Wright

This action was prosecuted to recover damages for and on account of injuries suffered by the plaintiff by reason of an explosion of gas in a certain apartment house owned by the defendant Juan Jiminez. The gas was furnished by the defendant Southern Counties Gas Company; the jury returned a verdict against the defendant Juan Jiminez in the sum of $8,000, and from the judgment entered thereon the defendant Jiminez appeals.

The evidence upon which the verdict rests is substantially as follows: The transcript shows that on the nineteenth day of May, 1926, and prior thereto the defendant Juan Jiminez was the owner and in exclusive control of a certain four-flat building located in San Pedro. It was in one of the flats of this building that the explosion occurred. The flat in question had been occupied until about March 18, 1926, and up to that date had been rented to and occupied by one Mrs. Rose Bartlett. On March 18, 1926, Mrs. Bartlett moved out of the flat and it remained unoccupied until the date of the explosion on May 19, 1926. It appears from the testimony that when Mrs. Bartlett left the flat she ordered the Gas Company to turn off the gas. This order was executed by the Gas…