Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co. v. Herman

Citations

• 74 Kan. 77
• 85 P. 817
• 1906 Kan. LEXIS 10

Syllabus

<p>SYLLABUS BY THE COURT.</p> <p>1. Watercourses — Railroad Bridge — Obstruction of the Stream. If a railroad company in building a bridge across a stream fails to leave ample passageway for such a flow of water in the stream as might reasonably be anticipated, and the bridge dams the water back upon the-riparian owner to his injury, the railroad company is liable for the resulting loss.</p> <p>2. - Flow of Water Reasonably to be Anticipated — Floods and Freshets. In an instruction advising the jury that in building a railroad bridge across a stream railroad companies are required to leave openings sufficient to afford an outlet for all water that might reasonably be expected to flow in the stream the court added the statement that they should also provide for such unusual and extraordinary freshets as might reasonably be expected to occur. Held, that the words “unusual and extraordinary,” although not aptly used, were so limited and explained in other parts of the charge as not to be prejudicial.</p>