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DEVOTED TO GENERAL NEWS, LAW, COMMERCE AND ]FINANCE
Published at
1207, 8 S. Dearborn St.
Chicago, Ill.
Telephone
RAndolph 6-0661
ESTABLISHED
June 23, 1 890.
Volume 137. Number 1. CHICAGO, JUNE 20, 1958 Subscription $5 a Year. Ten Cents a Copy
EDWIN HALL COOKE, OFFICIAL
REPORTER.
(Volume 13, Second Series.)
(Illinois Advance Sheets.)
Kennerly, appellee, vs.
Shell Oil Company,, appel-
lant. (Schaefer, J.) Vol. 13
(2nd), p. 431. (No. 34523.-
Judgment affirmed.) In-
juries - owner, contractor
and su bcontract or are
equally bound to comply
with provisions of Scaffold
Act. Every owner, contrac-
tor and subcontractor is
equally bound to comply with
the provisions of the Scaf-
fold Act of 1,907, and in case
of a wilful failure to comply
with its provisions each is
liable to the party injured
*for any direct damages sus-
tained by reason of such fail-
ure, and the owner's liability
to the person injured cannot
be evaded by any contract
with the contractor or sub-
contractor.
Construction-meaning of
P statute will not be changed
after long continued judicial
construction. Where a par-
ticular construction has been
given to a statutory provi-
sion by the Supreme and Ap-
pellate Courts for many
years, and where in the face
of such construction, the
General Assembly has re-
enacted the provision with-
out changing the language
in question, the S u p r e m e
Court is no longer free to
change the meaning of the
language by construing it in
a different manner.
Injuries - Workmen's
Compensation Act does not
bar right of employee to re-
cover from owner under
Scaffold Act. The Scaffold
Act imposes a duty upon
both the o w ner and con-
tractor, the duty of each
being independent of the
other, and neither can escape
his duty by pointing to the
other's breach of duty, and
where injury is caused to an
employee of the contractor
y reason of the owner's
'wilful violation of the act
or by his wilful failure to
comply with any of its pro-
visions, the owner is liable
regardless of the fault or
liability of the contractor-
employer, and it may not be
contended t h a t recovery
against the owner is barred
because the injured party
and his employer come with-
in the provisions of the
Workmen's Compensation
Act.
Same-Scaffold Act is not
invalid as being incomplete
and as failing to establish a
clear and intelligible stand-
ard. The fact that the Scaf-
fold Act makes no attempt
to define what shall be con-
sidered or shall constitute a
safe, suitable and proper
scaffold, but calls upon the
jury to apply a generalized
standard to particular facts
in each case, does not render
the act invalid as being in-
complete and as failing to
establish a clear and intel-
ligible standard, for by the
very nature of things it is
impossible for the legisla-
ture to describe in detail one
set of conditions or circum-
stances which would be ade-
quate or proper under all
circumstances.
Same-what is a wilful
violation of the ,Scaffold
Act. To constitute a wilful
violation of the Scaffold Act
it is not necessary that there
should have been a reckless
disregard of its provisions,
and an employer is liable not
only when the dangerous
conditions are known to him,
but also when by the exer-
cise of reasonable care the
existence of such dangerous
conditions could have been
discovered-and become
known to him, and where the
evidence discloses that the
floor of the scaffold from
which the plaintiff fell was
made of loose boards, that
it had no hand rail, and that
defendant, the owner of the
premises, knew the scaffolds
were being used, defendant
is liable, under the act, for
the plaintiff's injuries, and
it cannot escape the manda-
tory duty that the statute
imposes by closing its eyes
to existing conditions.
* * 0,
Bonczkowski et al., appel-
lants, vs. Edmund Kuchar-
ski, Registrar of Titles, et
al., appellees. (Daily, J.)
Vol. 13 (2nd), p. 443. (No.
34555. - Decree affirmed.)
Wills-joint will must be
capable of being probated
separately as to each testa-
tor. A joint will is a single
testamentary instrument
containing the will of two or
more persons executed joint-
ly and disposing of prop-
erty which they owned joint-
ly, in common or in sever-
alty, the dispositions of the
property of each maker as
(Continued on page 9)
RECENT ILLINOIS SUPREME
COURT DECISIONS
RECENT ILLINOIS
APPELLATE COURT
DECISIONS
FIRST DISTRICT
First Division
Presiding Justice Ulysses S.
Schwartz, Justice John V. McCor-
mick, Justice Edwin A. Robson.
Second Division
Presiding Justice Roger J. Kiley,
Justice John CharlesLewe, Justice
Arthur J. Murphy.
Third Division
Presiding Justice Joseph Burke,
Justice Hugo M. Friend, Justice
James R. Bryant.
Clerk, Leslie V. Beck.
Digested for THE NATIONAL COR-
PORATION REPORTER by Frederick A.
Rowe, Jr.
47366. June 4, 1958. Kor-
dig etc., plaintiff-appellee,
vs. Grovedale 0 1eander
Homes, Inc., defendant-ap-
pellant. Appeal from Mu-
nicipal Court of Evanston.
