131 Mass. 443 | Mass. | 1881
The only objection made by the defendant to the notice given by the plaintiff is that it does not sufficiently set out the cause of the injury, as required by the St. of 1877, c. 234, § 3. The notice states as the cause, that “ she had just left the said store and stepped on the sidewalk, that the walk was out of repair and was coated with ice in front of the store and was very slippery and unsafe, by reason of which she fell.” It is not sufficient to assign as the cause that the way was defective, or in a dangerous condition, or out of repair. Noonan v. Lawrence, 130 Mass. 161. Miles v. Lynn, 130 Mass. 398. Madden v. Springfield, ante, 441.
But this notice does more than this. It states that the walk was out of repair and was coated with ice and was slippery. It is not the fair construction to hold that the only cause given is the slipperiness of the sidewalk. It states two existing conditions which together constitute the cause of the injury, viz. that the sidewalk was out of repair, and that it was coated with ice and slippery.
A notice given under the statute ought not to be construed with technical strictness. It is sufficient if it gives to the
Judgment for the plaintiff.