Yost v. Schuylkill Navigation Co.

Citations

• 125 Pa. 152
• 17 A. 256
• 1889 Pa. LEXIS 703

Syllabus

<p>(a) A canal company erected a dam in the Schuylkill river which backed up the water in the river and in a shallow arm thereof which divided parts of the farms of Yost and Gring, situate on the main land from the parts on an island. The act under which the company was incorporated provided for the assessment of damages by a jury in such eases, when the parties could not agree, where lands were flooded by dams and where the construction of the canal itself injured the land.</p> <p>(5) Section 14 of this act provided that when the canal divides the grounds of any person into two parts so as to require a ford or bridge to cross the same, the jury shall ascertain which method is desirable, and the company ‘ ‘ shall cause a ford to be rendered practicable, or a bridge built and forever hereafter maintained and kept in repair ” at all places so ascertained by the jury:</p> <p>(o) G. agreed amicably with the company as to his damages and entered into a written contract with them which provided that whenever a guard-lock should be built at the end of the island to connect the Schuylkill with the Union Canal, G. should deed to the company certain land for the gate-house, etc., and the company should pay G. $40, and “ build a bridge forthwith on the line between G. and Y. to enable said G. and Y. to pass and repass from and to the island across the canal.”</p> <p>(d) The land was conveyed, the guard-look constructed, and bridge built and maintained by the company for many years. In 1850 the gatehouse and lock were abandoned and the use of the arm for boats discontinued. In 1869 the bridge was destroyed and the company refused to rebuild it. Y., who had bought G.’s land, meantime, brought suit against the company for damages for its failure to rebuild the bridge:</p> <p>1. The damage done by the deepening of the water having been paid, after an adjustment by agreement or by legal proceedings, the statutory obligations of the company were fully discharged; and, as the arm was