Johnson v. City of St. Paul
| Decision Date | 25 January 1893 |
| Citation | 54 N.W. 735,52 Minn. 364 |
| Parties | JOHNSON v CITY OF ST. PAUL. |
| Court | Minnesota Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
(Syllabus by the Court.)
1. When, according to the allegations of a complaint, the worn-out, rotten, and generally bad condition of a sidewalk was the primary cause of certain injuries said to have been received by the plaintiff when walking thereon, it is competent to show upon the trial that such was the condition of the walk a reasonable period of time after the accident. Proof that this condition existed four weeks subsequent to the day on which the injuries were received is admissible.
2. By the heading of a notice that such injuries have been received, required by the terms of Sp. Laws 1885, c. 7, § 19, it was addressed to the mayor and common council of the city, but it was delivered to the city clerk, and thence took its regular course. Held, that the error in address, if there was one, was unimportant.
Appeal from district court, Ramsey county; Egan, Judge.
Action by Fannie Johnson against the city of St. Paul to recover damages for personal injuries caused by a defective sidewalk. Judgment for plaintiff. Defendant appeals. Affirmed.
Dan. W. Lawler, for appellant.
Frederick L. McGhee, for respondent.
According to the complaint herein, the primary cause of the injuries said to have been received by plaintiff was the negligence of defendant city in keeping in repair a sidewalk at a particularly described point, which walk she alleges had become rotten, worn-out, broken, full of holes, and dangerous, so that, when she was walking on the same at this particular point, she was tripped by a loose plank, and, stepping into one of the holes, was violently thrown down. It was therefore proper and important for her to show the rotten and worn-out, or general, condition of the walk at and about the time of the accident, so that, from proof of this general condition, the presumption might arise that defendant knew, or ought to have known, all about it, and was careless and negligent in allowing such a state of affairs to continue. It was competent to show the general condition of the walk within a reasonable time after the day of the accident; for it is a matter of common knowledge that the wearing out, the natural decay, and general defective character of a sidewalk is not the work of a week or a month. The process which tends to its natural destruction is gradual; and, if the walk in question was in the bad condition described by...
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Peterson v. Village of Cokato
...as to constitute at least constructive notice to the authorities. Furnell v. City of St. Paul, 20 Minn. 101 (117); Johnson v. City of St. Paul, 52 Minn. 364, 54 N. W. 735; Hall v. City of Austin, 73 Minn. 134, 75 N. W. 1121. It was for the jury to say whether plaintiff's evidence on this su......
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Hall v. City of Austin
...and that the condition of the plank and stringers in that respect could not have greatly changed in so short a time. Johnson v. City of St. Paul, 52 Minn. 364, 54 N. W. 735. There was no error in permitting witnesses to testify as to the appearance of the plaintiff shortly after the acciden......
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Watterson v. New York Central Railroad Company
...the injury constitutes evidence that the defective condition existed at the time of the injury are not in point. In Johnson v. City of St. Paul, 52 Minn. 364, 54 N.W. 735, the injury was claimed to be caused by a defect in a sidewalk. Peneff v. Duluth, M. & N. R. Co., 164 Minn. 6, 204 N.W. ......