Willard v. Valley Gas & Fuel Co.

This is an appeal from a judgment in favor of the plaintiffs in an action instituted to recover damages for the destruction of a dwelling-house by a fire alleged to have been caused by the negligence of the defendant.

The gas-meter in the plaintiff Willard’s house was below the level of the defendant’s street-mains. Water and naphthalene crystals accumulate at low points in gas-mains and are collected in drip-pipes, which are cleaned as occasion demands. Such a pipe was installed in a basement room of the Willard home. In this room there was also a gas-plate for laundry purposes and a Ruud…