Gardner v. Metropolitan Utilities District

Matilda M. Gardner brings this action for damages for personal injuries sustained by a fall through a trapdoor in her house on the theory that it was negligently left open by a district meter reader. She recovered a judgment for $10,000 in the trial court.

The first and most serious question presented by this appeal is the liability of the district for the accident. There was no one else present when the plaintiff fell down the cellar • steps through the trapdoor. Briefly, the story as told by the record is that a meter reader for the district called at the home of Mrs. Gardner for the purpose…