Waddington v. Village of Jefferson

This was an action to recover damages for the appellant’s decedent, a boy about the age of eight years. The evidence shows that on his way home from school the boy knelt down on the edge of the bridge, and leaned out over the edge thereof in an attempt to catch or guide by means of a stick, which he held in his hands, pieces of wood which were floating in the stream which ran under the bridge. While so engaged he lost his balance, fell headlong into the water, and was drowned.

The bridge from which he fell had been used for many years as the means for crossing the stream, both by teams and…