City of Owensboro v. Cumberland Telephone & Telegraph Co.
Supreme Court of the United States
APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF KENTUCKY. This case involves the nature and duration of the right of the Telephone Company to maintain its poles and wires upon the streets of the City of Owensboro.
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APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF KENTUCKY. This case involves the nature and duration of the right of the Telephone Company to maintain its poles and wires upon the streets of the City of Owensboro. The ordinance under which it, or its predecessors in right, title and property, have "maintained a telephone system in the City of Owensboro, was passed on December 4, 1889. Inasmuch as it contains several provisions which require consideration, it is set oüt in full in the margin.1 The grantee under that ordinance at once proceeded to erect its plant…
1Opinion of the Court
Mr. Justice Lurton,
after making the foregoing statement, delivered the opinion of the court.. 1. That the right conferred by the ordinance involved is something more than a mere license, is plain. A license-has been generally defined as a mere personal privilege to' do acts upon the'-land of the licensor of a temporary character, and revocable at the will of the latter unless, according ■to some authorities, in the meantime expenditures contemplated by the licensor when the license was given, *65have been made. See Greenwood Lake & P. J. Railroad v. New York &c. Railroad, 134 N. Y. 435, 440;…
2Cases cited16 opinions
- People v. . O'BrienNew York Court of Appeals · 1888
- Detroit v. Detroit Citizens' Street Railway Co.Supreme Court of the United States · 1902
- Greenwood v. Freight Co.Supreme Court of the United States · 1882
- St. Louis v. Western Union Telegraph Co.Supreme Court of the United States · 1893
- De Sollar v. HanscomeSupreme Court of the United States · 1895
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3Cited by127 opinions
- Frost v. Corporation Comm'n of Okla.Supreme Court of the United States · 1929
- Russell v. SebastianSupreme Court of the United States · 1914
- New York Electric Lines Co. v. Empire City Subway Co.Supreme Court of the United States · 1914
- State ex rel. Triay v. BurrSupreme Court of Florida · 1920
- New Orleans Public Service, Inc. v. City of New OrleansSupreme Court of the United States · 1930
122 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.