Norwich Bulletin Newspaper, January 12, 1918, Page 8

personal and household use during the commg months. This is done in the face of a nsmg lfiarket yours---this is YOUR sale. ke thé greatest use of it. De, pariment e Noteworthg Yéaz' ez'chandzsmg Buy now at these lowest prices---the profits are BOY UNDERGOES TEN OPERATIONS Seventeen-Year-Old Youth Broke Arm in Four Places While Trying to Throw Belt on Machine in Goodyear Cottont Mills—Leo Leduc Awarded Compensation By Commis- | sioner James J. Donchue. Leo LeDuc, a 17 year old youth, whose home is in Goodyear, and whe | has been employed by the Goodyear cotton mills of Killingly, has been awarded compensation by Commis- sioner James J. Donohue of this city | for injuries received some months ago, necessitating ten operations. The case is one of the most interesting cases yet heard by Commissioner Donohue, who announced his finding on Friday afternoon. The hearing was held on Dec. 4. Irom the testimony it is found that thg claimant, Leo LeDuc, is 17 years of ‘age, and that he had been employed by the respondent company for about six weeks in their take away the cans as filled and place them with empty cans. dence shows that the doubling card machines were located on same floor, but with an empty fi partition. It is found that on question (thst is. the 12th and the morning of April 1 1917,) the claimant wus at work on doublers until about midnight. the night that was put on to the cards. 1.30 a. m. another young boy Ab partment as LeDuc, ance of the claimant in mill at Goodyear. | pelt which had slipped 1 LeDuc worked nights, starting at 0 p. m, and working unti} 6 clock the next morning. I| is further found that during the first two weeks of his employment he worked on the “doublers” and then was changed to the cards and that he was changed from one line of work to the other at various times. While at work on the cards it was his duty to off of then operating. of trying to get the belt on of four fractures of the right arm, breaks : the wrist .in the lower forearm, in elbow and about the middle of upper arm. The claimant was treated by epace between and separated by re- The evi- | and | the oor a in night of April 3th, the at which time he ate his lunch, and «%.er out named Bibeault, who worked in the same de- sought the assi. t- replacing a the eing a couple of inches above the the Dr. ot W amplefiiop Every Coat,Dress, Fur, Skirt and Waist IS MARKED AT COST AND BELOW IN OUR Clearance Sale Coats, Now $10.00 to $25.00 Heretofore $17.75 up to $42.50 Dresses, Now $10.00 to $16.5¢ Heretofore $#6.50 up to $28.50 8.50 Values to $17.50 RACK OF Dresses JUST RECEIVED Some Very Pretty Serge and Silk Dresses Marked at Special Prices EVERY GARMENT TAGGED WITH CLEARANCE SALE PRICE ALL SALES FINAL | having been made necessary because i i 1 time of the accident. that on one. oc- i te the effect that employes should not the | Whereupon Bibeault remarked “Put a; doubling machine which Bibeault was During the operation again, claimant received an injury consisting {on the machine, in which case he had Barnes for about two weeks and then by Dr. Overlock and was then taken to the Day Kimball hospital, where he remained for six months, infection having set in and extending to the hand. necessitating about ten opera- tions in all. LeDuc left the hospital in October, but even at the time of the hearing it was found that he had to return to the hospital once a week for a dressing. - The cuts made extended from the shoulder down to the bend in the elbow and from about three inches below thre elbow up to the middle of the arm on the inner surface, said cuts of the infection resulting from the in- jury. Since . the injury received on April 1°Ln 1917, it is found that the claimant { has been disabled at all times except for about two weeks when he tried ew resume work but was unable to con- | tinue same, and it is further found that up to the time of the hearing claimant was totally disabled with the above exception and may be ‘partially disabled for a very short time, a very good surgical result having been ob-! tained. The question of any disability ! existing beyond the date of the hear-} ing, however, is,very doubtful. At the hearing the claimant testified that about 1.30 (a. m.) o'clock of tie day in question Bibeault came to him and said: “Did you see the boss?”’ and claimant testified that he replied “No,” | hunt on for him to put a strap on the best.” TLeDue stated that he was un- able to find the overseer, but he found the second boss, who told him to put the belt on himself, and in attempting to do so with the assistance of Bi- beault -the belt broke and carried Le- Duc around the shafting