Porterfield

This is an action brought by plaintiffs, Estella and Agnes Porterfield, to recover damages for the death of Charles Porterfield, the husband and father, respectively, of plaintiffs. Porterfield’s death resulted from injuries received while working as a laborer in a sewer trench being constructed by the city of Modesto. The councilmen of the city were made parties defendant, but, by consent of plaintiffs’ counsel, the court instructed the jury that if they found for the plaintiffs the verdict should be against the city of Modesto only. The case was tried by the superior court with a jury, and a verdict was rendered in favor of plaintiffs for the sum of seven thousand five hundred dollars. Based upon the verdict, a judgment was entered for said sum in favor of plaintiffs, from which defendant has appealed under the alternative method.

The record is singularly free from any claim of errors of the court in conducting the trial. The instructions were clear and succinct statements of the law necessary for the guidance of the jury and are in nowise challenged. The nature and extent of the grounds for the appeal will be found in the following statement in defendant’s brief: “The theory…