Workmen's compensation requires proof that an accident arose out of and in the course of employment; conjecture is insufficient.

Compensation under section 3 of the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1923 is payable only when personal injury by accident both arises out of and occurs in the course of employment, and the claimant bears the burden of proving those elements. The requirements may be inferred from proved facts in an unexplained accident case, but only where the worker is shown to have been exposed to a risk ordinarily incident to the duties and the accident is capable of explanation by that risk. On the facts described, the seaman was last seen on the vessel, yet there was no evidence of how he disappeared or of any work-related risk causing the death, so the inference was not justified and compensation failed.

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Issues: Whether the missing seaman's death could be inferred from the circumstances, and whether the death was caused by an accident arising out of and in the course of employment within section 3 of the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1923.

Analysis: Compensation under section 3 is payable only where personal injury by accident both arises out of and occurs in the course of employment. The claimant bears the burden of proving these requirements, though they may be established by legitimate inference from proved facts. In unexplained accident cases, an inference may be drawn where the workman is shown to have been in a place and position exposing him to a risk ordinarily incident to his duties, and the accident is capable of explanation by reference to that risk. On the facts found, the seaman was last seen on the vessel, but there was no evidence of the place or manner of his disappearance, no proof that the night was stormy, no witness to any fall, and no material from which the accident could be attributed to a risk inherent in the employment rather than to conjecture.

Conclusion: The inference that the death, if any, resulted from an accident arising out of and in the course of employment was not justified, and the claim for compensation failed.

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