Weaver v. Stables

Citations

• 46 Wash. 65
• 89 P. 154
• 1907 Wash. LEXIS 560

Syllabus

<p>Livery Stable Keepers — Fires—Care oe Horses — Question eor Jury. In an action against a livery stable keeper for the loss of horses destroyed hy fire, the question whether the defendant exercised ordinary care in guarding against fires, is for the jury, where it appears that the barn was in a peculiarly exposed position, that the stalls were so located as to make it difficult to extricate horses in case of fire, that defendant had no employee whose duty it was to guard against fires, and that the only employees in the harn on the night of the fire were engaged in their duties so far from the scene of the fire as not to discover it until the alarm was given and the fire so far advanced as to make it impossible to release any of the horses in the part of the barn where plaintiff’s horses were kept; since reasonable minds might differ upon the question.</p> <p>Same — Instructions. In an action against a livery stable keeper for the loss of horses destroyed by a fire, a requested instruction to the effect that the defendant would not be liable if the fire was started by a third person is properly refused, where the same is in effect given with the qualification “unless hy the exercise of ordinary care on the part of the defendant” the horses could have been saved notwithstanding the fire.</p>