Pacific Grocery Co. v. James Griffiths & Sons
Pacific Grocery Co. v. James Griffiths & Sons
Opinion of the Court
The Great Northern Railway Company is the owner of a dock and warehouse about eight hundred feet long, running east and west, in the city of Everett. The Pacific Grocery Company, under a lease from the Great Northern Railway Company, at one time occupied the east three hundred and five feet of the warehouse and conducted therein a wholesale grocery business, receiving much of its merchandise by boats and steamers. The dock on its southerly side extends about sixteen feet beyond the exterior wall of the warehouse. The Seattle-Everett Dock & Ware
This action was brought to recover for damage to the grocery company’s business on account of the maintenance of the guarded gate in front of the premises; damage to the grocery company’s business by placing and maintaining the oil pipe near the edge of the dock, interfering with loading and unloading boats;
As to the first claim of damage, it satisfactorily appears that, prior to building the gate, the Seattle-Everett Dock & Warehouse Company was advised by the Secretary of War that it would be necessary to erect gates at the entrance to the dock. The matter was taken up with the railway company, which gave its consent. Then the matter was taken up with appellant, through its president, and a sketch of the proposed location of the gates was submitted to him in a letter from Seattle-Everett Dock & Warehouse Company, dated March 19, 1918. On March 21, 1918, appellant’s president replied by letter in which he said:
“We are in receipt of your letter of March 19. I think the gate idea is a good one, provided' they are not locked so as to lock our customers out when they want to come in and buy.goods, but it is a good plan to lock them at night and Sundays, and I think we can arrange a plan that will be mutually agreeable.”
The gates were erected according to the sketch submitted, without any protest, and thereafter kept locked at night and on Sundays. During business hours the gates were guarded at the expense of the respondents, and no objection was ever made thereto by the appellant as to either the maintenance or method of operating the gates until about November 2, 1918, a day or two after appellant had received written notice from the railway company to vacate the premises. Appellant failed to show or name any customer or person who was either annoyed or kept away from its place of business on account of the gates. The watchman testified that all persons who had any business with
As to the second claim of damage, the trial court found that the laying and maintenance of the oil pipe line did not interfere with the' appellant’s necessary ingress or egress, nor was any damage suffered by it on account of the existence and presence of the pipe line as placed. The finding is supported by a preponderance of the evidence. The president of appellant, on cross-examination, testified: “The pipe in front of the warehouse was objectionable, but did not seriously interfere with our daily routine of work.” When the oil pipe was being constructed, the president of appellant company and the superintendent of the respondent Seattle-Everett Dock & Warehouse Company discussed the question as to whether or not the pipe would interfere with loading and unloading boats. Upon being informed by the superintendent that the pipe could be elevated to any height desired, the president of the appellant company replied: “He guessed it would be all right,” and the pipe was laid as heretofore indicated.
As to the third claim of damage, there is a dispute as to whether or not any objection was made by the appellant to the putting of a steam pipe through its premises, until after the work was done. The evidence satisfies us more favorably against the appellant. The pipe was installed in the daytime during the hours appellant’s agents and employees were engaged at their business in the room through which the pipe was run, without any objection being made to the plumbers or any one else while the work was being done; and it is undisputed that the appellant removed the plug
Another error assigned, relating to alleged increased cost of insurance, we understand has been abandoned by the appellant on its appeal.
Judgment affirmed.
Holcomb, C. J., Parker, Main, and Bridges, JJ., concur.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Pacific Grocery Company v. James Griffiths & Sons
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Landlord and Tenant (54)—Possession and Use—Disturbance by Landlord—Damages—Evidence—Sufficiency. The evidence is insufficient to show damages to the business of plaintiff, a lessee of a portion of a dock, caused by another lessee of a portion thereof by the maintenance of a guarded gate locked at night and on Sundays across the entrance to the dock, or by the laying of an oil pipe line along the edge of the dock so as to interfere with the loading of boats, or damage to merchandise from steam escaping from a pipe extending through its warehouse, where it appears that plaintiff acquiesced therein and was not inconvenienced and suffered no material damage.