Grout v. Ruskin

Citations

• 207 F. 273
• 127 C.C.A. 1
• 1913 U.S. App. LEXIS 1622

Syllabus

<p>Landlord and Tenant (§ 107*)—Fibe Escapes—Duty to Furnish—Guest of Subtenant—Death—Landlord’s Liability—State Statutes—Construction—Shops and Factories.</p> <p>Rev. St. Ohio 1880, § 2573, makes it the duty of every owner of a tenement house more than two stories high to provide a convenient exit from the different upper stories, which shall be easily accessible in case of fire. By Act April 4, 1884 (81 Ohio Laws, p. 100), and Act April 18, 1893 (90 Ohio Laws, p. 190), oilier sections were added, providing that the term “shops and factories,” as used in sections 2573b and 2573c, providing for factory inspection, etc., shall include tenement and apartment, houses, and if it is found on inspection, under section 2573c, that the means of egress in case of fire are not sufficient, or any other improvement is necessary for the safety of employes or persons occupying such shops and factories, such changes or additions being of a permanent and fixed character, the owner of the building shall be required by the state inspector on notice and under penalties to provide them and construct necessary fire escapes. Section 2573b confers on the inspector the right of entry in the shops and factories at any reasonable time, and proof of the failure of the proprietor to make the alteration ordered by the inspector shall be deemed prima facie evidence of negligence, and shall render such proprietor liable for any injury sustained by reason of such failure to make alterations. Section 2573c declares that the inspectors, if they find the means of egress in case of fire insufficient, shall notify the owners to make the alterations and additions necessary without delay, and, if they do not, they shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. Held, that such amendment was only applicable to a tenement house more than two stories high, within section 2573, in case of the owner’s failure to comply with an order of the inspector, and section 2573 having been held by the state court not to apply to an o