Judgment reversed and
cause remanded with direc-
tions. (Burke, P. J.) Per-
sonal injuries-Minor fall-
ing off basement stairs-
Railing on stairs of ordinary
construction and without de-
fect-Property having been
conveyed to parents before
accident-Defendant builder
ceasing to have any connec-
tion with property-Absence
of extra rail not a latent or
concealed defect. Plaintiff,
a minor, suffered injuries
when he fell off the base-
ment stairs of a house which
defendant had constructed
and sold to plaintiff's par-
ents. Plaintiff based his case
on the absence of an extra
rail extending between the
handrail and the basement
stairs. The jury returned a
verdict for $40,000 and judg-
ment was entered on the ver-
dict. Defendant's motions
for a directed verdict, for
judgment notwithstanding
the verdict and in the alter-
native for a new trial were
overruled. Defendant ap-
peals from the judgment
against it. The court held
that the railing on the base-
ment stairs was of ordinary
construction. The railing
was without defect. At the
time of plaintiff's fall, the
right to admit or exclude
persons from the house was
in his parents. Eight days
before plaintiff's injury de-
fendant had ceased to have
any connection with the
property which had been
conveyed to the parents. The
railing complied with..the
plans made a part of thi-dd`ni
tract. The contract ma&% -
-tween the parents and de-
fendant superseded previous
contract or contracts.pAny-
one by casual inspection
could see that there was no
extra rail between the hand-
rail and the basement stairs.
From the time the parents
took possession the respon-
sibility for the house, includ-
ing the basement stairs, was
upon them and not upon de-
fendant. Plaintiff failed to
establish that there was a
defective condition. The ab-
sence of an extra rail was
not a latent or concealed de-
fect. Plaintiff did not make
out a case and should not
have a judgment. (Mr. Jus-
tice Bryant rendered a spe-
cially concurring opinion.)
* * *
47372. June 4, 1958. Mar-
riott, appellant, vs. Chesa-
peake & Ohio Railway Com-
pany, a corporation, appel-
lee. Appeal from Circuit
Court of Cook County. Af-
firmed. (Bryant, J.) Prac-
tice - Instruction standing
alone subject to criticism-
Other instructions consid-
ered together correctly ad-
vising jury - Objectionable
instruction not misleading
jury nor prejudicing plain-
tiff by its irregularities-
Conduct of counsel not prej-
udicial. This is an appeal
from a verdict of a jury and
a judgment on that verdict
finding the defendant not
guilty. This action wast
brought to recover damages
occasioned by the alleged
breach by the defendant of
the provisions of the Boiler
Inspection Act with the suit
being instituted under the
Federal Employers' Liabil-
ity Act. The plaintiff urges
as error the giving of onet
of the instructions tenderedr
by the defendant, and the
alleged improper conduct of
the defendant's counsel as het
made his closing argumentr
to the jury. The court helde
that that instruction refersr
to a defect. Standing alonec
the instruction is subject toI
criticism. It is not consid-I
ered by the reviewing court
to be artfully drawn or wise-
ly given, and cannot be givent
the reviewing court's ap-
proval. However, the plain-
tiff tendered, and the trialt
court gave, other instruc-
tions which properly set
forth the obligation of the9
defendant under the appro-
priate statute. When thesec
instructions are considered`
together,, the Jury was cor-
rel disel .:i*: regard to1
thl-'i 9 of 'the' cas'e, aid.theF
fYJIyA ;- M te1 *di 0tigable
in'staioh~ wculd rif ilis-
lead the jury, ad.the plain-1
tiff 19.4 *tqi;'Veen *prejudiced 1
(ontinued on page 9)
Digitized from Best Copy Available
PUBLISHED
Entered as Second Class
Matter, October 18,
1890, at the Post Office
at Chicago, Ill., under
Act of March 3, 1879.
Financial-Commercial
***Dun & Bradstreet, Inc.,
in its weekly review of
wholesale commodity prices,
June 10, says: The general
commodity price level slip-
ped fractionally again this
week. On June 9 it stood at
279.76 compared with 280.75
a week earlier and 289.10 on
the corresponding date a
year ago. The week-to-week
decrease was attributed
mainly to lower prices on
some grains, livestock, sug-
ar, and rubber. Reports of
favorable weather condi-
tions in growing areas dis-
couraged grain trading this
week, and most prices slip-
ped below the previous week.
Wheat futures prices dipped
most noticeably following re-
ports that harvesting of the
Winter crop was underway.
Corn trading was sluggish
during the week, and futures
prices fell moderately. There
was an appreciable drop in
soybean futures prices as
buying lagged. Soybeans in-
spected for overseas export
for the week ended May 30
amounted to 1,467,755 bush-
els, compared with 918,020 in
the prior week and 904,906
a year ago. The major coun-
tries involved were The
Netherlands, Korea, For-
mosa, Japan, and Israel. Al-
though prices climbed some-
what, flour trading remained
close to that of the preced-
ing week. Buyers were wait-
ing for a weakening in hard
Winter flour prices. Com-
mercial sales of flour for ex-
port totaled 56.6 million
bushels in grain equivalent
this season, as against 43.6
million in the same period
last season. There was a
moderate increase in rice
buying this week, but prices
remained at prior week lev-
els. Export commitments
made by the Government in-
cluded sizeable shipments to
India, Indonesia, and the
Philippines. Wholesale buy-
ing of sugar was sluggish
this week, and prices slipped
below the prior period. Cof-
fee wholesalers reported lit-
tle change in prices, and
trading was limited. An up-
surge in interest in cocoa
occurred, and pricesclimbed
appreciably. Cattle pur-
chases lagged, and prices de-
clined somewhat. Cattle re-
ceipts in Chicago slightly ex-
ceeded those of both the
prior week and the similar
period a year ago. Volume
in lambs was sluggish again,
and prices were down some-
what. Hog trading picked
up, and prices were slightly
(Continued on page 10)
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