State ex rel. Ditch v. Morgan's Louisiana & T. R. & S. S. Co.

Citations

• 111 La. 120
• 35 So. 482
• 1903 La. LEXIS 504

Syllabus

<p>DEDICATION — WHO MAY MAKE — RAILROAD RIOI-IT OF WAY—CROSSINGS—CONTRACT.</p> <p>1. Title by dedication must emanate from the owner; hence, after the owner of the soil has granted a right of way to a railroad, he cannot, by dedication, establish streets across it.</p> <p>2. General terms in a contract are to be construed with reference to the subject-matter of the contract; hence, where town authorities are conceding to a railroad the right to lay a switch track on certain streets, and the contract obligates the railroad to maintain all the crossings traversed by “its tracks,” it will be understood that not all the crossings throughout the town are meant, but only those of the particular streets on which the switch tracks were to be laid.</p> <p>3. Where, in granting a charter to a railroad, the Legislature enjoins that the railroad shall preserve any street it may cross, so as not to impair its usefulness, the injunction will be understood as having reference to streets already in existence, and not as including any and all streets that might be established in the future by individuals or municipalities.</p> <p>(Syllabus by the Court.)</p>