WEEKS V. PANAMA RAILROAD COMPANY.,1

plaintiff was engaged in loading, as above described, the dynamite in the hole he was working on exploded. The concussion- also caused the next two holes which were partially loaded to explode. The plaintiff according to his testimony was very seriously injured.
At the trial in the lower court the plaintiff was the sole witness appearing in his behalf. To support an allegation contained in his complaint he testified that it was the rule to wait at least a half an hour after springing before beginning to load a hole and that at the time of the occurrence of the accident only 12 or 15 minutes had elapsed since the hole in question was sprung. He had, however, made no objection when the foreman ordered him to load and although he had written several letters to, the president of the defe ndant company with reference to the accident and his injuries he had made no suggestion that. the foreman was in any way negligent in this respect. On the other hand the foreman testified that the holes had been sprung more than 24 hours earlier and the foreman's testimony in this regard was corroborated by three members of the powder gang. The foreman fua-ther testified that b efore ordering the loading of the seven holes referred to he had personally inspected them and on such inspection they had appeared to be "all right and that when questioned by him before Comm-encing to load the plaintiff had told him that the hole in question was all right." This last testimony of the foreman stands uncontradicted in the record.
The foreman expressed the opinion that the explosion might "have been caused by the pole striking the dynamite with too much force or a small rock getting between the dynamite and the pole." On the other hand the plaintiff stated that he looked into the hole by means of a glass which he carried, that he saw no rock and that he, loaded the hole with all due care. During the examination of the foreman the court, by its questions, brought out the following testimony:
By the Court.
Q. What was the other work you had been doing that morning before com-~ mencing to load the hole that exploded prematurely?
A. We had exploded about 18 holes in the ridge below. They were about 40 or 50 feet below and about 100 feet away from the seven. They were 24 feet deep and some of them were straight down in the ground and some of them were inclined in the direction of the seven holes at an angle of 45 degrees. Heat is generated by explosion and will extend a few feet in the earth and rock depending on the nztture of the ground, from the place of explosion. The ex-

213