The Bennington Evening Banner

AWARD NOT SATISFACTORY
First Appeal From Ruling of State Accident Board.

The Vermont industrial accident board has received notification from Jacob Sommers of Hartford, Conn., through his attorney, Joseph Madden of Keene, N. H., that a decision of the board affecting him (Sommers) has not been satisfactory and that an appeal to the Windsor county court has been taken. This is the first appeal from a ruling of the board since the workman's compensation law went into effect July 1, 1915.

Sommers was employed last fall by the Gay Bros.' Manufacturing company of Cavendish and on November 11, 1915, his left hand was drawn into the gears of a carding machine, inflicting injuries which necessitated the amputation of the index and second fingers of the hand. At the hearing held to decide upon the due compensation it was contended that Sommers should be allowed for wages, which he could reasonably earn after having learned and become expert at the work in which he was employed. He asked for an additional sum than that specified in the law for the loss of the fingers, or 45 weeks pay. The board ruled that he should be paid only what the law called for as the result of the loss of the fingers, not what he might have earned had he become an expert, and the appeal to the courts results.