(1) The jury are instructed that if you find and believe from all the evidence that defendant was the owner of the premises known as Numbers 3209 and 3209A North Newstead Avenue, in the City of St. Louis, and that on said premises there was a double flat building and that the upper flat, known as 3209A was occupied by plaintiff and her husband and family, as the tenant of defendant, and that the lower flat, known as 3209 North Newstead Avenue, was occupied by another family, and that the front entrance to said upper flat opened upon a porch, and that from said porch to the ground there was but one set of steps, and that said one set of steps was used by the occupants of each of said flats (upper and lower) in common as a common ingress and egress from the respective flats, then it was the duty of defendants, as the owner and landlord, to use reasonable care and diligence to keep and maintain said set of steps in a reasonably safe and fit condition for such use by the plaintiff; therefore, if you further find that on the day plaintiff was injured the said steps were not in a reasonably safe and fit condition, and that defendant either knew their condition, or by the exercise of ordinary care might have known their condition, and that defendant either knew said condition or might by the exercise of ordinary care have known it for such length of time before plaintiff was injured as to have given him a reasonable opportunity *Page 650
and time to have repaired it before plaintiff was injured, and you further find and believe that, not withstanding said fact defendant failed to put said steps in a reasonably safe condition, and that as a direct result of defendant's said failure plaintiff, while making use of said steps and while descending said steps, without fault upon her part, as mentioned in other instructions, suffered an injury, then your verdict should be for plaintiff, and by the words `reasonable care and diligence,' as used in this instruction, is meant such a degree of care and diligence as may reasonably be expected to be made use of by a man of ordinary intelligence, prudence and caution under like circumstances and conditions."