Clark Lloyd Lumber Co. v. Puget Sound & Cascade Railway Co.

190 P. 226, 111 Wash. 232, 1920 Wash. LEXIS 604
CourtWashington Supreme Court
DecidedJune 4, 1920
DocketNo. 15437
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 190 P. 226 (Clark Lloyd Lumber Co. v. Puget Sound & Cascade Railway Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Washington Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Clark Lloyd Lumber Co. v. Puget Sound & Cascade Railway Co., 190 P. 226, 111 Wash. 232, 1920 Wash. LEXIS 604 (Wash. 1920).

Opinion

Bridges, J.

In and prior to July, 1912, respondent owned what it claimed was a valuable mill site on the banks of the Skagit river, in the state of Washington. This site consisted of land on the northerly bank of the river, on which its mill had been previously located, but which, in 1910 or 1911, had been destroyed by fire, and which has not been rebuilt. Its boom for holding-logs and shingle bolts was located in the northerly portion of the river and adjacent to the mill and mill site. This boom has been designated a “pocket boom.” In order to catch the timber floating down the river from above the mill site, it was necessary to have a “fin” or “sheer” boom; this sheer boom was located in a small cove on the southerly side of the river and opposite the mill site. One end of it was tied to the southerly bank and the other end floated out in the stream, caught logs and bolts and guided them to the other side of the river and into the mouth of the pocket boom. It is claimed that the mill site proper, the pocket boom, and the location for the sheer boom, all combine to constitute an excellent mill site. It appears that there was a point or ledge of rock extending out into the stream which protected the land end or head of the sheer boom from drifting, thus forming an unusually good location for a sheer boom. Respondent also owned the southerly shore of the river where its sheer boom was located. In 1912, the appellant, being desir-. [234]*234ous of constructing’ a railroad up the southerly hank of the river, purchased a rig’ht of way therefor from respondent at the point of and above and below the sheer boom. At about the same time an agreement was entered into between the parties which gave to respondent:

“—a right to- use and occupy all the shore line along the Skagit river for booming, logging or other purposes and shall have the right to keep its fin booms tied on the stumps it is now attached to- or any other structure it may place on such shore line or lands; provided, however, that such occupancy of the shore line and tying and maintaining of said fin boom on said stumps shall not interfere with the construction, operation and maintenance of the railroad of said second party. ’ ’

After the railroad was built, respondent brought this suit against appellant, claiming damages because the latter had destroyed the contour of the southerly bank of the river and had filled with rock the cove where the sheer boom was located, and, in general, had destroyed the value- of the whole mill site. Upon trial there was a verdict for the plaintiff. The defendant appealed to this court, where the various rights of the parties were interpreted and the case reversed and remanded for a new trial. Clark Lloyd, Lumber Co. v. Puget Sound & Cascade R. Co., 92 Wash. 601, 159 Pac. 774; Clark Lloyd Lumber Co. v. Puget Sound & Cascade R. Co., 96 Wash. 313, 165 Pac. 94. The second trial resulted in a verdict in favor of the plaintiff in the sum of $5,750, for injury to the whole mill site. Defendant’s motion for a new trial was denied and it has again appealed. Por a more complete recital of the facts, we refer to- the previous decisions of this court.

It is first contended that the verdict is excessive and was given under the influence of passion and preju[235]*235dice. Appellant does not point ont anything upon which, to base the assertion that the verdict was rendered under the influence of passion and prejudice, except the size of the verdict. The case was very carefully and ably tried by both parties to the suit and by the court. A very large amount of testimony was taken; the jury visited the premises, both at the beginning and at the end of the trial, and the court’s instructions were full and complete. The case seems to have been conscientiously and honestly tried by all parties concerned. When it was here the first time, we held that, if the rock could be removed from the cove and the fin boom location restored to its original efficiency, the measure of respondent’s damages would be the cost of restoring such situation. But if the situation could not be restored, then the measure of damages would be the difference in the value of the property before and after the work was done. Respondent introduced the testimony of many witnesses on the theory that the situation could not be restored, and also' on the theory that the situation could be restored, and the cost of so doing. All of this testimony was met by the testimony of many witnesses produced by the appellant. On the theory that there could not be a restoration of the situation, respondent’s witnesses fixed the damage in excess of $10,000, while the witnesses of appellant contended that the mill site had become practically valueless because of a lack of timber and the inability of any person to successfully operate the property, and consequently the damage was practically nothing. On the restoration theory, respondent introduced competent evidence showing the cost to be in excess of $10,000, while appellant’s witnesses fixed such sum at less than $1,000. There was a sharp dispute as to the line and nature of the original contour [236]*236of the bank of the river, and as to the amount of rock and material which appellant had deposited in the cove and river near the location of the sheer boom. This situation brought about a decided conflict in the evidence, and the chief question was as to the credibility of the witnesses. That such burden rests upon and is peculiarly within the province of the jury and not the court, has been too often decided by this and other courts to need citation of authorities.

In the case of Seattle & Montana R. Co. v. Roeder, 30 Wash. 244, 70 Pac. 498, in discussing the question now before us, this court said:

“We do not feel disposed to substitute our own judgment for that of the jury whose duty it is to assess the damage, simply because the amount may seem to us large; especially where there is abundant competent evidence upon which to base the verdict.”

In Fogarty v. Northern Pac. R. Co., 85 Wash. 90, 147 Pac. 652, it was said:

“The evidence on this point, however, was conflicting. Its weight and the credibility of the witnesses were for the jury. The trial judge was much better able to determine the weight and credence to- be given to this evidence than we are. He refused to grant a new trial. An appellate tribunal should be extremely slow to override the judgment of both the jury and the trial court on a question of fact where there is any evidence to support it.”

In Caldwell v. Northern Pac. R. Co., 62 Wash. 420, 113 Pac. 1099, we said:

“The right of trial by jury being a constitutional right, the courts, in law actions, may not take questions of fact away from them and determine such questions for themselves merely because they do not agree with the jury’s findings.- While we have no doubt of our power to grant new trials where verdicts appear excessive, yet it is a power which should be exercised [237]*237within reason, and only where it is reasonably plain that justice will be promoted thereby.”

A careful reading of the record convinces us that there was amply sufficient evidence to support the verdict, and for us now to say that the verdict is excessive would be to usurp the province of the jury.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
190 P. 226, 111 Wash. 232, 1920 Wash. LEXIS 604, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/clark-lloyd-lumber-co-v-puget-sound-cascade-railway-co-wash-1920.