Roush v. Walter
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
ERROR to the common pleas of Union county. George Roush against Simon Walter. Action on the case. By an act of assembly passed in 1803, Penn’s creek was declared a public highway for arks, rafts, &c., and provision was made by the same act for the erection of dams by individuals who owned the lands through which it ran, prescribing the manner in which it should be constructed, and requiring the owner to make a shute of certain dimensions Tor the passage of craft.
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ERROR to the common pleas of Union county. George Roush against Simon Walter. Action on the case. By an act of assembly passed in 1803, Penn’s creek was declared a public highway for arks, rafts, &c., and provision was made by the same act for the erection of dams by individuals who owned the lands through which it ran, prescribing the manner in which it should be constructed, and requiring the owner to make a shute of certain dimensions Tor the passage of craft. By a sudden freshet in the creek, or by the passage of an ark over the dam, which had been constructed conformably with the law,…
1Per curiam
Though there was conflicting evidence at the trial, it is not now to be asserted that the dam was not constructed according to the requisition of the statute; for the jury were directed to find for the plaintiff if they should be of opinion that it was not. The principle which results, and it is perhaps the only one, is that the defendant is not to be held answerable for a loss which he could not foresee or prevent; as was ruled in the case of the Lehigh Bridge, 4 Rawle 241, and Bacon v. Arthur, 4 Watts 440. It cannot be pretended that if the shute had been rendered innavigable by the flood…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Bacon v. ArthurSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1835
- Brentlinger v. BrentlingerSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1833
3Cited by2 opinions
- Inhabitants of Arundel v. M'CullochMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1813
- Winpenny v. PhiladelphiaSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1870