Starr

The defendant in error, who was plaintiff below, while engaged in cleating a cable through which were carried telephone wires to the side wall of a building in Seattle, Wash., fell from near the top of a ladder to the pavement below, a distance of from 20 to 25' feet, and was severely injured. Starr was in the employ of the Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Company at the time, to perform the service in which he was then engaged. The immediate cause of the accident was a defective round in the ladder, being the second from the top, which gave way. The round consisted of a board from 2%. to 3 inches in width by about three-quarters of an inch in thickness, which was sawed across the grain. With the weight of Starr upon it, it. split out .with the grain diagonally across the piece. *159 For the injury thus sustained Starr sues to recover damages. The action is based upon the negligence of the company in furnishing the plaintiff with a defective and unsafe ladder upon which to perform his work, and in failing to properly inspect such ladder, or to exercise reasonable care and precaution in the selection of the same for plaintiff’s use. For the particular work in hand a long extension…