Sturges v. Society for the Promotion of Theological Education at Cambridge

The declaration alleges that the defendant, being the owner of the building adjoining that occupied by the plaintiff, undertook to construct a drain from its cellar into the common sewer in North Street in Boston, and negligently performed the work, and thus caused tide-water to flow into the cellar of the plaintiff. The block of buildings in which the two cellars are situated was surrounded by a plank barrier constructed beneath the surface of the street to prevent the tide from flowing into the cellars. It was necessary to construct the drain from the defendant’s cellar through this barrier…