Heidenwag v. Philadelphia
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Appeal, No. 505, Jan. T., 1894, by-plaintiff, from judgment of C. P. Phila. Co., June T., 1893, No. 561, entering nonsuit. Trespass to recover damages for death of plaintiff’s son.
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Appeal, No. 505, Jan. T., 1894, by-plaintiff, from judgment of C. P. Phila. Co., June T., 1893, No. 561, entering nonsuit. Trespass to recover damages for death of plaintiff’s son. Before Finletter, P. J. At the trial it appeared that on the afternoon of July 4,1893, plaintiff’s son, a boy eight years old, was killed by a large piece of timber falling upon him from a scaffold erected on the sidewalk of Girard Avenue bridge, in the city of Philadelphia, which is one of the principal highways of the city crossing the Schuylkill river. At the time of the accident the boy was walking on the…
1Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
Mr. Justice Green,
If the scaffolding erected on the Girard Avenue bridge, from which the timber fell which killed the plaintiff’s son, was an unlawful structure, the city was guilty of negligence in authorizing its erection, and cannot shield itself from liability by showing that the death of the boy -was due to the negligence of an independent contractor. We are very clear that under the contract which was made between the city and the contracting company which did the work, the contracting company was an independent contractor. By the terms of the contract the company undertook to…
2Cases cited3 opinions
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- Homer & Son v. CommonwealthSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1884
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