Calcasieu Lumber Co. v. Harris

13 S.W. 453, 77 Tex. 18, 1890 Tex. LEXIS 1045
CourtTexas Supreme Court
DecidedApril 15, 1890
DocketNo. 6533
StatusPublished
Cited by61 cases

This text of 13 S.W. 453 (Calcasieu Lumber Co. v. Harris) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Texas Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Calcasieu Lumber Co. v. Harris, 13 S.W. 453, 77 Tex. 18, 1890 Tex. LEXIS 1045 (Tex. 1890).

Opinion

STAYTON, Chief Justice.

—The nature of this action and averments of appellee’s petition are thus stated with substantial accuracy in brief of counsel for appellant:

“On the 17th day of September, 1887, J. C. Harris sued the Calcasieu Lumber Company in the District Court, alleging that it was a corporation, duly incorporated under the laws of Texas, February 16, 1884, for the purpose of carrying on the business of buying and selling and dealing in lumber and building material, with its domicile and principal office in Austin, Travis County, Texas.

“That the Houston & Texas Central Eailway Company was a duly incorporated railway company; that a line of the road runs through the ‘ town of Manor in said county of Travis, and had run through there ever [20]*20since September, 1885, and long before then; that it had a right of way at Manor 200 feet wide.

“That on September 14, 1885, the Calcasieu Lumber Company ‘did willfully, knowingly, and unlawfully construct buildings along the line of said railway on the said 200 feet of right of way at the town of Manor, to be occupied by it and its employes for the purpose of carrying on its; own private business as a dealer in lumber and building material, and has ever since then used and occupied and still occupies it for that purpose; which business is not nor has it ever been necessary for the transaction of the legitimate business operations of said railway, nor necessary for shelter for their employes or for the construction and keeping in repair the railway, but is an obstruction and hindrance to the railway traffic-carried on by the citizens of Manor and other places over and with the railway company.’’ 9

“That petitioner is and has been for four years a citizen of Manor, engaged in the business as dealer in lumber and building material. Has all of his lumber, etc., conveyed to Manor over that railway. His yard for stacking, .etc., is north of the railway track about 200 feet. His lumber, etc., is thrown from the cars close to the road bed, where it remains till he can haul it on wagons to his yard.

“That defendant has unlawfully, willfully, and knowingly taken possession of, occupied, and used continuously since September 14,1885, all that part of the right of way of said railway lying between the town of Manor and the road bed in and around the depot of said town of Manor, the same consisting of a strip lying adjoining the road bed about 500 feet long and 100 feet wide, and is still illegally in possession of said land, and so using it that petitioner can not have free access to his lumber, etc., when unloaded from the cars, so as to be able to haul and transport it to his yard and place of business, by which he has been damaged, obstructed, and hindered by defendant in transporting his lumber, prevented from having free access thereto, inconvenienced in his business, prevented from expanding and enlarging his business by the acts of defendant in using, enjoying, and building upon the said premises or strip of land 500 feet long by 100 feet wide, in the sum of $30 per month since September 14, 1885, in the sum of $1200, for which he sues.

“He prayed for judgment for $1200, judgment ejecting defendant from the land, requiring the removal therefrom of all buildings, lumber, and building material, and perpetually enjoining and restraining defendant from ever occupying or using said premises in the future for a lumber yard or any other purpose, ‘but that said premises, etc., be allowed to remain vacant for the use of the public, so that free access may be had to and from said railway by the ¡Dublic in carrying on business with said railway, and for general and special relief; for costs/

“Appellant answered by:

[21]*21“1. Demurrer.

2. General denial.

“3. That the land held by it was the property in fee simple of the Houston & Texas Central Railway Company, and defendant held the same under a lease given it by the railway company. That the property of said railway company was in the hands of receivers legally appointed by the United States Circuit Court at Galveston.

“That defendant had leased said land from them also, by reason of which defendant was entitled to the possession of said land. That Harris had no interest whatever in right of way, or any other easement or right thereon, as is alleged in the petition.

“ The court overruled defendant’s demurrer. Case was tried by a jury. "Verdict for plaintiff as follows, in effect: rWe, the jury, find for the plaintiff, and assess his damage at $37.50.’

“ Judgment was rendered against the Calcasieu Lumber Company for $37.50 with interest at 8 per cent, and costs.

“ Then the court proceeded to enter a decree restraining defendant from •ever occupying any part of the premises alleged to be the right of way, and ordering plaintiff to remove its office, lumber shed, and 300,000 feet of lumber and building material within twenty days, or the sheriff should do so at the costs of said Calcasieu Lumber Company.”

Appellee bases his right to maintain this action on the following statute, which is a part of the general railroad law:

“ Such corporation shall have the right to erect and maintain all necessary and convenient buildings and stations, fixtures, and machinery for the accommodation and use of passengers, freights, and business interests, or which may be necessary for the construction or operation of its railway; but no railway company shall have the power, either by its own ■employes or other persons, to construct any building along the line of their railroad to be occupied by their employes or others, except at their respective depot stations and section houses, and at such places only such buildings as may be necessary for the transaction of their legitimate business operations and for shelter for their employes; nor shall they use, ■occupy, or cultivate any part of the right of way over which their respective roads may pass, with the exception aforesaid, for any other purpose than the construction and keeping in repair their respective railways.” Sayles’ Civ. Stats., 4216.

Articles 4211 and 4212 give to railway companies the power to purchase such lands as may be necessary to accomplish the purpose of incorporation, and to take, hold, and use voluntary grants of real estate to aid in the construction of their roads, and the subsequent article provides for the alienation of such as may not be necessary for its use.

Article 4180 provides for the acquisition of right of way or other land necessary to such corporations through the exercise of the power of emi[22]*22nent domain; and article 4306 provides that “the right of way secured or to he secured to any railway company in this State, in the manner provided by law, shall not be so construed as to include the fee simple estate in lands-either public or private.”

Sometime prior to March 30,1871, James Manor conveyed to the Houston & Texas Central Railway Company a strip of land 300 feet wide through a survey of land owned by him. The deed by which this was done conveyed to the railway company the estate in fee to this strip of land, on which its railway seems to be constructed near its center. Appellant held a part of that strip on the north side of the railway at the town of Manor under leases as alleged in the answer, and was using it as a lumber yard for a distance of about 300 feet westward from the company’s depot, but not in such manner as to interfere with the operation of the railway.

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Bluebook (online)
13 S.W. 453, 77 Tex. 18, 1890 Tex. LEXIS 1045, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/calcasieu-lumber-co-v-harris-tex-1890.