Suver v. Chicago, Santa Fe & California Railway Co.

Citations

• 123 Ill. 293
• 14 N.E. 12

Syllabus

<p>1. Eminent domain—of the petition—its requisites, as showing the particular use intended. It is not necessary to state, in a petition for the condemnation of land for railroad purposes, the particular manner in which the land is to be used. To show that, the petitioner may give in evidence its plans and specifications, and the defendant may have them produced, on motion.</p> <p>2. Same—sufficiency of petition as to purpose of condemnation. A petition by a railway company for the condemnation of land, after stating that the company had located its line of road over certain tracts of land specifically described, averred “that a part of each of said lands is necessary to petitioner for its right of way, side-tracks, depot and depot grounds, freight yards, shops, and appurtenances for the construction and operation of its said line of railroad:” Held, that this averment was a sufficient statement of the purposes for which the property was sought to be taken.</p> <p>3. Same—defects in petition, how reached. If a petition for the condemnation of land is defective in stating the purpose of the taking, and the manner in which the land is to be used, the proper manner of taking advantage of the defect is by demurrer.</p> <p>4. Same—description of land taken—in the verdict and judgment. A petition for the condemnation of land by a railway company for a right of way, etc., described the land over which the right was sought, as “lot 1, of N. W. \\ of sec. 34, containing one hundred and six acres.” The part to be taken was described as “a strip of land * * * two hundred feet wide, for a distance of eleven hundred and fifty-one feet across the tract fifthly above described, commencing at a point where the line of said railway, as now located and staked out, enters said tract, coming from the east and going toward the west, and one hundred feet in width across the balance of said tract, * * * said strips of land being fifty feet and one hundred feet in width on each side of the