McDonald v. City of Oakland

<p>Appeal from the District Court of Richland county; Allen, J.</p> <p>Action under the statute to recover damages caused by death by wrongful act. Verdict directed in favor of defendant. Plaintiff appeals.</p> <p>This is an action brought under the statute by Louis Ruehl, the father of, and administrator of the estate of, Louis Ruehl, Jr., deceased, for and on behalf of the father and mother and sisters of the deceased, to recover damages for the death of the said Louis Ruehl, Jr., alleged to have been occasioned by the defendant by carelessly and negligently leaving a telephone' post hole “without placing any guards over or above the same, and without taking any precaution of any kind to avoid.” the accident. The evidence is to the effect that on or about the 1st day of April, 1910, one L. J. Christenson was president and manager of the defendant telephone company; that about such time the company arranged to extend its line past the house of the plaintiff and to put a telephone therein; that the dwelling house of the plaintiff stood about 4 rods from the east end of the section line, on which was laid out a traveled highway; that before the holes in which the telephone poles were to be set were dug, defendant telephone company had caused the necessary poles to be hauled and placed along the route of the proposed extension, at about the places where the same were to be set, and had caused the places where it was proposed to have the holes dug marked or designated by sticks or broken lath; that on or about the 1st day of April, 1910, Christenson, on behalf of the telephone company, employed one Frank Zimmerman to dig a line of post holes along the said extension, and agreed to pay him 12-J cents for each hole; that Christenson told said Zimmerman what to do, and supplied him with the tools, and told him how to do the work; that the post holes were to be 4|- feet deep, and that this depth was directed by Christenson; that the spade used by Zimmerman was given to him