Stewart v. Northwestern Coal & Iron Co.

Citations

• 147 Pa. 612
• 23 A. 882
• 1892 Pa. LEXIS 897

Syllabus

<p>Mines and mining — Coal lease — Covenants—Bight of way.</p> <p>The owner of coal lands contracted to “grant, bargain, sell and convey the stone coal lying and being under ” a tract of land, with mining privileges and with the right to erect machinery shops and houses on the surface, such as might be needed for the convenient and economical mining of the coal. The consideration was the payment of a certain royalty per ton, the purchaser to remove 2000 tons of coal each year, and to pay for that quantity whether it was removed or not, until the coal was exhausted. It was also provided that if the purchaser should find that by reason either of the “quantity, quality or condition of the coal ” it was not practicable to mine the coal with profit he might abandon the contract and yield up the coal mine and privileges without mining the remainder of the coal. Another stipulation was that the purchaser should have “ the right of way through, over or under said land to transport coal from adjoining lands. . . . and the use of five acres of land ” on which to erect dwelling-houses, “ paying said first party a fair annual rental for said five acres of ground. Held, that the grant of the right of way for operating the adjoining lands was independent of the sale of the coal and the mining privileges. Held, also, that after all the coal was removed, the lessee had simply a right of way through the chamber, and that the lessor was in possession by virtue of his ownership.</p>