Eigenbrodt v. Williamsport
Eigenbrodt v. Williamsport
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
This action is brought by Mary H. Eigenbrodt and her husband to recover damages for injuries suffered by the former in a fall, alleged to have been caused by negligence of the defendant. The statement filed by plaintiff averred negligence of the defendant in constructing and maintaining a sidewalk which was unsafe, “by reason of an abrupt descent in said sidewalk of about twelve inches.” There was a verdict in favor of the plaintiffs in the court below, and the city of Williamsport appeals.
The evidence disclosed that Railway street and Hancock street were unpaved, that the sidewalk upon Railway street was about twelve inches higher than the cartway of Hancock street at the point of intersection, that across the cartway of Hancock street there was a plank street crossing and that between this plank street crossing and the sidewalk on Railway street the city had constructed and maintained a plank gutter crossing forty-four inches in length and three feet wide, the end which adjoined the sidewalk being twelve inches higher than the end which connected with the plank street crossing; so that this gutter crossing had- a slope of twelve inches in forty-four inches. The maintenance of the gutter crossing having this slope was the only act of negligence upon the part of the city alleged in plaintiff’s statement or attempted to be established by the evidence. The plaintiff called a
The parties had agreed on certain facts including the following: “Mary H. Eigenbrodt, on December 16th, 1907, left her home and was accompanied by Mrs. Bruce Smith, and together they traveled east on Germania street to Railway street, and south on the sidewalk on the east side of Railway street to the intersection of Hancock street and Railway streets, the point of the accident; and Mary H. Eigenbrodt was pushing her baby carriage, with her baby therein, over the sidewalk at the time of the accident.” There is in this agreement nothing from which a jury should have been permitted to infer that the plaintiff was upon the sloping gutter crossing at the time she fell, or that the slope of the crossing caused her to fall. The only other evidence upon this subject was that of the plaintiff and her friend Mrs. Smith. The only testimony of the plaintiff upon this point was as follows: “Q. Describe how accident happened? A. Walking slowly from Mrs. Smith’s house down Railway street towards Third and was pushing baby carriage when I fell down the off-set.” The testimony of Mrs. Smith, upon the same subject, was: “Q. What happened on Railway street, where Hancock street comes into it, to Mrs. Eigenbrodt? A. Mrs. Eigenbrodt was ahead with the baby and I was behind. Mrs. Eigenbrodt fell, and the carriage was about to fall over when I grabbed it, preventing it from falling over.” This testimony does not disclose that the plaintiff had entered upon the gutter crossing; nor does it show what caused the fall; all that it does show is that she fell “down the
The judgment is reversed.
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- Negligence — Municipalities—Defect in street — Province of court and jury. 1. In an action against a city to recover damages for personal injuries alleged to have been caused by a fall on a defective sidewalk, the plaintiff is not entitled to have the case submitted to the jury where the evidence shows, that although there was an abrupt descent in the sidewalk at or near where plaintiff fell, yet there was no evidence that the plaintiff had entered upon the descent, or that the abruptness of the slope had been the cause of the accident. 2. Inferences must be based on facts proved, and not on mere presumptions.