them up on the large gasoline tank. Then, as he testified, he delivered one of the five-gallon cans believed to be coal-oil to the patron by whom the five gallons of gasoline had been returned; that there then remained on the floor of the oilroom one five-gallon can of coal-oil which had been a part of the delivery received on the preceding day; that the same evening (Saturday) at about dark or dusk, one of the children of Catlin came and wanted kerosene oil; that he (Riley) informed the child that because of insurance regulations he could not handle illuminating oil after dark, and that as the child insisted that the family had no oil, he told her if she would bring a small can the following morning (Sunday), as he made no deliveries on that day, he would give her sufficient to last until Monday, when he would deliver the remainder of the five gallons; that on Sunday morning one of the Catlin children returned with a gallon can which he (Riley) filled from the five-gallon can sitting on the floor of the oil-room, and that the next morning he delivered the four gallons remaining in the can at the Catlin home, where he poured the oil into an empty can customarily used for that purpose. John Catlin, the deceased, at the time of his death was forty-four years of age, in good health, weighing about one hundred and eighty-five pounds. As his wife testified, he was a "strong" man, and had had no illness or needed the attention of a physician. He had been married to the plaintiff, his wife, for twenty-three years, and there survived him besides the widow, four children aged respectively: Bessie, nineteen; Pauline, seventeen; Howard, thirteen; Fred, eleven. He had been a miner, but at the date of the accident his regular employment was that of a carpenter's helper, at which work he earned $2.75 per day. His life expectancy was 25 years. On Tuesday evening following the receipt of the oil delivered by Riley, being at work laying some cement in his cellar, Catlin had occasion to make use of an oil-lamp. He was already carrying in a miner's cap on his head a small lamp such as miners customarily use. This small lamp was lighted and remained so until after the explosion which produced the injuries from which Catlin later died. Catlin went to the rear of the house in or about a screen porch in order to fill the larger oil-lamp which he intended to use, and apparently started to pour what he assumed was coal-oil or kerosene from the large can into the

lamp, when the explosion occurred. Mrs. Catlin, as she testified, heard the noise of an explosion, and almost immediately her husband ran to the front of the house, covered. with fire, and rolled in the grass, calling for help. She tried to smother the flames with bedclothing and, with the help of a neighbor, the fire was finally extinguished. One witness, a Mr. Tucker, who assisted in extinguishing the fire burning on the person of Catlin, testified that when he reached Catlin the latter said: "Oh, Mr. Tucker, put this fire out on me; I am burning up. Do something for me quick-I was filling the lamp and it exploded, and before I could throw the can it exploded also put the fire out; I am burning up—I have handled gasoline and coal-oil all my life; I am an old miner. Why should anything of this kind happen to me? I am sure that it was gasoline. On cross-examination this witness added that while on the way to the hospital the injured man had said that he had filled lamps before "when they were lit," and had never had one act that way. Catlin in his injured condition was removed immediately to a hospital, where he died two days later. It appeared without dispute that the driver of the appellant company, instead of delivering sixty gallons of coal-oil as directed, delivered in part coal-oil and in part gasoline, and that the mistake came about in this way: The tank-wagon from which deliveries were made, was divided into three compartments, one in front, one in the middle, and one at the rear. These compartments were entirely separated one from the other, and connected with each at the rear of the wagon was a stopcock or faucet; that customarily gasoline was carried in the forward tank and kerosene in the two rear ones; that on the day when the delivery to Riley was made the driver started to load his wagon and had commenced to fill the forward tank with gasoline; that desiring to attend to his team, he asked one of the other employees, an agent of appellant, to complete the filling of the forward tank, and to put keroscne into the two rear ones. These latter he knew to be empty at the time; that this employee after completing the filling of the forward tank with gasoline, filled the middle one with kerosene as directed, but through some error of understanding or judgment, put gasoline into the rear compartment. The driver testified that in delivering oil in quantities as large as that ordered by Riley, he customarily used two five

