Mooney v. Luzerne Borough

Citations

• 186 Pa. 161
• 40 A. 311
• 1898 Pa. LEXIS 973

Syllabus

<p>Municipalities — Negligence—■Supervision of electric wires.</p> <p>It is the duty of a municipality to exercise a careful supervision over the adjustment and regulation of the electric wires suspended over its streets, and it is liable for injuries resulting from the neglect of such duty.</p> <p>In an action against a borough to recover damages for the death of plaintiff’s son killed by an electric wire, the evidence tended to show that a telephone wire had been maintained over a street of defendant for fifteen years, but had not been used for several months. It crossed a charged electric wire in close proximity thereto. A few months before the accident the old telephone wire sagged to such an extent as to interfere with public travel on this street. It was then cut by a member of the borough council, and one end wrapped around a post within easy distance of pedestrians on a highway crossing a bridge, with the end resting on the ground or in the water. Plaintiff’s son, while crossing the bridge at night, came in contact Math the wire and was killed. Held, that the case was for the jury, and that a judgment and verdict for the plaintiff should be sustained.</p>