Youghiogheny River Coal Co. v. Allegheny National Bank

Citations

• 211 Pa. 319
• 60 A. 924
• 1905 Pa. LEXIS 460

Syllabus

<p>Mines and mining—Coal—Surface support—Skillful and careful mining—1 Agreement to indemnify—Contract.</p> <p>If the owner of the whole fee in land conveys the coal in the land in general terms, retaining the residue of the tract, the purchaser acquires the coal with the right to mine and remove it, provided he does so without injury to the superincumbent estate. His estate in the coal, like that of the owner of the surface, is governed by the maxim sic utere tuo ut alienum non tedas. The owner of the surface is entitled to absolute support of his land, not as an easement or right depending on a supposed grant, but as a proprietary right at common law. This right which the servient estate owes to the dominant estate does not depend upon whether the mining operations are conducted skillfully or negligently and carelessly.</p> <p>Where owners of coal under land, the surface of which is owned by another, convey all of the coal to a third person, and give the grantee an obligation conditioned that they will “well and truly protect and indemnify the grantee from any liability for any damage which may result to the surface of the tracts of land overlying the coal land purchased .... by reason of the skillful and careful mining and taking away the said coal,” the words “skillful and careful mining,” are to be construed as relating to the manner of working the coal, and do not impose upon the grantee in operating the coal the duty of leaving proper and sufficient supports for the surface. If, therefore, the grantee exercises care and skill in his mining operation, he may mine and remove all the coal, and the grantors must indemnify him against 'any damage resulting from injury to the surface which he may be compelled to pay the surface owner.</p> <p>Dean and Brown, JJ., dissent.</p>