, D. J. This is an action at law to recover of the o^vners of the steam-ship Canada for the death of one John Dwyer, -who f ell through the hatchway of that steamer on the twentieth of October, 1878, and was killed. At the trial the court directed a verdict for the defendant. A motion to set aside the verdict and for a new trial has been made, and is now to be disposed of. �The facts appearing at the trial are as f oUows : The de- ceased, on the morning of October 30th, and while in the act of arranging the pipe of a grain elevator in the hatch, stepped Tipon a section of the grating of the hatch, the section tilted under his weight, and he fell through the hatchway to the orlop deck and was killed. The hatchway was about 12 feet long. The grating was constructed in sections, each section about two feet wide, and intended to fit in a groove when in position. No defect of construction or weakness of materials in the gra.ting is pretended. The section on which the de- ceased stepped did not break, but tilted under his weight, and solely because it was not properly placed in the groove where it was intended to fit. Had it been in its proper position it would have been abundantly strong to support the deceased without danger. Similar hatchways having similar gratings are a common feature in vessels of this class. They are a necessary feature in the deck of a ship, and their position in the ship is controUed by the necessity of the business. ����