Herron

Plaintiff sued for damages for the death of her son, who was drowned while employed in the construction of a tunnel for the East Bay Municipal Utility District. The demurrer of the district was sustained and the cause went to trial before a jury, which returned a verdict against the defendant Smith Bros., Inc., for $7,500. This defendant has appealed under section 953a of the Code of Civil Procedure.

"Working under a contract with the utility district, Smith Bros, was engaged in constructing a tunnel under the Contra Costa County hills as a part of the district’s aqueduct system. This tunnel, known as the Lafayette tunnel, ran from the town of Lafayette in a westerly direction to the easterly bank of San Pablo Creek. At the same time the firm of Grier & Mead was engaged under similar contract on the construction of another tunnel, which ran from the Claremont district in the city of Oakland in an easterly direction to a point a short distance west of the westerly bank of San Pablo Creek. To connect the two tunnels for the general purposes of the water system a concrete diversion or screening chamber was under construction by Smith Bros, under a separate contract. This chamber was…