Gray v. Harris
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Tort for injuries to the plaintiffs’ coal-yard by maintaining a mill-dam in an unsafe condition. Trial, and verdict for the defendant, in the superior court, before Rockwell, J., to whose rulings the plaintiffs alleged exceptions. The case is stated in the opinion.
1Opinion of the CourtChapman, C. J.
The degree of care which a party is bound to use in constructing a dam across a stream is well stated in Angelí on Watercourses, § 336. It must be in proportion to the extent of the injury which will be likely to result to third persons provided it should prove insufficient. A nd it is not enough that the dam is sufficient to resist ordinary floods; for if the stream is occasionally subject to great freshets, those must likewise be guarded against, and the measure of care required in such cases must be that which a discreet person would use if the whole were his own. In Mayor, &c. of New York…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Mayor of New-York v. BaileyNew York Supreme Court · 1845
- Lapham v. CurtisSupreme Court of Vermont · 1833
3Cited by37 opinions
- Gorham v. GrossMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1878
- The Clark-Aiken Co. v. Cromwell-Wright Co. Inc.Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1975
- Ainsworth v. LakinMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1902
- Navien v. CohenMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1929
- Ohio & Mississippi Railway Co. v. ThillmanIllinois Supreme Court · 1892
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