three times, and that the metal fingers which hold the belt together caught in his arm and cut way to the bone and tore the flesh. Claimant testified that he was un- able to find the overseer to report to him that the belt was off, but that he did find the second boss and. told him the belt was off, and that he was. told vot to bother him and to do it him- self. LeDuc also testified that the belt bad never broken before, but that it had come off the pulley five or six times or more while he was working put it back on, or with Bibeault's as- sistance, and that the boss had seen him put them on and only once had been told not to stand on the machine to put the belt on. but that it was necessary for him to get on the ma- chine to prevent the belt from slipping off and that it took two to replace a belt. Edmund Flagg, overseer at the Good- year cotton mills, testified at the hear- ing that he was on another floor at the casion he had seen claimant attempt- ing to help put a belt on a machine, at which time he told him to.get off the machine, that he had no knowledge of any notices being posted in the mill but belts on machines, but that there Lad been considerable trouble with belts coming off of the particular ma- chine in question, and he admitted that probably claimant attempted to help Bibeault replace the belt for the pur- pose of getting the machine started azain and for the purpose of getting the work along and with no intention on his part of injuring himself. Asked LeDuc to Help Him. Frank Bibeault, a boy of 16 years of age, and employed at the Goodyear cotton mills at the time in question, testified that he asked Leo LeDuc to help him put the belt on which had come off of Bibeault's machine, that e and Leo had put them on before and that the belts came off quite often previous to the injury, but. that -they had always been able to get them onj| before without injury, that it was the habit of the boys in the mill to.jput on their own belts without waiting for a fixer, that he also works daiis anfi that during the day time he had seen other employes put. on :belts,>and that on the night of the injury ‘when his belt came off he looked around for a fixer but did not find onel and so went to Leo and asked him ‘to assist him, and that he did ask Leolto go and find the boss (which statement he later said he did not make). In the main Bibeault's testimony ccoincided with that of the claimant, although in some P i DRUG < HABITS " Treated scien- A Co umxy by skilled "Ny physicisns. No harsh nor rapid | methods. 1L Booklet FREE (sent sealed). Telephone 675, Norwich, Conn. GRAND VIEW SANITARIUM, Norwich, Conn, respects it did not appear very relia- ble, especially as to the manner in which the injury actually occurred. James McCann, who was employsd as fixer at the Goodyear cotton mills at the time of the injury to LeDuc, testified at'the hearing that one-half hour previous to the injury he put on a belt on the machine next to the one on which the injury to LeDuc was re- ceived, that to his knowledge there were no notices posted in the mill to the effect that employes were not to put belts on machines, and he admit- ted that in mills in general it was a matter of common knowledge that em- ployes did replace belts without seek- ing assistance from the fixers or the men who were supposed to do that work. The respondents claim that the in- jury-did.not arise out of and in the course of employment. A memorandum of decision is at- tached and made a part of the finding and award. For the reasons set forth in memo- randum it is found that the injury received by the claimant arose out of and in the course of his employment and that he is entitled to compensa- tion. It is awarded that the respondents shall pay to the claimant through his attorney compensation from April 24th, 1917, up to and including the date of the hea_rmg with the exception of the two weeks (paragraph 8), together with the medical, surgical and hospital services to the amount of $250 in the case of Dr. Overlock and $391 in the case of the Day Kimball hospital, plus the bill to be rendered by the hospital for the weekly dressings. The Commissioner’s Memorandum. his memorandum of decision Com- rissioner Donohue says: The sole question to be decided in the present case is, did the injury which LeDuc received arise out of and in the course of his employment? Elaboratz briefs were submitted by and their the attorneys in the case respective claims fully set forth, In refarring to the facts in the case, the - attorney for the respondents in his brief states that at the time of the injury it was no part of the duty of the claimant to operate the doubler machine; that the duties