Joseph Bidwell, for plaintiff, cross. Q. That is 3 feet and 4 inches? A. Yes. Q. So that the two joists on which you fastened this header didn't come quite to the edge of the opening? A. They came just outside of the opening; just the same as this (indicating) is your opening here, they came on here (indicating) and here (indicating). Q. 4 or 5 inches away from the end of the wall? Each one of them? A. Yes. Q. That header was fastened across to the two joists on each end of the header? A. Yes. Q. And those two joists on each end of the header extended across to the 4 inch wall on the other end? A. Yes, sir. Q. And you put it up that way? A. Yes. Q. Was it then fastened to those joists? A. Was it fastened? In what way do you mean? Q. Was the header fastened to the two joists on either end? 86 A. Nothing but the mortice; just slipped in; ∞ weren't fastened; just slipped in. Q. Weren't nailed? A. No; hadn't got around to nailing anything. Q. When you got it fastened on the two ends like that (indicating) over the opening? Joseph Bidwell, for plaintiff, cross. A. Yes. Q. Then you started to put in the joists over the opening? A. Yes. Q. One end of those joists you had resting on the 4 inch wall? A. Yes. Q. And the other end you were slipping in to the header? A. Yes. Q. In this mortice which you had already cut for that purpose? A. Yes. Q. You said on your direct examination that you framed up that header upon the ground. What do you mean by saying you framed it up? A. That has all got to be cut together; I could show you better than I could explain it to you. (The witness drew on paper.) Here (indicating) is your header right here. Q. You hadn't at the time the accident happened -you had got the header and the joists that were to go into the header? A. Yes, sir. Q. All fitted? A. Yes. Q. And all cut? A. All cut. Q. Everything was all ready just to put them together? 88 06 92 93 A. Q. Joseph Bidwell, for plaintiff, cross. Exactly. You were up on the wall at that time? A. Yes. Q. You say that that piece of board here was on the wall at that time? A. Yes, sir. Q. As you went along putting on these joists you took these boards off the wall, didn't you? A. No, sir. Q. None of them? A. No, sir. Q. Why not? A. Because it wasn't our business to take them off; and in another place, it wouldn't have been safe to take them off, because if we should happen to step on green wall, we would have been more liable to fall with it off than with it on. Q. You knew that board wasn't put there to step on? A. Q. A. Certainly. It was only put there to protect the wall? Q. You weren't using this board as a scaffold at all? A. No, sir. Q. Your brother at that time weighed how much? A. I don't know exactly; in the neighborhood of about 220, 225 or 230. Q. About 235 pounds? Joseph Bidwell, for plaintiff, cross. A. Yes; somewhere around there; I don't know his exact weight. Q. You knew perfectly well at that time that that opening was at that place? A. Yes, sir. Q. And you knew that there wasn't any brick wall there at all? A. Yes, sir. Q. And your brother was working on that wall side and had been during this whole day? A. Well, yes; up until the time he fell. Q. This accident happened, I believe you said, about 9 o'clock? A. Yes. Q. And you had been working all day that and part of the day before on this particular wall? A. Yes, sir. Q. And you had got all of the joists laid from the main entrance to this opening in the wall? A. No; we had them laid from the south corner. Q. A. Exactly; we came from the south corner; we were going towards the entrance. Q. I got that twisted. I understood you said the other way. So that you had about 15 or 16 of those? 96 97 98 Joseph Bidwell, for plaintiff, re-direct. A. Yes, sir. Q. And this header was fitted in to the one on the south side? A. Yes, sir. Q. And what you were doing then was fitting it in to the joists on the north side of the door? Re-Direct Examination by Mr. Woods: Q. In lifting this header up to put it in there was there any place except this 7 inch window casing or this board to stand on? A. No, sir. Mr. Cheney: That I object to as a conclusion, and improper. The Court: Sustained. Strike out the answer. By Mr. Woods: Q. Was there anything on either side of this header or on the west side of this header where it was to be framed in to these joists except this board and this window casing? A. That is all there was; just the window casing and this board. Q. And that was how wide? A. The window casing was 8 inches wide and the board was 6. 66 |