Sarna v. American Bosch Magneto

QUA, Justice. As these actions now stand, each plaintiff seeks to recover for the death of his intestate alleged to have been caused by negligence of the defendant. Joseph Swiatek was the father of Walter Swiatek. There was ample evidence from which it could have been found that both intestates were killed at approximately the same moment by inhalation of hydrogen sulphide gas at or near the bottom of a deep ravine with precipitous sides located three hundred feet or more in the rear of the house where they lived. From the position of the bodies, the defendant contended that death occurred while the deceased persons were on land of one Lemieux. The defendant cannot be harmed if we assume that such was the fact as to both father and son. It could have been found that the gas came from an old steel tank which some days before the accident had been dumped by the defendant with other refuse from its plant down the steep side of the ravine and which had eventually found its way to the bottom, where it was observed immediately after the accident with the brass valve freshly broken off. The jury found for the plaintiff in each case.