Baltimore & Ohio Railroad v. Silbereisen
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad v. Silbereisen
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the Court.
On ETovember 28th, 1910, the appellee hied a bill of complaint against the appellant, in which he alleged that the railroad company had from time to time dumped a large quantity of earth and cinders upon his land which adjoins its right of way, and had negligently and knowingly allowed a great quantity of earth and cinders to be shoved and forced upon his land because of the.failure of the defendant to properly protect the embankment along its right of way. It then alleges that several days before the bill was hied the railroad company did by its agents and employees enter upon a part of the plaintiff’s land and was engaged in digging a ditch upon his property, into which they were preparing to place a pipe about thirty inches in diameter, that they were about to cut down and destroy valuable trees on said land, the destruction of which would do great and irremediable mischief and injury to the plaintiff, his property and estate. The bill prayed that the company be restrained and enjoined from entering or digging upon his property, or from cutting down or destroying the trees or any part thereof.
An injunction was issued as prayed, and on January 17th, 1911, an answer was hied, in which the defendant denied the allegations of the bill and demurred to the whole bill, because on its allegations the plaintiff had a plain, adequate and complete remedy at law. Whether the answer overruled the demurrer is now immaterial, as the Court below dismissed the bill and no appeal was taken. ETothing further was done until January 10th, 1913, when the railroad company asked to have the motion for the dissolution of the Injunction set down for hearing. An order was passed setting it down for hearing on January 16th, with leave to both sides to offer evidence, but on that date the company, with leave
It is then alleged that although the defendant company had filed its answer denying the allegations of the bill upon which the injunction was issued, and although the plaintiff did not proceed thereafter in said equity cause, yet on the - day of December, 1912, and on divers other days, between that day and the filing of the motion or petition, the plaintiff entered upon the land of the defendant and wrong
It is further alleged that since the issuance of the injunction, although it is to be laid upon and through its property, it has not proceeded with the laying of said pipe line, and that the water is damaging and injuring the embankment and property of defendant, and rendering the same unfit for its railroad purposes and uses; that' the excavating, removing and hauling away the earth and soil from the said embankment and the action of the surface water-upon it, by reason of the wrongful acts of the plaintiff, will, if not restrained, destroy the proper and safe grade for the opera
The petition then prays (1) that upon final hearing said Silbereisen, his agents, etc., be perpetually enjoined from excavating, removing or hauling away the earth, soil and other material from any part of the said embankment and from any part of the land of defendant corporation within the lines of the deed from James Hill to it; that the said defendant corporation may be quieted in its right to the enjoyment of said land as above set forth, and be decreed to have the right to use and enjoy the same, etc. (2) That in the meantime, and until this' cause can be fully heard and determined said Silbereisen be restrained from excavating, removing or hauling away the earth, soil and other material from said embankment, and from any part of the land of defendant contained within the lines of said deed. (3) That in the meantime and until this cause can be fully heard and determined that the railroad company be given leave and
An order was passed on that, directing that an injunction be issued as prayed in the second paragraph of the prayer for relief and that “Leave be and the same is hereby given to the said Baltimore and Ohio Bailroad Company to make the aforesaid embankment safe and secure for public travel and use by the said railroad company in whatever way may be necessary within the limits of the property rights of the said Baltimore and Ohio Bailroad Company, provided, however, that if the said Baltimore and Ohio Bailroad Company shall, in so doing, encroach upon or enter upon the land of the said Louis Silbereisen, it shall be responsible therefor to him in damages, unless the said company shall otherwise agree with the said Louis Silbereisen.”
That petition was filed under section 199 of Article 16 of the Code of 1912, which provides that, “The Court may at any stage of a cause or matter, on the application of any party thereto, or party in interest, by motion or petition, or of its own motion, order the issue of a mandate (affirmative injunction) or injunction, directing and commanding any party to such cause or matter, or any party properly brought before it under the existing practice, to do, or abstain from doing' any act or acts,” etc. The case of Horner v. Nitsch, 103 Md. 508, and others cited in the notes to that section, sufficiently sustain the right of the Court to issue an injunction in a case of this kind, and to avoid the necessity of discussing it.
