Postal Telegraph Cable Co. v. Herrington

Citations

• 221 F. 226
• 136 C.C.A. 636
• 1915 U.S. App. LEXIS 1313

Syllabus

<p>1. Telegraphs and Telephones <§=>20—Injuries prom Obstructions in ' Streets—Actions—Evidence.</p> <p>Under Gen. St. Ela. 1906, § 2820, authorizing telegraph companies to erect posts, wires, and other fixtures on or beside any public road or highway, so, however, that they shall not obstruct or interfere with the common uses of such roads or highways, and providing that permission to occupy the streets of an incorporated city or town must first be obtained from the city or. town council, in an action against a telegraph company for injuries caused by a guy wire placed or anchored in a street, so as to obstruct travel and render the street dangerous, a question asked a former employe of the telegraph company as to whether, during a period of about 15 years terminating several years prior to the accident, any objection was raised’ by the city or any other authority to the guy wire being placed or maintained as it was, was properly excluded, in the’absence of any evidence that during such period the street was used in the same way or to the same extent that it was commonly used at the time of the accident, or that the location of the guy wire remained unchanged, the evidence, on the contrary, tending to prove that the character and extent of the public use of the street had changed, since, conceding that a municipality’s permission or acquiescence would have some tendeney to show that there was no improper obstruction or interference with the common nse of the street, it could not be inferred that such permission or acquiescence continued after the wire, by reason of changed conditions, liad become more of a peril to travelers, and, moreovér, the statute only allows city authorities to permit such an occupation of the highway as shall not obstruct or Interfere with the common uses of the highway.</p> <p>igs^For other cases see same topic & KEY-NUMBER in all Key-Numbered Digests & Indexes</p> <p>LEd. Note.—For other cases, see Telegraphs and Telephones, Cent. Dig. § 3