State v. Mann

The plaintiff offered evidence tending to show that on and prior to 14 July, 1948, the defendant contractor was and had been engaged in excavating a ditch for the purpose of laying underground cables for the telephone company along Main Street at and near the junction of Adams Street in the Town of Canton, where traffic was heavy. The excavation extended from near the intersection of Main and Adams Streets westerly inside and along the paved portion of Main Street down to a point in Water Street an over-all distance of "two or three hundred feet." The project had been under way about two weeks. "They would excavate a distance," put in a section of the conduit,. .. "and close that up and go to another section." While the work was in progress the north side of Main Street between the excavation and the curb was left open to vehicular traffic. The ditch was about two feet wide and from three to five feet deep. It ran parallel to and about four feet inside from the south curb. The width of Main Street there is from 40 to 50 feet. Hence, there was left open for traffic on the north side of the ditch some 30 to 35 feet of the street. At the time of the mishap a section of the ditch from