Shirey v. Consumers' Gas Co.

Citations

• 215 Pa. 399
• 64 A. 541
• 1906 Pa. LEXIS 808

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Gas company — Explosion—Province of court and jury.</p> <p>In an. action against a gas company to recover damages for injuries caused by the explosion of gas it was admitted that defendant’s gas main broke, that gas escaped therefrom, and found its way into the plaintiff’s house where it exploded. A policeman testified that he had smelled gas in the street in the vicinity a night or two before the explosion. Three witnesses testified that the fractured edges of the gas pipe when examined after the explosion showed in part indications of an old fracture. There was a dispute as to the cause of the break of the gas main. Held, that the case was for the jury and that a verdict and judgment for plaintiff should be sustained.</p> <p>A company dealing with a substance so dangerous as gas must be held to a high degree of care, and the exorcise of every reasonable precaution in guarding against accidental injury.</p>