Robertson

This action was brought by plaintiff to recover damages for the death of his wife through the negligence of defendant. The case was tried before the court, and judgment was rendered in favor of plaintiff. The appeal is taken, under the “alternative method,” from said judgment.

For some time prior to March 2, 1924, the decedent had been a duly registered guest at a hotel in Los Angeles, then operated and leased by Ben Weingart, sole appellant herein. As such guest she occupied a room on the fourth floor of the hotel. Plaintiff was her husband, and while he did not live at the hotel, he visited her frequently and often stayed over night there. The elevator in the building was not in running order at the times herein mentioned, and could not be used, so the only access decedent had to her room was by means of a stairway. Prior to her death decedent suffered from a physical defect, in that her right ankle was stiff, due to a prior accident. She walked with an impediment, up and down stairs. She always wanted support going up and down stairs, on account of her stiff ankle. The stairway has a number of turns as it ascends. At such turns the treads of stairs are V-shaped. Upon the one…