Betts v. City & County of San Francisco

Plaintiff had a verdict for $8,500 in damages for the death by drowning of his son in an artificial reservoir maintained by the city and county in the area of Golden Gate Park. This reservoir was located on Strawberry Hill which is an island-lilce body of land in the middle of Stow Lake. It was designed to provide an artificial waterfall for the pleasure of the public on Sundays and holidays and also for purposes of irrigating some of the lower areas. It was completely surrounded by a 4% or 5-foot picket fence in good condition. At one end two pipes or cement openings were maintained—one for…