Beeks

In a personal injury action, plaintiff appeals from a judgment in favor of defendant.

On July 23,1956, and for the first time in her life, plaintiff, a 77-year-old woman, entered the store of defendant, Joseph Magnin Company, Inc., for the purpose of attending a fashion show and possibly to buy some of its merchandise. At the time of the accident, plaintiff was approximately 5 feet 6 or 7 inches, weighing approximately 165 to 170 pounds. She had worn glasses since she was 18 years of age and was wearing single-focus glasses on the day of the accident which corrected her vision to a 20/20. She and her companion had walked to the store during a sunshiny afternoon, looked at the shop windows and at approximately 1:30 o’clock p. m., entered defendant’s store. Upon entering the store, plaintiff was slightly ahead of her companion. A person after entering and proceeding into the store would have to take two steps to go from one level downward to another although there was only one step physically present. For the purposes of clarification, reference will be made to two steps. There were two risers. There was testimony that one riser was 5% inches high and the other was 6 inches high.…