Finch

Plaintiff brought action against the two defendants to recover damages for injuries she received from falling downstairs. From a judgment in her favor rendered by the court sitting without a jury, defendants appeal. The principal questions involved are the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain the findings, the applicability of the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur and whether the plaintiff was herself guilty of contributory negligence.

The two defendants were the owners of a two-story office and apartment building. On the ground floor were stores. On the second floor, reached by a single common stairway, were offices and housekeeping apartments. Plaintiff resided in one of these apartments and had lived there for approximately two and a half years before the accident. The defendants had owned the building about a year prior thereto. Plaintiff and her husband had agreed with the defendants to sweep this common hall and stairway once a week. For this they received five dollars a month credit on their rent. This stairway consisted of twenty steps and was covered with carpet. On the tread portion of each step a rubber matting seven inches wide and sixteen inches long had been tacked…