Paget v. Girard Trust Co.

Citations

• 44 Pa. Super. 596
• 1910 Pa. Super. LEXIS 226

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Sidewalk—Fall through cellar door.</p> <p>In an action to recover damages for personal injuries caused by a fall through a closed cellar door on the property of the defendant, it appeared that the plaintiff, a woman, was walking in broad daylight on defendant’s sidewalk, to escape from rain and without any invitation or knowledge of the defendant, took shelter under a shed and stepped upon a closed cellar door under the shed. The sidewalk at the place of the accident was thirteen feet wide. The house line receded at this point from the building line so as to leave a space of twenty feet between the house line and the curb. The outer edge of the cellar door was nearly two feet inside of the building line, and was raised three inches at the lower end and from seven to nine inches at the house line end. From the outer edge of the cellar door to the curb there was a space of fourteen feet nine inches which included the sidewalk of thirteen feet. Held, that the plaintiff was a trespasser who went upon the defendant’s premises for her own convenience, and was therefore not entitled to recover.</p>