Greenleaf v. Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Co.

Plaintiff, the appellant here from a judgment ágainst him in the superior court of San Luis Obispo County, charged in his complaint the burning of his warehouse and its contents by reason of the negligent act of defendant’s servant in placing and leaving a can of hot ashes and coals against the rear end of the building.

It is alleged that the rear wall of the structure, which was of boards standing up and down, was ignited by the hot and burning coals. The undisputed testimony established the fact that defendant’s janitor was accustomed to depositing ashes from a heating-stove in defendant’s…