Cline v. Star Coal & Coke Co.

Maxwell, Judge:

This is an action for damages to the surface of land caused by the removal of coal from under the same. The defendant prosecutes this writ of error to a judgment of the trial court rendered upon a jury verdict.

Through inadvertence there was no plea nor joinder of issue. This is fatal error. Coal & Coke Co. v. Cunninghame, 93 W. Va. 12, 116 S. E. 719, and many cases there cited.- This basic rule covering an indispensable element of procedure has been reiterated in the later cases of Mining Co. v. Coal Co., 96 W. Va. 11, 122 S. E. 286, and Trust Co. v. Todd, 101 W. Va. 31, 131 S.…