Bricker v. Conemaugh Stone Co.

Citations

• 32 Pa. Super. 283
• 1907 Pa. Super. LEXIS 1

Syllabus

<p>Waters — Mill dam — Lower riparian owner — Quarry—Sediment in mill-dam — Damages.</p> <p>In an action by the owner of a milldam, against the owner of a quarry on a stream above the milldam, to recover for injuries to the latter by reason of the residuum of the defendant’s stone quarrying operations settling in the milldam, the case is for the jury where there is voluminous testimony to the effect that the sediment found in the milldam was the same as the residuum of the quarry, and that the settling of such sediment required at times the entire stoppage of the mill.</p> <p>In such a case it is error for the court to charge generally that the measure of damages was the loss of profits where there is evidence of the gross receipts for previous years, but no evidence whatever of the cost of repairs, insurance, taxes and other expenses incidental to the operation of the mill.</p> <p>The damages are twofold: First, the cost of removing the deposits occasioned by the acts of the defendant from the dam and race of the plaintiffs; and, second, the compensation for the total or partial loss of the úse and enjoyment of the premises in the meantime, or in other words, the difference in rental value of the property, as affected by the injury complained of.</p>