of the claim- ant did not bring him in contact with the doubler machine or which he was injured, nor was thers any connection between his duties and the belt which drove the doubler machine. The at torney also states in his brief that i was the duty of the fixer to replace belts and that the claimant was ex- pressly toid by the fixer to keep away from the dcubler machine and not to touch it, and he states further that the claimant testified that he would not deny this and that Flagg and Mc- Cann both testified as ahove. All of this: is largely true, but both and. the respondent-employer the belts were being put on by boys and other employes at-:this mil' and in mills in general, and that it was a frequent practice to do these things instead of emploves looking for a fix- er to do it for them. Sought LeDuc’s Assistance. From the testimony it has been been found that LeDuc had been op- erating this doubling machine at which time he had his lunch, machine and LeDuc was put on can job, and that the belt on the doub- ler came off about 1.30 o’clock in the morning, a very short time after Bi- bea t began operations on it. ost natural thing in the world machine, and seek his assist- would probhbly know what the trouble was -and how fo remedy it, in view of the fact that the two bovs on many previous occasions assisted each other in doing the same thing and succeeding each time before in replacing the beit. The respondents clalm the injury 1) not occur in the course of the employment and (2) it did not arose out of the employment, and quote from John Chartres in Judicial Interprota- tion of Compensation Laws as follows: (Page 137.) “(9) The employment is interpret- ed (1) while the workman is doing something entirely outside the employ- ment, whether in the employer’s inter- est or in his own: (2) by absence without leave where the employment is_continuous.” It is evident in the prese“t case that the claimant was not dolng anything “‘outsids the empleyment.” Tt was strictly in the course of employment, Flagg and McCann also testified that they knew on which he was injured up to midnight, and then Bibeault was put on the doubler the Tt was tye belt came off the machine ibeault to go to LeDue, who had “previously been at work on the in putting the helt on again. as it whuld ‘be fair to assume. that LeDuo especially and there is no evidence to show that he was neglecting his other work while he was helping Bibeault replace the belt.” While it is admitted by the re- spondents that the work attempted was in the employer's interest. it was also in the interest of Bibeault, and was not of any interest to L.eDuc him- self only as would be expected by the mutual relationship of employves to as- sist one another when necessities arise. as it was admitted in.the testi- v that each had helped the other on previous occasions. No “Absent Without Leave.” Tt could rot be said that there was an “absence without leave” in the pres- ent case {or claimant's continuous em- ployment, as the duties which he was performing suffered in no way by his doing this extra work %o help a fel- iow employe The work done by LeDuc In operat- ing this doubler machine only a short tim~ before and his being changed to the cards was so closely connected that it wouid be splitting hairs if Le- Duc had refused to as Bibeault when he saw him under circumstances rhich it is evident rould be remedied by.him. It is found that LeDuc had worked on the same machine on.which he was injured in the neighborhood of -an hour before, In the respondents’ nev states brief. the attor- at the emplover had pro- vided a specially qualified fixer at this mill to the machine when in need of repairs and to replace belts which came off; all of which may be very true, ‘but if the respondents were so well aware of the fact that the belts came. off frequently, especially on this particular machine (as is shown by the evidence), and that it was a fre- quent occurrence for an employe to put them on again. then the fixer Me- Cann should have been in a place ac- cessable where employes could havza readilv found him when needed. so that things of this kind would »ut be done by emnploy especially as the fact was known to the respondent- employer that such things were oc- curring, and furthermore specific rules should have been posted in the mill in prominent pfaces and so worded that there weg!l be no doubt left in the minds of any of the employe, from the oldest to the voungest, as to the feel- ing of the employer upon this particu- Iar ‘subject of putting on belts. As one these fixers who was employer-re- kpondent claims to have so much skill and ability and authority.” was only in the employ of the