Farver v. American Car & Foundry Co.
Farver v. American Car & Foundry Co.
Opinion of the Court
Opinion bv
The right of the plaintiff to the use and enjoyment of his own property cannot be questioned. The general obligation of the defendant to so use its property as not to injure others is equally clear. Its right to injure its neighbor only exists under special circumstances arising from necessity in the enjoyment of its own- property. “The defendant’s right to injufe another’s land at all to any extent is an exception, and the burden is always upon him to bring himself within it: ” Pfeiffer v. Brown, 165 Pa. 267. To secure exemption under the exception referred to, it must be made to appear that the injury complained of results from the natural use and enjoyment of the defendant’s property. With this exception, every owner holds his property on the implied obligation that he will so use it as not to prevent another owner from enjoying the use of his property. This principle was said in Dennis v. Eckhardt, 3 Grant, 390, to be essential to the maintenance of civilization itself. The use of property beyond this limit resulting in injury of a substantial character creates a nuisance. The defendant is not engaged in the exercise of a public franchise, and its charter gives to it no greater right than ; would belong to an individual; nor does the fact that it is largely'engaged in business secure to it an immunity not belonging io one operating less extensively. It is doubtless true that the business in which the defendant is engaged is of great public importance, but it has no standing different from that of- other manufacturing enterprises. It is a private business conducted for private gain, and under the absolute control of the owner. It is promoting its own interests in its own way. The investment of a large amount of money does not seCufe the right to injure one having a comparatively small estate, nor does the erection of extensive works justify the violation of another’s right: Penna. Lead Co.’s App., 96 Pa. 116; Evans v. Reading Chemical Fertilizing Co., 160 Pa. 209; Robb v. Carnegie, 145 Pa. 324; Gavigan v. Atlantic Refining Co., 186 Pa. 604; Campbell v. Bessemer Coke Co., 23 Pa. Superior Ct. 374.
The evidence excepted to in the third and fourth assignments of error was competent for the purpose for which it was offered. It was not introduced as a basis for recovery for physical injury, but to show the character of the nuisance complained of by the plaintiff. It was averred in the declaration that the plaintiff’s home was rendered uncomfortable, unhealthy, and filled with noxious and offensive vapors, fumes, smoke and smell. This charge might be sustained not only by evidence of what could be seen, but also by evidence of what could be felt. The effect of the facts complained of on the inmates of the house as tending to prove a nuisance was clearly admissible.
As no injury to the real estate was shown, the rule for the
The judgment is affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Farver v. American Car and Foundry Company
- Cited By
- 6 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Nuisance — Action of ■ trespass — Smoke and gas — Vibrations—Foundry plant — Province of court and fury. ■ In an action of trespass against a corporation owning and operating an' extensive car and foundry plant the case is for the jury, and á verdict' and judgment-for plaintiff will be sustained, where the evidence though contradicted tends to show that large volumes of smoke, gas and sulphurous fumes were. carried into plaintiff’s dwelling house, thereby subjecting him and his family to great discomfort and distress; that the windows of the house had to be kept closed in hot weather; that the family were unable to use the porch; and that the operation.of steam hammers'caused a vibration of the house and disturbed the sleep of the occupants..... _ It is not necessary for the plaintiff to show that the business Of the. defendant'was carried on recklessly or not properly managed. 1 In such a case evidence that the members of plaintiff’s family were made ill or could not sleep, is properly admissible. The measure of damages is compensation for the injury to the reasonable use of the property, for the effect upon health and for actual physical discomfort, to be determined by the jury according to their best judgment and sound discretion.