Bube v. Weatherly Borough

Citations

• 25 Pa. Super. 88
• 1904 Pa. Super. LEXIS 20

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Electricity—Evidence—Measure of proof.</p> <p>While it is the duty of those furnishing electricity for light, heat or power to make the wires safe by proper insulation and to keep them so by constant oversight and repair, yet in order to hold the owner of this agency liable in damages for injuries it is necessary for a plaintiff to establish his case by the same degree of proof as in cases where the cause of injury is more certain and easily explained.</p> <p>Whenever circumstantial evidence is relied upon to prove a fact, the circumstances must be proved, and not themselves presumed. No presumption can be drawn from a presumption.</p> <p>Where none of the essential facts are in dispute, and the inferences to be drawn from them are not in doubt, a defendant has the right to call on the court to declare .the law in relation thereto, and direct the jury as to what verdict they should render.</p> <p>One who is injured while lawfully on the premises of another cannot recover damages for an injury if he fails to show the direct cause, or that it occurred through the negligence of the defendant.</p> <p>In an action against a borough to recover damages for the death of plaintiff’s son, a boy fifteen years old, it appeared that at the time of the accident the boy, with other persons, was in the cellar of a store. The cellar was lighted by a single incandescent electric light attached to an insulated wire cord which was wrapped around a nail in a beam high enough to permit a man of average height to walk under it. The boy stood at the light and was the only person near to it. Suddenly the light went out, and at the same instant the boy fell to the floor “his feet straight down from the lamp.” Another of the persons present took the lamp in his hand to steady it, turned the switch with his right hand, and restored the light without receiving any shock. No signs of a burn or discoloration were found on the body of the deceased. 'Within a few minutes after the b