respondent company somethinz like six weeks, and was of very vouthful appearance, it is evident that the employes were not strongly impressed with his authority or abil- ity, a tair cenclusion to expect. Unable to Find Fixer. If the rules which the respondents would have us believe were in force, and which they expected the employes Established 1892 to Mive up to. had been enforced, the business of ' Bibeault, when ' his Dbelt came off and he could not find a fixer, would have been to sit dowh and remain idle until such time as_the fixer came around to fix the belt. From the testimony neither the overseer nor the fixer could be found, and accord- ing to their own testimony they were together on another floor of the mill at the time. How long they were out of the room in question it would' be impossible to say, as no testimony was introduced upon that stusfect, but it would not be improbable to presume that if Bibeault had heen found sit- ting near the machine, with the ma- chine idle, owing te his failure to find the fixer to put on the belt, when his overseer came around Bibault would probably receive a “call down,” or lie might even be discharged from his job, a fair conclusion to reach in view of the testimony lines. The closeness of the connection be- tween the emplovment of; LeDuc on the cans and on this doubler machine on which he was injured is of very material importance. The work of Le- Duc on the cans and on the doubler presented along these (Continued on, Page Nine, Column 5.) ANNUAL MEETING OF THE SUNSHINE CLASS. Election of Officers Followed by Social Hour at Home of Mrs. Arthur F. Howard. Mrs. Arthur F. Howard, teacher.of the Sunshine class of the First Baptist ‘Bible school, entertained the class at its ‘annual meeting Friday evening gt her home on Lincoln avenue. There were 11 members present and a guest, Miss Mildred Burnham, of Hampton. At a prettily decorated table supper was served at 7.30 o'clock. Following the supper, the meeting was called to torder, Miss Gertrude Thornes, the president, presiding. The- roll call opened the meéting, each one respond- ing with a favorite Bible verse. Bhe regular reports were read and ‘'ap- proved, as were the annual reports. Miss Margaret Copeland, secretary, gave a pleasing report of the work “of the class during the year, which in- cluded Red Cross knitting. The finances of the class were reported as satisfactory by the treasurer, Miss Celeste Copeland. The result of the election of officers was as follows: President, Miss Marion Woodward; secretary, Miss Gladys Thornes: treas- urer, Miss Althea Church. After the adjournment of the meeting a social thour of music and games was en- joyed. Part of the evening was devot- ed to knitting, the class voting to con- tinue the Red Cross work during the year. The members of the class are Misses Celeste and Marguerite Cope- land, Miss Bernice Burnham, Misses “ ATTENTION! |\ This is the Last Day of Our Big INVENTORY SALE Don't fail to take advantage of the wonderful reduction on our LADIES’ SUITS, COATS, DRESSES and SEPARATE SKIRTS. SALE PRICES ON ALL FURS MEN’S SUITS and OVERCOATS at Reduced Prices WHITE STAR CLOTHING HOUSE C0.,Inc. Gladys and Gertrude Thornes, Misses Fanny and Tucinda Brown, Miss Blanche = Armstrong, Miss Althea Church. Miss Marion Woodworth, Miss Mazie Stamm and Mrs. Anderson. LINEN SHOWER. Given Miss Anna Gertrude Whose Engagement Was Announced. Calkins, Recentiy A number of friends pleasantly sur- prised Miss Anna G. Calkins at her home on Penobscot street Thursday evening, giving her a linen shower. Tocal and instrumental selections were well rendered and enjoyed by all, Misses Lillian Bellert and Lillian Calkins presiding at the piano. Daneing and games. were enjoved. Tha feature of the evning was a mock marriage carried out -with proper cer- emony Refreshments were served by Mrs. Agnes Turner, assisted by Mr. and Mrs. Wesley J. Calkins and Miss Agnes L Miss Caikins received many beauti- ful linen gifts.: The affair was arranged by Agnes Turner and:Ethel Sweet. The event was. given in'Bonor of the approaching ‘marriage ‘of Miss' Calkins and Herman H. .Bellert, of Chester. Pa, Miss Calkin rf received: the best wishes of her friends for a happy fu- ture. Genera} Petain arrived at Belgian general headquarters on Monday. A review Was held by King Albert. Children Cry FOR FLETCHER'S ~ - CASTORIA NO WINTER COATS PACHED AWAY at The Pasnik Co., so if you wish a Ladies’ or Childs’ Coat, the price will never stop you. Jan1ZSW ——— Ermest E. Bullard VIOLIN TEACHER AR String Instruments repaired Violins sold on easy terms For appointments address R E. BULLARD, Bliss Place, Nere wich, Conn. 147, 148, 151, 153 MAIN STREET.