Brown

This is an action for personal injuries tried before the court without a jury. The defendant conducts a large department store in the city of San Diego. On the twenty-second day of November, 1926, in response to an advertisement, plaintiff entered said store for the purpose of purchasing certain merchandise which was then on sale, and, while walking on the main floor of said store, slipped thereon, fell over a balustrade and was severely injured. In her complaint she alleges that the accident was due to the fact that the defendant had caused said floor to have thereon a very slippery substance which had been placed upon the floor by defendant’s employees, with the knowledge and consent of defendant, a short time before the plaintiff had entered the store and that while walking thereon her foot slipped, causing her to fall and sustain the injuries complained of. The answer of the defendant admits that she slipped and fell while walking through the store; denies that such slippery substance had been placed upon the floor by defendant or its agents or employees, and, as an affirmative defense pleads contributory negligence on the part of the plaintiff.

The court found that the cause…