Scovel v. Norwood-White Coal Co.

On July 25, 1921, the plaintiff, Mary L. Scovel and her husband, J. B. Scovel, were the owners of a forty-acre tract of land located a short distance northwest of Des Moines, Iowa, and on that day they entered into a contract with the Norwood-White Coal Company, under the terms of which the coal company was to have the right to mine coal underneath the surface of said land. The contract provided that the coal company would test the land by drilling or otherwise for the purpose of trying to ascertain whether there was a minable vein or basin of coal underneath the said land; and in case it…