Hoober v. New Holland Water Co.

Citations

• 56 Pa. Super. 536
• 1914 Pa. Super. LEXIS 119

Syllabus

<p>Evidence — Competency of witness — Review by appellate court.</p> <p>1. Where the command or prohibition of a statute relating to the competency of a witness or the admissibility of certain testimony has not been violated, and no defined and recognized rule of evidence has been disregarded, an appellate court ought to be convinced that some substantial harm has been done to the party complaining before reversing a judgment on account of the rulings of the trial judge on questions of evidence merely.</p> <p>Waters — Diversion of water by water company — Injury to gristmill— Evidence — Opinion of witnesses.</p> <p>2. In an action against a water company to recover damages for injuries to a gristmill by reason of the diversion of waters of a stream, a witness may be permitted to give an opinion as to the market value of the property as it was before the appropriation, if by his preliminary examination it is shown that he is qualified to give such an opinion; but he will not be permitted to express an opinion as to the value of the property after the water was taken, if his preliminary examination shows that he had not sufficient information on which to base such an opinion.</p> <p>3. The competency of a witness is not to be conclusively determined by considering merely any one specific statement made by him in his preliminary examination. If the whole of his examination taken altogether shows that he is a competent witness, he should be permitted to give his opinion as to values.</p> <p>4. In an action against a water company to recover damages for injuries to a gristmill caused by the appropriation of water of three springs which fed into the stream by which the gristmill was operated, it is not error for the trial judge to refuse to permit a witness for the plaintiff to state how many hours the mill could have been operated on the quantity of water which flowed through the springs on the day on which he made his measurements, where the evidence showed that the mea