Trubow

This appeal is from a judgment against the United States in an action for damages under the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. §§ 1346 , 2671 et seq.

Appellant owned and operated the Marine Hospital in San Francisco. Ap-pellee with his helper went to the hospital for the purpose of picking up surplus refrigerators which had been purchased from appellant and which were held in the basement for the purchaser to take delivery there. Someone connected with the hospital and who appeared to be in charge of the storeroom informed appel-lee as to the location of the freight elevator. The helper with a refrigerator in a hand truck proceeded into the elevator first. The doors of the elevator are described as “bi-parting”, meaning that there were two separate parts thereof. When opened, the upper half of the pair of doors would slide upward through the opening in the ceiling until the bottom of the upper half approached the ceiling; and the lower half would simultaneously slide downward through the opening in the floor, until the top of the lower half of the door was flush with the floor. When the pair of doors closed, the process was reversed until the two halves met midway. The doors were…