Town of Indianola v. Woods
Town of Indianola v. Woods
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
This is the second appeal of this ease to this court. The facts are stated in the first report of this case, styled Woods v. Town of Indianola, 114 Miss. 722, 75 So. 549. In that appeal it was decided that the city was guilty of an actionable trespass to appellee in cutting off and taking down the water hydrant in her yard, and was liable to her for damages sustained by her as a proximate result of this trespass.
In the trial of the case in the court below the testimony shows that Mrs. Woods had a hydrant in her
In the Hobart case a judgment for one hundred and fifty dollars was not considered excessive by this court. In the case of City of Jackson v. Anderson, Mrs. Anderson was totally deprived of water in her house and premises for a period of five or six months. In that case a judgment for five hundred dollars was allowed to stand in this court. In the case at bar, however, Mrs. Woods was not deprived of the water in her house, but only of that in the yard, and her inconvenience and damage consequently was nothing like as great as that of Mrs. Anderson. In cases of this kind it is impossible to measure in dollars and cents the damages recoverable.
This, verdict, however, is clearly excessive. After mature deliberation, the maximum amount which we will allow to stand as a recovery is two hundred dollars. If the appellee will remit three hundred dollars, the case will be affirmed; otherwise, it will be reversed and remanded.
Affirmed conditionally.
Reference
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- Removal of Wateb Hydrant. Elements of damage. In a suit against a city-for wrongfully removing a water hydrant in plaintiff’s yard, although she had another hydrant in her kitchen, the discomfort, inconvenience, and annoyance suffered by plaintiff might be considered by the jury in estimating her damages, but a verdict for five hundred dollars in such case was execessive and a verdict of two hundred dollars was sufficient.