Lombardi v. Bailey

This is a proceeding under G. L. (Ter. Ed.) c. 253, §§ 4, 8, 10, 39 (the mill act), to recover damages for the flowing of the petitioners’ land by a dam maintained on the respondents’ land in order to flood the respondents’ cranberry lands. The case was referred to an auditor whose findings of fact were to be final. The auditor (who had not been instructed to report evidence) submitted a report which summarized all the evidence (seventy-two printed pages in the record) and made meager subsidiary findings (covering less than two pages in the record).

The auditor found the following facts. The…