Schneider v. Owens
Schneider v. Owens
Opinion of the Court
.These two actions, based on the same charge; of negligence, were tried together and resulted in a verdict of $100 for plaintiff Schneider
Defendant contends that the evidence does not justify the finding that she was chargeable with negligence.
Defendant operated a laundry in a leased building in the city of Minneapolis, aDd by the terms of her lease was required to keep the building in repair. A rectangular brick chimney 36 by 40 inches extended 30 feet above the roof, and a metal smokestack placed on top of the chimney extended perhaps 20 feet higher. The metal stack was held in position by three guy Aires. It became weakened by rust around the band to which the guy wires were attached and the upper part of it was tipped over and partially broken off by the wind. For the purpose of removing the old stack and erecting a new one, defendant built a staging 6 feet square around the chimney extending to its top. The supports were 2 by 4 scantling at each corner which were braced by boards nailed to them and extending from one to another every few feet and by horizontal struts fitted firmly against the corners of the chimney. Defendant removed the old stack including the guy wires which supported it. The city smoke inspector required the new stack to be 40 feet in height. The company to whom defendant applied to construct the new stack declined to
Defendant insists that ordinary care did not require her to anticipate and guard against a wind of such unusual violence as the wind
Defendant further insists that plaintiff Gillesby was not entitled to recover the damages to his garage for the reason that he did not own the land on which it was located. This claim is without merit for he owned the garage and had permission to place it on this land. Some question is raised concerning the amount awarded him, but the evidence justifies the finding of the jury. We find no basis for the claim that the plaintiffs were chargeable with contributory negligence. The judgments are affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- ERNEST SCHNEIDER AND ANOTHER v. R. L. OWENS AND ANOTHER
- Status
- Published