Rosella

The defendant Spiros Paxinos owned and operated a restaurant on the northeast corner of Third and Stevenson streets in San Francisco. He also maintained a stairway leading from the sidewalk on Stevenson street to the basement of the building. This stairway was parallel with the south wall of the building, the entrance thereto being from the west toward Third street. The opening was covered by two iron gratings which were fastened to the sidewalk on the south side of the entrance by means of hinges. When the gratings were raised they were kept upright by means of bars extending across the opening to eyelets in the wall of the building. Across the east end of the opening from the easterly grating to the wall it was intended that another bar, which some of the witnesses described as a gate, should be kept in place. The purpose of this was to afford additional support to the upright gratings and protection to persons using the street.

On December 13, 1927, at about 7:30 P. M. the plaintiff, who was walking west along the north side of Stevenson street, fell through the easterly end of the opening into the basement of the building and was injured. The com plaint alleged that the…