Chase v. Clearfield Lumber Co.
Chase v. Clearfield Lumber Co.
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
Under a misapprehension as to the proper location of the
This was only a case of ordinary trespass, and no permanent injury was done to the land. The timber taken could be paid for and the brush could be removed. When the roadways were given up, the timber would again grow thereon, and compensation for the loss o.f the use of the ground in the meantime could be made. As this court said in Helbling v. Allegheny Cemetery Co., 201 Pa. 171, where the injury was not of a permanent character, “ The measure of damages was the cost of restoring the property to its former condition, together with compensation for the loss of its use.”
In the present case in so far as the damage arising from the piling 'of the brush is concerned, the plaintiff will be properly compensated if she is given the cost of its removal. Any attempt to estimate the damages upon the basis of increased liability to fire caused by leaving the brush in piles along the íoád, could only’lead' to speculative results. The obvious and simple remedy was to remove or burn up the brush. When the cost of that was covéred, together with the value of the limber taken,'and to that was added the amount required to
The first, sixth and seventh assignments of error are sustained, and the judgment is reversed with a venire facias de novo.
Reference
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- Chase v. Clearfield Lumber Company
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- Syllabus
- Timber—Trespass—Damages. In an action of trespass where it appears that the defendant through a misapprehension as to property lines entered upon plaintiff’s land, cut timber thereon, opened roads through it, and cut and piled underbrush along the roads, the measure of damages is the value of the timber taken, compensation for the loss of the use of the land occupied by the roads, and cost of removing or burning up the brush. In such a case it is error for the court to charge the jury that they might take into consideration the element of danger from fire by reason of the brush heaps “ as bearing upon the effect which the act had upon the market value of the property.”