St. Martin v. Skamania Boom Co.

Citations

• 79 Wash. 393
• 140 P. 355
• 1914 Wash. LEXIS 1193

Syllabus

<p>Appeal — Objections Below — Necessity. An objection that evidence of a marriage was not the best evidence cannot be urged on appeal when it was not made below.</p> <p>Marriage — Evidence—Sufficiency. Where a marriage was only a collateral issue, evidence that a witness’ father and mother were living together as man and wife is sufficient to prove the fact of marriage, in the absence of objection that it was not the best evidence.</p> <p>Evidence — Weight and Sufficiency — Phenomena. Where all the evidence was to the effect that a hot spring rises and falls with the rise and fall of a river, and that the water in the spring is hotter when the flow is greater, the court is bound to take the evidence without speculation as to the causes of the phenomena, there being no evidence to the contrary.</p> <p>Waters and Water Courses — Obstruction—Dams—Prescriptive Rights. A prescriptive right to dam and impound the waters of a river cannot be claimed where the operations did not cause any injury to a riparian owner until less than ten years before the commencement of the action; since a prescriptive right to an easement to use or damage lands of another begins to run from the time the cause of action first accrues.</p> <p>Same — Dams — Prescriptive Rights — Adverse Use — Claim of Right — Permissive Use — Evidence—Sufficiency. Where, upon objection to defendants’ dam impounding the waters of a river, which injuriously affected the flow of a spring upon plaintiff's land, the defendant agreed to and did release sufficient water to supply the spring, and negotiations were had from time to time looking to an avoidance of the injury, there was no such acquiescence in the defendant’s use of its dam in such a way as to injure the spring as to make the use adverse or under an unqualified claim of right; hence a prescriptive right to so use the waters would not he acquired.</p> <p>Same — Prescriptive Rights — Burden of Proof. The burden is upon one claiming a prescriptive right to d