Toole v. Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad

Citations

• 27 Pa. Super. 577
• 1905 Pa. Super. LEXIS 107

Syllabus

<p>Waters — Diversion of waters — Railroads—Boroughs.</p> <p>In an action against a railroad company to recover damages for injuries to land caused by water, the case is for the jury where the evidence for the plaintiff, although disputed, tends to show that the defendant collected large bodies of rain water on a hillside above its tracks by means of chutes, that the water was discharged into a ditch alongside the railroad, from which it flowed into an iron pipe under the railroad, out upon a public highway, and thence spread over and injured plaintiff’s property.</p> <p>In such a case if the court charges specifically that the defendant cannot he held liable unless it cast upon plaintiff’s land more water than would have naturally flowed there, it cannot be convicted of error in not referring to a contention that the loss was caused by an extraordinary flood, the record not showing that any request had been made for instructions on that subject.</p> <p>Where a railroad company and a borough have each contributed to an injury to land from the flow of water thereon, the tort of the one is no defense to an action against the other.</p> <p>The fact that the owner of land upon which water is directly thrown consents thereto, does not constitute a defense, if the water necessarily finds its way to the property of another and causes injury thereto.</p>