Gillis v. Durbin Bond & Co.

J. SKELLY WRIGHT, District Judge.

Plaintiffs executed a mineral lease in favor of defendant covering eighty acres of land in Catahoula Parish, Louisiana. The consideration stated in the lease was the drilling of a well to a depth of 5,500 feet on the leased property. The term of the lease was six months. Defendants failed to drill a well on the property during the term of the lease and plaintiffs are here suing for damages in the amount of the cost of drilling a well, or, in the alternative, for damages based on the increase in value, if the well had been drilled, of the 8Aa mineral royalty…