Illinois Central Railroad v. Wilbourn
Illinois Central Railroad v. Wilbourn
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
Wilbourn, by ah appropriate declaration, complains of damage to certain lands by the improper construction of an embankment by the railroad company, and from the fact that the company left too small a culvert over a running stream to allow the efflux of the stream and the surface 'waters finding egress through it. The result of this, he charges, was to hem in the waters and destroy the value of his land by the deposit of silt and sand. The land damaged is composed of two tracts, which, for convenience, may be called the £ £ upper tract ’ ’ and the “lower tract.” The company pleaded the general issue, with the notice under it of an antecedent action for damages to the lower tract several years ago, which action proceeded on the allegation, confirmed by the proof, that the value of the lower tract was totally destroyed because of the negligent construction aforesaid. Th¿ companj also gave notice of the three-years statute of limitation. The only witness produced was Wilbourn himself, and there was an agreement of counsel. By these it appears that the present action is for injuries from the same original cause as in a previous action, viz., an insufficient culvert over a stream, and the erection of an embankment, and that this action is for further damages to the lower tract, produced since the previous recovery, and for damages to the upper tract, which upper tract was not embraced in the previous suit, and the claim here is for damages within three years before the institution of this action, and that in the former action the recovery of damages was duly paid, and that in the former action the declaration and evidence showed that the lower tract was made wholly valueless by the obstruction.
Mr. Wilbourn is not clear in his statements as a witness, but the following is the tendency of his testimony: That the deposit of silt and sand by lapse of time had extended further up, so as to affect the upper tract, and he supposed that this resulted because the company did not have the proper £ £ thing 5 ’ to convey the water, and that the surface water could not get out
The lower tract of land is out of consideration in this case, because the court below expressly charged the jury not to allow any damages as to that tract. We cannot agree to the contention of counsel that, because damages to the lower tract had been sued for and recovered as for the full value of it, this action must therefore necessarily fail in its claim for damages done the upper tract. These damages may have accrued by the deposit of silt and sand affecting the higher lands subsequently to the former suit. Though proceeding from the same cause, there was no prescience to foresee them.
The principle invoked of the entirety of the cause of action as announced in State v. Morrison, 60 Miss., 74, has no application to the state of facts in this case. There the state had sued to recover for breaches of the condition of a sheriff’s bond, and was met with a plea of former recovery on the same bond, and her replication that the former recovery was for other breaches was held bad, because she might have and should have assigned all the breaches in the first action. In the case at bar the continuance of the original cause of evil may have affected the upper tract, which may have received no apparent damage when the first suit was brought, and it was not to be supposed that the cause would be permitted to remain until its effects should reach the upper tract.
The peremptory instruction asked by appellant was properly refused. It was the province of the jury to say whether the effects on the land testified to consisted with a proper regard for the rights of adjacent proprietors in the construction of its works by the railroad company. Such an obstruction of the natural flow of vagrant water from the high land as to produce sand bars and deposit sand and silt, so as to destroy the arable qualities of the land, certainly tended to show improper construction, in view of the principle that one should so use his own
The case is reversed and remanded for 'another trial.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Illinois Central Railroad Co. v. E. C. Wilbourn
- Cited By
- 3 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- 1. Railroads. Waters. Obstructions. Overflow. Former recovery. An action against a railway conrpanv for such, damag-e as has resulted to the upper of two adjoining tracts of plaintiff’s land from overflow, caused by an insufficient culvert and the erection of an embankment, is not barred by reason of his assig-nor’s previous recovery of damages for the total destruction in value of the lower tract from the same cause. 2. Same. Peremptory instruction. It is the province of the jury to determine whether, or not, the injurious effects of the manner in which the natural flow of water has been obstructed by a railway company, ai-e consistent with a due regard by such company for the rig-hts of adjacent proprietors in the construction of its road. 3. Same. Erroneous instruction. It is error, in an action for damages to plaintiff’s lands resulting from an overflow, caused by an insufficient culvert and an embankment constructed by the defendant railroad company, to instruct the jury that the “plaintiff had the right to have the water, whether rain water or spring water, flow as they naturally would have flowed without any obstruction by the railroad,” for an interference with the natural flow of water incident to a proper construction and use of its roadbed, imposes no liability upon the defendant.