City of Moline v. McKinnie

In September, 1885, Tina Nevitt, while passing along a public sidewalk in the city of Moline, after dark, fell into an excavation which had been dug under the sidewalk in front of a building then in course of construction. The sidewalk at that point had been torn up to give room for the workmen then engaged in putting in the basement walls of the building. For the purpose of wheeling rock into the basement, a “ runway ” board was placed near the eastern line of excavation and, crossing the line of the sidewalk and crossing the cellar or basement wall, ran into the cellar. No lights or guards…