The plaintiff (appellee) filed an answer to the petition in which he denies that the embankment, as at present constructed, is of the same grade, width, slope or elevation it was when originally constructed, and alleges that the railroad company has been constantly moving over its road bed and expanding its embankment. He also alleges that all he did was on his own land and he only removed earth that was on his property. He admits that he has no claim to
It will not be out of place to remark that this is the kind of casewhich could be settled more satisfactorily out of Court than in it, if each party is inclined to recognize the rights of the other. The land in controversy must be of very little value, and while the railroad company has no right to encroach upon the property of the appellee without first acquiring the right to do so by legal means, the evidence tends to show that the drain pipe it was laying when the plaintiff obtained the injunction would have been to the advantage of both parties. If it be conceded that the embankment has spread beyond where it was when first built, that does not in any way settle the correct location of the divisional lines, but if the railroad company has encroached upon the appellee’s property, and it is necessary for its charter purposes, it should be purchased or condemned.
The proviso at the end of the order — that if the railroad company “shall, in so doing, encroach upon or enter upon the land of the said Louis Siibereisen, it shall be responsible therefor to him in damages, unless the said company shall otherwise agree with the said Louis Siibereisen” — could scarcely be said in view of the previous part of the order which expressly said “within the limits of the property rights of” the company to release it from the effect of the injunction which was issued at the instance of the appellee, in so far as the land in dispute is concerned. If it was so intended, it ought to have said so, as those taking steps to make the embankment safe and secure for public travel and use of the railroad company might well have supposed they could not go upon the disputed strip without violating the injunction. But at any rate that order was rescinded on February 27th— only six weeks after it was passed — by the one now appealed from. That time might or might not be ample to do the necessary work, if the injunction did not prohibit the agents of the company from going upon the disputed strip, as that would depend upon what had to be done, the condition of the weather and other circumstances. There is ample authority for the continuance of the injunction issued at the instance of the appellant, at least until the rights of the parties cau be settled at law, and we think that course should have been pursued.
In White v. Flannigain, 1 Md. 525, Chief Judge Le Grand, after reviewing some earlier cases, said on page 543 that a Court of Equity will interfere: “1st. To prevent irreparable mischief or ruin. 2nd. To prevent a multiplicity of suits; and 3rd, where it is required by some peculiar circumstances;” and again, he referred, with approval, to what Chancellor Kent said in Jerome v. Ross, 7 Johnson’s Chancery, 315: “1st. That an injunction will not be granted to restrain a trespasser, merely because he is a trespasser.
In the first volume of Equitable Remedies, Supplementary to Pomeroy’s Eq. Juris, there is an instructive and able discussion of the subject of “Injunctions against Trespass,” covering a number of sections of that. work. In Section 503 the author says the reason, which sustains the holding that even
It was argued by the appellant that the question of title was not involved, and that it was merely a confusion of boundaries, but we think it is clear that the title to this strip is involved. If the line be as contended by appellant the iillo to it is undoubtedly in it, but if the appellee’s locations be the true lines then it is in him, unless it has been so held by the defendant as to give it title by adverse possession. An action of ejectment, “may involve simply the question of title to a piece of land, in regard to the location and boundaries of which there is no dispute, or the contention may be whether the land in controversy, truly sux — eved and located, is within the lines of the plaintiff’s or defend ant’s title papers.” 2 Poe, sec. 469. It is true the latter is called an “Ejectment Epon Location,” but the plaintiff can only recover provided the title to the disputed tract is in him. Cases have frequently arisen, and still arise, particularly in the western part of this State, where the title do- ended upon the correct location of the division lines, and, as we have seen, the action of trespass quare clausum -jregit is often resorted to in trying titles to land, and in actions involving locations it is much more satisfactory to have a warrant of resurvev, such as is provided for in sections 80, etc., of Article 75 of the Code, or a survey of that kind.
