Broughton v. S. S. Kresge Co.
| Decision Date | 08 April 1930 |
| Docket Number | No. 20981.,20981. |
| Citation | 26 S.W.2d 838 |
| Parties | BROUGHTON v. S. S. KRESGE CO. |
| Court | Missouri Court of Appeals |
Appeal from St. Louis Circuit Court; James F. Green, Judge.
"Not to be officially published."
Action by Mary Broughton against the S. S. Kresge Company. From the judgment, plaintiff appeals.
Affirmed.
Eben P. Wroughton and N. Murry Edwards, both of St. Louis, for appellant.
W. E. Moser, of St. Louis, for respondent.
Plaintiff, in her action to recover damages on account of personal injuries alleged to have been suffered through the negligence of the defendant, recovered judgment in the sum of $563.79, from which judgment she in due course brings her appeal.
The assignments of error urged here are that the judgment is inadequate and that the trial court erred in giving one of the instructions requested by defendant.
The record discloses that the defendant owned and operated a store for the sale of merchandise at retail, in the city of St. Louis, and that plaintiff, in April, 1927, shopped in defendant's store, and, while in the act of descending a stairway from the second to the first floor, slipped and fell, causing her injury.
Plaintiff's petition set up as assignments of negligence that the defendant maintained a stairway and steps in a dangerous and unsafe condition, in that on the day in question they were wet, slick, and slippery, steep, and not reasonably well lighted; that defendant failed to furnish sufficient light at said stairway and steps; that the defendant negligently permitted said steps of said stairway to become slick and slippery, and negligently maintained them in said condition, and in failing to provide cleats or other footholds on said steps to prevent the feet of customers, and particularly plaintiff, from slipping while passing over said steps and down said stairway.
Plaintiff testified she was 54 years old, and that her average earnings were between fifteen and twenty dollars per week; that when she entered defendant's store it was pouring down rain; that when she finished her shopping on the second floor she started down to the first floor, using the stairway at the rear end of the building. She described the stairway as a large, wide stairway leading from the first or main floor of the store to a landing or balcony about halfway between the floors, and that from said landing there were two stairways leading to the second floor, one on the east and the other on the west side, the one on the east being intended and used by customers going to the second floor, while the one on the west was intended and used by customers descending from the second floor. She started down the west stairway, which was some five or six feet wide, at which time she was wearing a pair of bifocal glasses which she was not in the habit of wearing on the street, but which she had put on with the idea of looking at the prices and things on the second floor. She was carrying an umbrella and purse. The stairway had a rail on either side, and plaintiff "followed the rail for a little way but finally it was rather dark and I went over more to this side," and continued down the steps, when at the fourth or third step from the bottom Plaintiff further testified that the steps were wet, and that she noticed her hands were soiled from the steps. She further testified that the steps themselves As to the kind of steps, she testified:
As to her injuries, plaintiff testified that her left knee pained her badly, and that there was a fracture of the bone in the knee joint; that the knee was swollen at the time, and that her left foot and instep were blue and bruised, and that the little finger of her left hand was injured; that some three weeks later she began having a discharge from her uterus, which trouble, after being treated by the doctor, disappeared some time later; because of her injuries, she remained in the hospital some five or six weeks, after which she took a two weeks' vacation at a Y. W. C. A. Camp, and that she was unable to walk without the aid of two crutches for two months after leaving the hospital; that, after she returned from the camp, she used electric treatments and had her knee massaged; that the accident occurred in the early part of April, 1927; that in December, 1927, she tried to work in her old position for two weeks, but was not able to go back and forth because she was using a crutch and could not do her work very well; that her work was piecework, and she could not make as much as her old salary, because it was necessary that On June 1, 1928, she opened a little confectionery store, in the rear of which she had her living quarters. As to her condition at the time of the trial, she testified that her left knee still pained her; that it seemed to be weak, and she could not get on street cars or busses without the aid of a cane.
On cross-examination, plaintiff testified that she had been told that dancing was good for the limbs, and that she had danced with a few special friends at her club.
On redirect examination, plaintiff testified she had paid the hospital bill of $83.50 and $10 for X-ray pictures taken of her knee.
Plaintiff's daughter and son-in-law testified that several days after plaintiff had met with her injuries they had examined the steps in question and found that the steps were made of black slate and that they were worn at the edge and that "they were as slick as glass."
On cross-examination, the son-in-law testified he made no examination as to the lights about the stairway because plaintiff had not told him that she claimed there was insufficient light at that place.
Two physicians testified as to the character of plaintiff's...
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