The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1917-08-09
MUST SAFEGUARD BEACHES
Court Holds That City Was at Fault and
That Verdict of the Jury Must Be
Upheld-Plan an Appeal to the SUI
preme Court Of State at Once.

Cities which open municipal bathing
beaches must promise safety to the
people who use them. This is the de-
cision of Judge George Thompson, who
sat in the Circuit Court at the hearing
of the suit of Mrs. Eva Nemet against
the city of Kenosha, and Judge Tho1np-
son holds that the city must pay the
$2,250 in damages awarded to the
plaintiff in the case for the death of
her son, Steve Nemet. The young
man was drowned at the Kenosha muni-
cipal beach year ago when he got
into q sink hole" which had been
left following the construction of the
new intake for the water company
The city will appeal the case to the
Supreme Court. Greiling Brothers,
who built the intake, furnished the
city with bond of eighty thousand
dollars as a protection against acct
dents and the city will demand that the
contracting company pay any amount
which may finally be awarded to Mrs.
Nemet In his decision Judge Thomp-
son says:
''The evidence in this case shows
that the corporate limits of the city Of
Kenosha, in addition to the lands de-
scribed by sections and subdivions of
sections, included that portion of Lake
Michigan lying due east Of such de-
scription and within quarter of a
mile thereof, thus including within
such limits a portion of the lake along
the shore; that the city was authorized
by it's charter to establish bathing
beach and that pursuant thereto it did
establish such a beach and built a
l0cker-house on land owned by it
within the corporate limits on the
shore of the lake; that for the season
of 1916 said bathing beach was duly
opened to the public July l, 1916, and
the public thus invited to enjoy the
privileges of such beach; that the city
employed a caretaker at said beach
authorized among other things to collect
a small rental from the public for bath.
ing suits; that the income from the
operation of said beach was turned in
to the city treasury but that such in
come was inadequate to meet the ex.
penses of operating the beach; that fo1
the purpose of improving it's water sys,
tenn for the use of the city and its in.
habitauts, the city had caused an ex
cavation TO be made in the bed of tbs
lake adjacent TO such beach which ex
cavation, at, the time of the drowning
of Steve Nemet was in itself dan.
gerous public nuisance and rendered
that portion of the lake that was then
commonly used in connection with such
bathing beach, not reasonably safe fol
public bathing by persons in the exer
else oil ordinary care; that the lack oil
such reasonable safety, due wholly tc
such excavation, was the proximatc
cause of the death of said Steve Nemet
and that said Steve Nemet was moi
guilty of any want or ordinary care
that proximately contributed to pro
duce his death.
Ia my opinion, it is not necessary tt
determine in this ease whether the
operation of public bathing beach
by municipality is the exercise of Z
governmental or a proprietary function
for even if the operation of such 3
beach should be held to be agovern
mental function, am unable to see
how that could relieve the city from
liability under the facts in this ease
To begin with, we find here that tn,
city of Kenosha in the exercise of ;
function which is in part at least {;
proprietary function, namely, the func
zion of maintaining water system fol
fFhe use of the city and its inhabitants
caused a deep and dangerous excava
tion to be made in the bed of the lake
which excavation rendered the bathing
beach not reasonably safe (such bath
ing beach as defined to the jury in
GLIDING that portion of Lake Michigan
which was commonly used by the pub