Wallace v. Jefferson Gas Co.
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Appeal, No. 274, Oct. T., 1891, by-defendant, from judgment of C. P. No. 1, Allegheny Co., June T., 1889, No. 114, on verdict for plaintiff. On May 4, 1889, James Wallace appealed from an award of viewers allowing him $1,000 damages for the depreciation in the value of his land caused by the laying of a pipe line by the Jefferson Gas Company.
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Appeal, No. 274, Oct. T., 1891, by-defendant, from judgment of C. P. No. 1, Allegheny Co., June T., 1889, No. 114, on verdict for plaintiff. On May 4, 1889, James Wallace appealed from an award of viewers allowing him $1,000 damages for the depreciation in the value of his land caused by the laying of a pipe line by the Jefferson Gas Company. At the trial it appeared that the plaintiff was the owner of a farm of 200 acres in Baldwin township, of which 140 acres was underlaid with bituminous coal. The coal lay at a depth of 87¿feet to 217 feet below the surface, the average depth being about…
1Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
Mr. Justice Green,
We experience difficulty in disposing of this case, on account of the character of the most important testimony in support of the plaintiff’s claim of damages. The charge of the learned court below was substantially correct, and in accordance with our decisions in this class of cases. Yet the testimony as to the most serious cause of damage, alleged by the plaintiffs, was of such a speculative, remote, and imaginary character, that we do not feel at liberty to give it sanction. So far as the testimony goes, in relation to the injury to the surface of the ground,…
2Cases cited3 opinions
- Searle v. Lackawanna & Bloomsburg RailroadSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1859
- Pittsburgh, Bradford & Buffalo Railway Co. v. McCloskeySupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1885
- Penn Gas Coal Co. v. Versailles Fuel Gas Co.Supreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1890
3Cited by6 opinions
- Gilleland v. New York State Natural Gas Corp.Supreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1960
- State Ex Rel. State Highway Commission v. AntonioliMontana Supreme Court · 1965
- Shuster v. Central District & Printing Telegraph Co.Supreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1907
- Clements v. Phila. Co.Superior Court of Pennsylvania · 1896
- Bell Telephone Co. v. North, Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Warren County1960
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