Hammer v. City of Philadelphia
Decision Date | 28 January 1932 |
Docket Number | 262-1931 |
Citation | 158 A. 659,104 Pa.Super. 119 |
Parties | Hammer, Appellant, v. City of Philadelphia |
Court | Pennsylvania Superior Court |
Argued October 9, 1931
Appeal by plaintiff from judgment of C. P., No. 2 Philadelphia County, December T., 1928, No. 15436, in the case of William D. Hammer v. City of Philadelphia.
Trespass to recover for personal injuries. Before Stern, P. J.,
The facts are stated in the opinion of the Superior Court.
Verdict for plaintiff in the sum of $ 500. Subsequently, on motion the Court entered judgment for the defendant non obstante veredicto. Plaintiff appealed.
Error assigned, among others, was the entry of judgment.
Affirmed.
Paul Reilly, for appellant.
Ward C Henry, and with him G. Coe Farrier, Assistant City Solicitors, and Augustus Trask Ashton, City Solicitor.
Before Trexler, P. J., Keller, Linn, Gawthrop, Cunningham and Baldrige, JJ.
In October, 1928, the City of Philadelphia was constructing a subway under a portion of South Broad Street and in connection therewith laid down temporary sidewalks, constructed of two-inch planks. At a point on the east sidewalk about four feet from the curb and opposite the south building line of Chestnut Street there was a manhole, approximately three feet in diameter, leading into a conduit of a public utility and covered with an iron disc, securely fastened. A circular hole, corresponding in size with the disc, was cut out of the planking in order to afford access to it. This left the upper edges of the planks two inches above the level of the iron cover; the edges were then beveled around the opening, producing a sloping approach from the upper side of the planks to the cover of the manhole.
Nearly three months later, December 21, 1928, the plaintiff, familiar with the locality and accompanied by a friend, was walking north on the east side of Broad, between Sansom and Chestnut, at a time when the sidewalk was crowded with pedestrians; as they approached the corner of Chestnut plaintiff stepped, with his left foot, on the beveled edge of the planking surrounding the manhole; his ankle turned and his foot slid across the iron covering; a fracture of one of the ankle bones was suffered.
The trial of his action against the city for damages resulted in a verdict in his favor for $ 500; the court below, in an opinion by Stern, P. J., granted defendant's motion for judgment in its favor n. o. v. and plaintiff has appealed.
No material facts were in controversy and the only variation in the testimony was in the manner in which the witnesses, called by the opposing parties, characterized the construction around the manhole. Appellant's testimony was to the effect that the edges had been "leveled off in a crude way, but still there was a very rough edge there." Another said, "It looked to me as if it was beveled with probably one of those slab hatchets chopping it down." The city's inspector of construction testified, "We beveled the edges so as to produce about a forty-five degree angle, so as to produce safe conditions as far as possible."
Appellant's account of the accident reads: ...
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