Oregon Ry. & Nav. Co. v. Swinburne
Oregon Ry. & Nav. Co. v. Swinburne
Opinion of the Court
1. The motion to dismiss the appeal for want of service of the notice thereof should, we think, be overruled. The service was duly made upon an agent of the plaintiff corporation upon whom a summons could have been legalty served, and was, therefore, sufficient.
2. Passing to the merits, it appears that the amount claimed by plaintiff to have been expended by it in securing the right of way referred to in the bond is made up of sundry sums of money claimed to have been paid for rights of way over the lands of different parties along the route of its road, and for attorneys’ fees, livery bills, and expenses of right of way agents, amounting, in the aggregate, to the sum of twenty-four thousand and thirty-three dollars, of which seventeen thousand one hundred and four dollars is admitted to have been repaid to it. The answer puts in issue the reasonableness and necessity of each and all of these items, and avers that the aggregate reasonable amount paid or expended by plaintiff in securing said right of way did not exceed fifteen thousand dollars.
To maintain the issues on its part, the plaintiff produced and put in evidence an itemized statement of the amounts paid by it for rights of way and other expenditures connected therewith, and submitted evidence tending to show the general character of the country through which the road passes, how and where the right of way was located, and that certain sums paid therefor were reasonable; but the reasonableness of sundry items in the account amounting to more than seven thousand dollars, was not shown, nor was there any evidence tending to show it, unless it could be inferred from the fact that the same was paid for right of way purposes, and from evidence tending to show the similarity in the situation of
3. This deficiency in plaintiff’s evidence may be supplied at the next trial, and it may relieve another question from doubt to say that, in our opinion, the written memorandum signed by a portion of the defendants, íd which they approved the location of the depot grounds in Heppner at a cost not exceeding fifty-four hundred dollars, was competent as evidence tending to show that the amount paid therefor by plaintiff was a reasonable expenditure. This writing did not tend to vary the terms of the bond sued upon, nor substitute another agreement therefor. It did not attempt to fix any liability, or to charge any one with any particular sum, but, in connection with other evidence in the case, simply tended to show the good faith of the plaintiff, and that it paid no more than what was deemed the reasonable value for the land purchased.
4. Some question was made on the trial as to whether, under the agreement or bond, plaintiff could purchase a right of way more than sixty feet wide, and recover from the defendants the amount paid therefor, even if reasonable. Without attempting to state or comment upon the particular manner in which this question was raised, it is sufficient to say that in our judgment the plaintiff was authorized to secure a right of way over land of such width as it was accustomed to purchase in the usual and ordinary course of its business in locating and constructing railroads, and for such reasonable sum as it was required to expend therefor the defendants are liable. It will be observed that the bond contains no limitations or provisions as to the width of the right of way to be secured by the
Reversed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- OREGON RY. & NAV. CO. v. SWINBURNE
- Status
- Published