Buffalo City Mills v. George H. Toadvine Lumber Co.
Opinion of the Court
after stating the case: The sole question raised by plaintiff’s contention is whether the contract to convey an easement in fee simple over the land is to be construed as a contract to convey the land itself. Conceding that there is no rule of construction leading to this conclusion, counsel contend that ah examination of the entire instrument discloses that such was the intention of the parties. He calls attention to the last clause, providing that in the event that Brown shall not purchase the right of way described in the former clause the defendant will convey a right of way on their property along Pine 'Street, etc., reserving to itself the right to lay water pipes and maintain the same, etc.. From this he draws the conclusion that if by paying $500 for the right of way, as described in the first clause, he gets nothing more than the easement, he is put in the attitude of paying for something which by the second clause he is entitled to demand without paying anything. This he says is an unreasonable construction to put upon the language of the entire deed.
Affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.