Thеse two actions were tried together before a jury. The plaintiffs are persons who bought tiсkets and were present as spectators at a polo game in a building or hall erected and maintained by the defendant, who was licensed to give public exhibitions in it. The defendant reсeived fifty dollars a,night for the use of the hall and one half of the receipts for admission after the expenses were paid, the other half going to the managers of the polo teаm. The attendants at the hall were in the employ of the defendant, and the defendant was himself present. At the close of the evidence the defendant’s counsel made eighteen requеsts for instructions to the jury. The court refused
The first request is, that upon all.the evidence neither plaintiff can recover. There was evidence for the jury that thе guard rail in front of the gallery was not strong enough to withstand the pressure upon the rail of the pеrsons admitted to the gallery, that such persons in great numbers were accustoméd to lean upоn the rail during the progress of such a game as polo, when anything of interest occurred in the gаme at or near the end of the hall where the gallery was, and that the defendant knew this.. It was the only way in which they could see what took place at or near the goal at that end of the hall. The jury might have found on the evidence that the defendant ought to have contemplated just such a crowding and leaning upon the rail as took place, and should have taken cаre to have the rail strong enough to support the weight which in this manner would be thrown
The court rightly refused to give the ninth and fifteenth requests. The question of the duе care of the plaintiffs was for the jury. The defendant cannot escape liability if he was nеgligent in the manner in which this guard rail was constructed and maintained, and if the plaintiffs were in the exercise of due care, on the ground that other persons may have contributed to the injury. The eighteenth request ought not to have been given. A person erecting and using a hall for such exhibitions must use reasonable care in the construction, maintenance, and management of it, having regаrd to the character of the exhibitions given and the customary conduct of spectators who witness them, and the acts of the plaintiffs must be judged of according to the conduct which ordinarily prudent people show under like circumstances. The charge of the presiding justice seems to have been a correct and adequate statement of the law appliсable to the case, and it is unnecessary to notice the other requests for instructions.
Exceptions overruled.
Notes
These requests were as follows:
“1. Upon all the evidence, neither plaintiff is entitled to recover, and the jury should find for the defendant in еach case.”
“ 9. The audience in the gallery had no right to assume that they could lean ovеr or crush against each other, and thus against the guard rail, and the plaintiffs, in joining with the crowd in so doing, wеre not themselves in the exercise of due care, even though the jury should find that the rail in its construсtion was defective.”
“ 15. If the jury find that there was room for all the occupants of the gallery tо be seated if they chose so to do, and the accident occurred because thеy did not keep their seats, then the defendant is not liable. The plaintiffs were not justified in standing up beсause the others in front of them stood up, and thus the view which they could have had from their seats was obstructed. If, by standing up and joining in the crowd in leaning over, the plaintiffs exposed themselves to danger, they were guilty of contributory negligence, and cannot recover.”
“ 18. If the jury find that the plaintiffs were pushed from their seats or places to the floor below by the force of those in the seats in back of them, then the defendant cannot be held responsible for the acts of such persons, and the plaintiffs cannot recover.”