Houston Oil Co. of Texas v. Davis
Houston Oil Co. of Texas v. Davis
Opinion of the Court
The Houston Oil Company of Texas brought this suit against Henry Davis to recover certain pine and hardwood logs alleged to have been cut and removed by defendant from a tract of land owned by plaintiff and stacked on the bank of the Sabine river, and, by an allegation that the defendant, for the purpose of preventing identification of said logs, had wrongfully and willfully mixed and intermingled the same with logs belonging to him, sought to recover, not only the logs that had been taken from its land, but also those with which they had been so intermingled. It also, under an allegation that the defendant was insolvent and irresponsible, sought and obtained a temporary writ of injunction restraining the defendant from removing or disposing of the logs, or any of them, during the pendency of the suit. Defendant filed a plea in abatement of plaintiff’s suit, the first ground of which is that the court was without jurisdiction to hear and determine the case, because it appeared from the plaintiff’s petition that the matter in controversy, exclusive of interest, amounts in value to more than $1,000, and the second ground is that the value of the property in controversy exceeds $1,000, and that plaintiff had falsely and fraudulently tried to allege the value of same as being less than $1,000 for the sole purpose of conferring jurisdiction on the county court. The court sustained both grounds of the plea without hearing evidence upon either, and dismissed plaintiff’s suit, and from the judgment of dismissal plaintiff has appealed.
Appellant by its first assignment of error assails the action of the court in sustaining the first ground of defendant’s plea in abatement.
The material allegations in plaintiff’s petition are as follows: “And for its cause of action herein plaintiff alleges that heretofore, to wit, at divers times between 'the 1st day of January, A. D. 1910, and the 25th day of November, A. D. 1910, said Henry Davis, his agents, servants, and employés, knowingly, willfully, and with the wrongful and malicious intention of invading the rights of this plaintiff, did cut down, remove, and carry away from a certain tract of land belonging to this plaintiff said tract of land lying and being situated in Newton county, Tex., certain pine and hardwood timber, consisting of 713 logs of pine timber, aggregating 73,219 feet of the value to this plaintiff of $5 per thousand feet, or of the total value to this plaintiff of $336.10, and 64 hardwood logs, aggregating 3,778 feet, of the value to this plaintiff of $5 per thousand feet, or of the total value to this plaintiff of $18.89. [Next follows a description of the land from which the timber was alleged to have been cut.] Plaintiff alleges that at the different times between said January 1, 1910, and November 25, 1910, said Henry Davis, his agents, servants, and employés wrongfully and willfully cut and removed, said timber as aforesaid, and caused said timber so cut and removed to be mixed, mingled, and confused with certain other timber belonging to the said Henry Davis. Plaintiff alleges that the timber cut from its land aforesaid and the timber above referred to, the property of said Henry Davis, aggregating as much as 200,000 feet of timber, is stacked on the bank of the Sabine river in Newton county, at a point on said river know as Old Belgrade. This plaintiff alleges that said timber cut from its lands was confused and mixed by said Henry Davis with timber belonging to him willfully, and for the purpose of preventing this plaintiff from identifying, following up, and recovering its said timber. Plaintiff alleges that, by reason of the wrongful and willful acts of said Henry Davis, his agents, servants, and employés, as aforesaid, in mixing and confusing the timber of this plaintiff with that of the said Henry Davis, it is impossible for this plaintiff to identify the timbers cut from its land aforesaid, and to separate and segregate its said timber from timber belonging to the said Henry Davis with which it has been intermingled, and that this result has been occasioned by the willful and intentional conduct of the said defendant herein in so mingling and confusing said timber. Plaintiff represents unto the court that, by reason of the premises and the conduct of the defendant herein, as aforesaid, it is entitled to recover from said defendant the whole of said 200,000 feet of timber, more or less, lying on .the banks of the Sabine river at the point known as Old Belgrade, and consisting of the timber which has been cut from the lands of this plaintiff, as aforesaid, and the timber belonging to the defendant, Henry Davis. Plaintiff avers that it has repeatedly requested said Henry Davis to turn over to its agents its said timber, or in the alternative to pay it the value of said timber, as hereinbefore alleged; but, although often requested, said defendant has refused either to return said timber to this plaintiff or to pay said plaintiff the value thereof, to the damage of your petitioner in the sum of $384.99, with 6 per cent, interest thereon from January 1, 1910. Plaintiff further represents that in the event it is mistaken, or in the event it should be decided by this honorable court that it is not entitled to the whole of said timber stacked on the bank of the Sabine river at a point known as Old Belgrade, aggregating 200,000- feet, more or less, that it is entitled to the portion, thereof which was cut from the land of this plaintiff as aforesaid, and that in any event this plaintiff fears that said defendant will remove said timber out of the limits of Newton county during the pendency of this suit, and that, in further- *339 anee of Ms purpose so to do the defendant has caused said property to be piled on the bank of the Sabine river, to be floated down said river, and disposed of by said defendant at Orange, Tex., or some other place, to persons unknown to this plaintiff. Plaintiff further alleges that said defendant, Henry Davis, is an insolvent negro, without financial responsibility, and that, if said defendant removes said logs out of Newton county, Tex., as he has threatened and proposes and intends to do, your petitioner will be, irreparably damaged, to the extent of the value of said logs, and will be without, and is now without, an adequate remedy to protect its rights in the premises. Wherefore, premises considered, plaintiff prays judgment against defendant, Henry Davis, for the title and possession of -the 200,000 feet of pine and hardwood timber hereinbefore described, consisting of timber cut from the lands of this plaintiff, and of the timber belonging to the said Henry Davis, piled on the bank .of the Sabine river, at the point known as Old Belgrade, and in the possession of said defendant, and, in the event it should be held that plaintiff is not entitled to the entirety of said 200,000 feet of said timber, plaintiff prays that it have, judgment against said Henry Davis for the title and possession of the said 713 logs of pine timber, aggregating 73,219 feet, and 64 hardwood logs, aggregating 3,778 feet, or a total of 76,997 feet of pine and hardwood timber. Plaintiff further prays that this honorable court do forthwith issue its writ of injunction, directed to the sheriff or any constable of Newton county, Tex., restraining said ■ defendant, Henry Davis, Ms agents, servants, or .employes from carrying away or removing said 200,000 feet of timber, more or less, or any part of it, heretofore referred to, and piled on the banks of the Sabine river at Old Belgrade, until the further order of the court, and until such time as this plaintiff shall have had its timber segregated and removed from said 200,000 feet, more or less, and returned to its possession and control.”
In addition to sustaining the pleas in abatement the court also sustained defendant’s motion to dissolve the temporary injunction theretofore issued, restraining defendant from moving or disposing of the logs during the pendency of the suit. The motion consisted of several grounds, each of which was presented in the nature of an exception, and each was sustained. The first ground of the motion is: “TMs is a suit for the recovery of personal property, and the plaintiff has a legal remedy at law, and is not entitled to the relief sought and prayed for in Ms petition.” The sustaining of this ground is made the basis of appellant’s fifth assignment of error.
For the errors indicated, the judgment of the court below is reversed and the cause remanded.
Reversed and remanded.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Houston Oil Co. of Texas v. Davis.
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- 7 cases
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- Published