Shuman v. Boston Elevated Railway Co.

The plaintiff sues in tort to recover for an injury received by him while riding on an escalator maintained and operated by the defendant. The escalator was descending and the plaintiff while standing upon it, “felt a sudden, severe shock below his left knee which ‘felt like being struck by a rod’ ” and “caused his knee to buckle under him.” There was on the escalator at the time, a short distance from the plaintiff, “a piece of twisted wire of the kind used in ‘holding something together’ about eight inches in length” and “as the escalator continued, the piece of wire disappeared into the…