Putnam patriot., 1920-05-28
DENIES PUTNAM
 WIDOWS CLAIM
Commissioner Refuses Mary Reeves Request for Compen-
 sation For Husbands Death
Find. That Man Who Fell From Dsdy Silk Mill Became Faint After
 Hearing of Operation

Compensation Commissioner James F. Donahue of Norwich has denied the petition of Mrs. Mary Reeves of Putnam, widow of Eugene Reeves, for compensation against the John A. Dady Corporation of this city. Mir. Reeves, who had lived in Put nam many years, was employed in the Dady mill Last December he fell from an open doorway in the second story and was almost instantly killed. In his report the commissioner sets forth the facts of the accident and gives reasons why compensation is de- nied. He says:
 A claim for compensation having been made and no agreement having been reached, the case was heard by the commissioner Monday afternoon, May 3. At the hearing the following facts were brought out in the testi- mony:
 The decedent, Eugene Reeves, was on December 9th, 1919, employed as overseer of the winding room of the respondents silk mill in Putnam, and had been so employed for several years On that date he fell from a doorway of the second story of, the mill and struck on the sidewalk below, fracturing his skull, and died within a short time.
 The claimant, Mary Reeves, is the widow of Eugene Reeves, and it is found that she was living with him and receiving support from him regu- larly. The facts in the case were agreed to by both parties, the point to be decided being whether the in- 1 jury arose out of and in the course of | the decedent's employment. The doorway from which the de- l caesed fell was about 20 feet above | the sidewalk and the doorway was | protected by bar about three inches wide and about three feet above the | floor.
 l Shortly before the accident the su- perintendent of the mill had conver- sation with Mir. Reeves and told him | about an operation for the removal of adenoids which had recently taken 1 place, whereupon the deeedent had re marked, That makes me feel faint, y or. words to that effect, and the de- | cedent then walked to the doorway in | order to get air.
 | Somebody called the superintend- ent and he walked away and left MT.
 Reeves standing near the doorway
 Mir OateIy, the superintendent, did
 not see Mr Reeves fall, but later l found him on the sidewalk with his skull fractured.
 1t was also found that MT. Reeves l appeared in his usual condition on the
 morning in question, that he was
 seen standing near the doorway and
 that his hands slipped from the bar which protected the doorway, his
 knees appeared to. give way and he
 slipped under the bar and fell to the
 sidewalk below
 It is well known in medical circles that persons may be made faint by a
 description of bloody operation, es- peeially when described in detail, as
 was the case in the present instance,
 and that such faintness is brought about by reflex nerves acting through
 a mental process. It is found from
 the testimony taken as whole that
 the cause of Mir. Reeves falling
 through the doorway was sudden
 faintness which he experienced as the
 result of hearing the details of the
 operation mentioned, and that the
 faintness did not arise from anything
 in any way connected with his em-
 ployment
 It is therefore found that while the injury resulting in death arose in the
 course of the deeedent's employment it did not arise out of the employ | mpnt