Hendricks v. Spring Valley Mining & Irrigation Co.

Citations

• 58 Cal. 190

Syllabus

<p>Latebal Suppobt—Mitrara Claim—Damages.—The plaintiff and defendant being the owners of adjoining mining claims, of the kind known as “ deep diggings,” and which are worked by the hydraulic process—the latter in mining its own ground washed away the gravel, so that the bank caved, and a portion of the plaintiff’s claim fell upon the ground of the defendant, and was washed away and the gold extracted by it; but the value of the gold extracted was much less than the necessary cost of extracting it.</p> <p>Held (in an action for damages): The doctrine of lateral support does not apply to cases like the present, where the very purpose of locating the ground, both on the part of the plaintiff and the defendant, was to tear it down and wash it away, and therefore the defendant was not liable.</p> <p>The defendant would be liable for the amount of gold taken from the gravel that fell from the plaintiff’s claim, but for the fact that its value was less than the necessary cost of extracting it.</p>