gallon measures having handles on them, and drew from two faucets at the same time; that he followed this custom in making the delivery to Riley, and drew from the faucets connecting with the two rear compartments, filling his two measures thus at the same time, emptying them and refilling them until the desired quantity had been secured. Riley, the grocer, testified that he was familiar with this practice, and noted that the driver followed it on the Friday when he made delivery of the oil. The driver explained that in consequence of this practice of drawing two measures at a time, and as each measure when filled would completely fill a five-gallon can, the four cans filled with the last twenty gallons of oil desired by Riley, should have contained unmixed fluid; that is, two should have contained gasoline and two kerosene. This conclusion would be in accordance with the tests made by Riley. There is some discrepancy between the testimony of Riley and the testimony of the driver of the wagon, wherein the driver stated that when he returned on Monday, to take away the oil, he found one fivegallon can full of coal-oil still standing near the door of the oil-house. Riley had testified that he had placed two of the five-gallon cans on top of the gasoline tank and marked them with the word "gasoline," and that of the two remaining which he had determined to be kerosene, he had delivered one to the first patron who had returned the gasoline, and had taken the other to fill the Catlin order. Riley testified that there was in another portion of the oil-room at that time, perhaps five gallons of coal-oil which he had received at a prior date, and which was not included in the Friday delivery of mixed oil. Fred Catlin, the eleven-year old son of the deceased, who had obtained the gallon of oil from Riley on Sunday morning, testified that when he called for the oil Riley first went to the fifty-gallon tank and said: "I think this is mixed"; that Riley then went to a fivegallon can and drew therefrom the gallon of oil and handed it to him, saying: "I guess this is coal-oil." The lamps used by the Catlins were ordinary glass lamps with no aperture separate from the wick-holder through which oil might be introduced into the bowl. To complete the narrative of facts it is necessary to refer to an occurrence which took place on Saturday, before any of the oil tested by Riley was resold. When the first oil put out by Riley on Friday and

Saturday morning had come back to him with the report that something was wrong with it, he made his tests of the oil in the five-gallon cans as has been hereinbefore described. He then phoned to the branch office of the Union Oil Company through which he did business, and after getting the ear of the driver who had delivered to him the oil, told this driver that a mistake had been made, that his oil had been mixed on him. Riley testified that he told the driver to come and take back the oil Sunday morning. He testified: "They told me they would come on Sunday, but did not come until Monday." The driver of the wagon admitted receiving notification from Riley that the oil was mixed; that at the time of the conversation over the telephone he had stated to Riley that it was impossible that a mistake had been made, but that if such was the case the wagon had been loaded up "wrong" on him. He testified that he believed he said he would take the oil back; further, that he was not convinced that a mistake had been made until he went for the oil on Monday morning. He denied having promised to return on Sunday morning, and said that he could not have done so because Riley did not keep his store open on Sunday. There was testimony from which the jury was authorized to draw the conclusion that had the oil delivered to Catlin been kerosene, and not gasoline, the ignition of the oil and vapor and consequent explosion would not have occurred. In short, there was sufficient proof, in a circumstantial way at least, upon which the jury was authorized to make the deduction which is implied from the verdict, to wit, that the oil delivered to Catlin was much more inflammable and explosive in its character than kerosene, and that it was in fact gasoline.

Appellant first urges that there is a defect in the foundation of plaintiff's case which requires that the judgment be reversed. This contention is referred to the evidence which, it is urged, fails to show that the negligence of appellant was the proximate cause which produced the death of plaintiff's intestate. No contention is made but that the mistake of appellant's agents in delivering both gasoline and kerosene in the place of kerosene to Riley, the grocer, was negligence for which the corporation might, in some circumstances, be held responsible in damages. It is, however, insisted that whatever negligence was first committed by appellant in delivering mixed oil, this negligence ceased to

be of active effect in the line of causation when Riley, the grocer, discovered that he had received gasoline and kerosene mixed. It is argued that when Riley notified the driver that the oil was mixed, and it was understood that the driver would return and take it back, all responsibility of appellant ended; that the subsequent acts of Riley in selling the oil were the acts of an independent, responsible person which interrupted the chain of causation and furnished in law the last efficient cause of the damage. Proximate cause has been defined many times in the decisions, and by text-writers, to be that cause arising out of a breach of duty which, in a natural and continuous sequence, produces the damage complained of. The original negligent act may be separated from the untoward event by great periods of time and many other connecting acts, negligent or non-negligent. The latter may be acts of third persons not in any representative sense the agents of the first wrongdoer. There is a qualification, however, to the last-named condition, and that is this: When there is no privity of contract between the first wrongdoer and the person suffering damage, and the negligent act falls within the class concerning things which carry no menace or threat of probable damage to third persons, the liability of the first party will extend no further than to his immediate co-contractor. This rule applies generally to cases where breach of contract has been committed in the furnishing of merchandise, or building of tools, machines, etc., which in their very nature are not calculated to produce damage when of imperfect construction or composition. The mislabeling of poisons, inflammable oils, explosives, and like dangerous substances is so fraught with possibilities of danger to purchasers as to charge the first vender with a responsibility for damages, even though the mismarked substance has passed through the hands of a number of intermediate venders. (Elkins Bly & Co. v. McKean, 79 Pa. St. 493; Riggs v. Standard Oil Co., 130 Fed. 199; Wellington v. Downer Kerosene Oil Co., 104 Mass. 64; Thomas v. Winchester, 6 N. Y. 397, [57 Am. Dec. 455].) The interrupting event which will disturb the train of causation may be the negligent act of a responsible person. "If the negligent acts of two or more persons, all being culpable and responsible in law for their acts, do not occur in point of time, and the negligence of one only exposes the injured person