Claiming that he was injured so seriously while at work in the Michelin tire factory at Milltown, last August, that he has since been unable to perform manual labor, and alleging that his injuries were due to the failure of his employers to notify him of the dangerous character of work given him to do, Aliks Brooks began suit yesterday, before Judge Lloyd and a jury, for $5,000 damages.
According to the story told by the plaintiff on the stand, he was instructed by James Gibson, his foreman, to clean the overhead steam pipes in one of the mills, and while crawling along on these pipes he came in contact with an electrical switch, from which he received such a shock that he was precipitated to the floor, 22 feet below.
The witness exhibited a big bruise on the left side of his forehead where he had struck the concrete flooring, and bared his back for the jury to see three large contusions on his spine, which remain as a result of the fall.
Clifford I. Voorhees and Alan H. Strong appeared as counsel for the plaintiff, who is a Russian, and whose testimony was given through interpreter Frankel. Frederick S. Kellogg, of Bedle & Kellogg, a Newark law firm, represents the defendant company.
The jury drawn to try the case consisted of Jacob H. Hoagland, Geo. St. Andrassy, Frank Buote, Joseph B. Quick, Frank Van Nuis, Joseph Deagan, Louis Hildebrandt, Harvey Dey, William Stokes, George Everitt, Charles Holstein and Walter Compton.
Questioned by Mr. Strong, the plaintiff asserted that no one had warned him of the presence of the switch that caused the accident. He said that he had been employed at the Michelin Works for two years and a half, his principal duties being to lift the heavy moulds into which rubber is poured in the making of tires. He was also called upon to act as a general “helper” in any necessity that might arise.
The witness said that he was unconscious for several hours following the accident, and had spent a week in one of the local hospitals. He was confined to his home for a month after leaving the hospital. Upon returning to the Michelin Works, the witness said that he was called upon to wheel coal, which duty he was unable to perform because of his weakened condition.
Later, he had obtained employment in the Old Bridge Glass Works, but found this too arduous also, and he has been out of employment for several months. Mr. Brooks swore that he suffers constant pain, and has been informed by Dr. Selover, of South River, and Dr. Smith, of this city, that he has been permanently disabled. At the time of his injury he was getting 18 cents per hour, his weekly pay varying from $9 to $14, according to the number of hours he had worked.
Under cross-examination, the witness denied that he, with four other employees had waited upon Superintendent Henry Young at the Tire Works, and announced that he wouldn’t wheel coal for a living. He was questioned concerning remarks he was alleged to have made to a fellow employee who accompanied him to New Brunswick in an auto immediately following the accident, but declared he couldn’t remember speaking to anyone at the time mentioned. At this point adjournment was taken for the day.
Can’t Straighten Fingers.
The cross-examination of the plaintiff was resumed this morning, when Attorney Kellogg questioned him at length concerning his sensations when he received the alleged shock.
“I don’t remember how it felt, only I know I was knocked down as soon as I touched the switch.” The witness swore that he is still unable to straighten two fingers on the left hand that came in contact with the electric current, and exhibited the marks on his hand to the jury.
A motion by Mr. Kellogg that the testimony of the plaintiff concerning a “shock” be stricken out on the ground that it was simply hearsay evidence, was refused by Judge Lloyd.
Counsel for the defense failed in an endeavor to secure from the witness an admission that he knew of his own knowledge the dangerous nature of the electric switches near which he was called to work.
Nickola Silka, a fellow workman, testified that he heard the order given Brooks to clean the pipes, and had heard nothing said by the foreman concerning the electric switch.
The witness said that he had accompanied the injured man to the hospital. He had noticed that Brooks was unconscious and bleeding from the wounds in his head and back. Similar testimony was given by Walter Schitz and Joseph Wanslopsky, fellow employees who had witnessed the accident. The cross-examination of these witnesses developed nothing of special moment.
Plaintiff’s Wife Testifies.
Mrs. Alice Brooks, wife of the plaintiff, took the stand in her husband’s behalf. The witness bore in her arms a few months’ old infant and, like the other witnesses, testified through an interpreter. Mrs. Brooks told of the care she had given her husband. No cross-examination.
Dr. J. Warren was called to tell of two occasions on which he had examined the plaintiff since his injury, and declared that he found Mr. Brooks suffering severe pain. In his opinion the injuries were likely to be of a lasting character, as the nerves affecting the muscles of the back were badly injured.
