Ansley v. City of Scranton

Citations

• 218 Pa. 131
• 67 A. 51
• 1907 Pa. LEXIS 465

Syllabus

<p>Arbitration — Referee—Findings of fact — Municipality—Sewer—Negligence.</p> <p>Since a referee’s findings of facts are-as conclusive as a jury’s verdict, it follows that unless a trial judge would have been bound to direct a compulsory -nonsuit, had the case been tried before a jury, or direct a finding for the defendant, it is error to set aside the referee’s report.</p> <p>In an action of trespass against a city, to recover damages for a loss sustained by the continuous obstruction of a sewer in a lumber yard for many years, a referee’s finding that the plaintiff was guilty of contributory negligence in continuing to store the lumber year after year in the same place, has the force of a verdict,' and .should not be set aside, where it appears that the controverted question could not be determined by any fixed and determinate standard of duty, but was a mixed question which called for a consideration of all the facts.</p>