In this case it would be very difficult, if not imnossible, for the Coui’t to detennine which is the correct line xxnder the surveys that have been made, axxd therefore we do not deem it px-oner to attempt to do so. When the caso i« remanded, the lower Court "cam in its discretion, frame an issue and send it to a Coixrt of law, or can require one of the pax-ties to institute a proceeding at law, to have the title-
In the meantime such steps as are necessary for the protection of the embankment should be permitted, if the parties can not agree, as it is to be hoped they can. The costs are already considerable and will be still larger if the litigation be continued. We regret that we do not feel at liberty to decide the question of the true location of the lines, and end the litigation, but a due consideration by each party for the rights of the other will readily enable them to avoid further costs, and it is for them, and not for the Court, to decide whether additional costs shall be incurred.
We will remand the cause without affirming or reversing the order appealed from, the Court below to continue the injunction as it did by its order of the 8th of March, 1913, and to provide for such proceedings at law as are authorized by this opinion. If after such reasonable time as the Court-may allow, the title is or is not determined at law, this case can then be finally disposed of.
Cause remanded, ivithout affirming or reversing the order appealed from, for further proceedings in accordance with this opinion, the costs to abide the final result of the case.
In overruling a motion for a modification of the decree, the Court said:
We carefully considered the questions raised by the appellant, in its motion for a modification of the decree, before filing the opinion and passing the decree. We concluded, and
We deem it proper that the final disposition of the costs be postponed as indicated in the opinion. If the appellee was responsible for them, as the appellant alleges in the motion, that and other questions will be considered when the time comes to finally act on the costs.
Motion for modification of decree overruled.
Filed August 5th, 19IS.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- THE BALTIMORE & OHIO RAILROAD COMPANY v. LOUIS SILBEREISEN
- Cited By
- 1 case
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- Published
- Syllabus
- injunction: order restraining the complainant pending the final proceedings; Code, Article 16, section 199 ; Court to retain jurisdiction pending trial of issues as to legal titlej protection of railroad travel. Trespass q. c. f.: railroad emba.nk?nents; encroachments of — . Ejectment: title of plaintiff. One who owned land adjacent to and bordering along a railroad embankment filed a bill, alleging that the railroad was encroaching upon his land by extending the embankment and by placing dirt, or letting it fall and extend beyond the railroad’s lines, and prayed for an injunction to restrain the railroad from such acts; pending the injunction proceedings, the complainant began to cut away part of the embankment that he claimed encroached upon his land. The railroad filed a petition alleging that such cutting away of the embankment weakened the structure and disturbed the stability of the ties and rails, and endangered the lives of the traveling public, and prayed for an order restraining the complainant from interfering with the embankment until the final hearing, ^nd further prayed that in the meanwhile it might be given leave to make and maintain the embankment in a safe condition for the traveling public and for other relief; at the final hearing, the injunctions and the petition were dismissed without prejudice to any proceedings at law either party might be advised to .take. On an appeal by the railroad from the order dissolving the injunction and dismissing the petition, the cause was remanded, (as it was impossible for the Court of Appeals, from the record, to determine the true location of the parties’ lines) without affirming or reversing the order appealed from, the Court below to continue the injunction, with the relief prayed by the railroad and to provide for further proceedings at law to have the title determined within a day to be named in its order. p. 420 An action of trespass quare clausum fregit will, lie to determine questions of title. p. 419 An action of ejectment may involve simply the question of title to a piece of land in regard to the location and boundaries of which there is no dispute, or the contention may be whether the land in controversy, truly surveyed and located, is within the lines of the plaintiff’s or defendant’s title papers. p. 419 But the plaintiff can only recover provided the title to the disputed tract is in him. p. 419 Under section 199 of Article 16 of the Code of 1912, the Court may, at any stage of the cause or matter, on the application of any party thereto, or party in interest, issue an injunction commanding any party to such a cause or matter to do or abstain from doing any act or acts, etc. p. 413