Ahern v. Melvin

Citations

• 21 Pa. Super. 462
• 1901 Pa. Super. LEXIS 408

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Evidence—Burden of proof.</p> <p>Where it is a perfectly even balance upon the evidence whether the injury complained of has resulted from the want of care on the part of defendant or the negligence of some person for whose act he is not responsible, the plaintiff’s case is not established. Where the effect of the evidence is merely to establish that there are two independent causes, either one of which may have been the proximate cause of the injury, the burden is upon the plaintiff to show that the cause for which the defendant is responsible was the one which produced the injury sought to be recovered for.</p> <p>Negligence — Evidence—Burden of proof — Fall of heavy article into street.</p> <p>In an action against the proprietor of a hotel to recover damages for personal injuries, it appeared that the plaintiff while passing along the sidewalk of a street in the rear of the hotel was struck on the top of the head and seriously injured by a large paper bag filled with potato parings and the skins of other vegetables. Projecting from the second floor of the hotel, immediately above the point where plaintiff was struck, was an iron balcony which was part of a fire escape. The only entrance to this was from the defendant’s kitchen. There was an exit into afire tower, which did not open into the hotel at any point. Above the balcony there were other balconies at each floor of a similar character, entrances to which were from guests’ rooms. Plaintiff testified that the bag fell from the lowest balcony. Another witness testified that immediately after the bag came from the balcony he saw a woman dressed as a servant and wearing an apron, run from the balcony into the building, and that he saw standing on the balcony at that time galvanized iron cans, such as are used for holding garbage. There was evidence that no other persons had access to the balcony, except servants, and that servants were permitted at that time to pare potatoes on the balcony. Defen