New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad v. Hamlet Hay Co.

This was an action by appellee against appellant for damages alleged to have been caused by the obstruction of natural watercourses. It is alleged in the first paragraph of the complaint, that in the year 1881 the appellant'constructed its railroad over the Yellow river, a tributary of the Kankakee; that from time immemorial during the springtime and rainy seasons of the year the waters in said river are swollen by rains and freshets, so that the river rises above its ordinary channels and flows in high water channels, having well defined beds and banks, and requires for the free passage of…