Ferguson Seed Farms, Inc. v. Fort Worth & D.-S. P. Ry. Co.

100 S.W.2d 177
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedNovember 2, 1936
DocketNo. 4654
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 100 S.W.2d 177 (Ferguson Seed Farms, Inc. v. Fort Worth & D.-S. P. Ry. Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ferguson Seed Farms, Inc. v. Fort Worth & D.-S. P. Ry. Co., 100 S.W.2d 177 (Tex. Ct. App. 1936).

Opinion

HALL, Chief Justice.

This case was -formerly tried and an appeal was prosecuted, and the judgment reversed by this court in an opinion published in 69 S.W.(2d) 223. Since that time both parties have filed amended pleadings, and, in addition thereto, the appellant filed an application for a change of venue, based upon the ground of prejudice, etc.

The substance of the appellant’s first amended original petition which we take from its brief is that the Ferguson Seed Farms, Inc., filed this suit on the 24th day of December, 1929, against the defendant railway company to recover damages to plaintiff’s gin and other property by constructing a line of railway along Grove street, upon which street plaintiff’s property abutted. It is alleged in substance that plaintiff owned lots 2-12, inclusive, in block 3, Knobb Hill addition to the city of Plainview, and had owned such property since 1924; since that time, and prior thereto, the property had valuable improvements thereon consisting of a modern, well-equipped cotton gin, grain and other warehouses, and buildings, and was suitably located on streets not exposed to houses, and the egress and ingress from the adjacent streets was without inconvenience to vehicular traffic; that said buildings were used in connection with its ginning business, in the preparation of field seeds for market, and the property was conveniently located to a railroad, with complete and unimpeded outlets onto the adjacent streets (Grove street on the west as the front entrance, and Seventh street on the north) ; that the property was only a half block from Sixth street, which was paved and a designated highway prior to the time defendant railway company built its line along Grove street; . that it was easy of access to farmers, and suited to the convenient and proper distribution of cotton, cottonseed, field seeds, and grains, handled by the plaintiff as a part of its business and its source of revenue; that Seventh street was á main thoroughfare from the surrounding country to and from the main business district of Plainview, and that the travel along said thoroughfare which was' adjacent to plaintiff’s property was a valuable asset; that prior to the wrongs complained of there was nothing to obstruct free travel to and from and along the side of plaintiff’s property. As a major cause for the damages to the property, the defendant railway company, having a line extending to and through the city of Plainview, on the 1st day 'of May, 1928, unlawfully constructed two lines of private spur or service tracks and also used the same as 'switch service tracks along two sides of Grove street between Sixth and Seventh, and immediately opposite and over the front entrance to plaintiff’s seed, grain, and ginning plant; that the spur track was illegally and improperly constructed so as to bri'ng trains and cars operated on said private spur line to within seven feet of the inside property line of the plaintiff’s lots, and over. and inside the curb line along Grove street between Sixth and Seventh streets; that the two private spur tracks were built along [179]*179the west side of Grove street and within the limits of the street, impeding and destroying any easy travel for several blocks; that in constructing and laying said tracks the said railway company filled in and raised the street above its original level and elevated said tracks above the common street and property level approximately two feet; also filled in and built up Grove street between Sixth and Seventh to said level, thus making the level approximately two feet above the property level or ground level of plaintiff’s lots, as a result of which filling in and raising of the street, thus causing a sharp decline and a drop of from eighteen inches to two feet and impeded travel going from or into the street, and particularly near the office and scales where customers must drive in order, to weigh their vehicles and products, causing much inconvenience, difficulty, danger, and hazard to team and motor vehicles belonging to its customers; that the presence of these tracks and the manner of their construction hindered and prevented many of plaintiffs customers from patronizing plaintiff, and incidentally and as a direct result of same, plaintiff’s business was ruined and heavy damages resulted therefrom.

The defendant answered, alleging among other defenses that in cause No. 1702 in the county court of Hale county, the matters sued for by the plaintiff were issues in said cause, in which a final judgment was rendered, disposing of all the matters, from which no appeal was prosecuted; that the said parties in cause No. 1702 were the same as parties in the case at bar, and said judgment was pleaded as res judicata. Defendant further alleged that whatever title plaintiff had to the property was derived from Prudy R. McClelland, and through a dedication deed executed by her and hus--band in which there was reserved all rights of franchise and public use to themselves, including the right to operate railways in the streets of Knobb Hill addition to the town of Plainview; that plaintiff had no right to complain as to the use of said street; that defendant railway had acquired the rights of said Prudy R. McClelland and her husband to use said streets for railway purposes ; that such exclusive right was obtained by reason of a deed from Mrs. Annie C. Lycan, executrix of the will of Prudy R. McClelland, deceased, conveying such rights to defendant in 1930, after the construction of said tracks. Defendant also alleged that it executed the work of building said tracks with promptness and without the delay as alleged by plaintiff.

The application for a change of venue' filed by plaintiff alleged that there existed a widespread and extreme prejudice against the plaintiff in Hale county, where such suit is pending, and against A. M. Ferguson, president of the corporation, and to such extent that plaintiff could not or could not hope to obtain a fair and impartial trial therein. It further alleged that there is a combination existing against plaintiff, instigated by influential persons, by reason of which plaintiff cannot expect a fair and impartial trial, and that there is a combination against A. M. Ferguson that will prevent plaintiff from obtaining a fair and impartial trial, and that all of these objections applied to Lamb county as well.

This application was controverted and testimony was introduced by both parties.

The court overruled the application, and that is made the first ground of error in plaintiff’s brief.

Defendant óbjects to the consideration of the assignment based upon the court’s action in overruling the motion for change of venue because the alleged error is not presented to this court by formal bill of exceptions reserved during the trial. This was the old rule. Magnolia Pet. Co. v. Long (Tex.Com.App.) 86 S.W.(2d) 450. But by the acts of the 42d Leg.(1931), 1st Called Sess., p. 75, c. 34, §§ 1 and 3 (Vernon’s Ann.Civ.St. arts. 2237, 2239), it is provided that no formal bill of exceptions shall be required where the matters complained of, the objections to the court’s ruling, and exceptions thereto clearly appear of record. This act became effective in August, 1931, but it is clear from reading Judge Ryan’s opinion in the Magnolia Petroleum Company Case, supra, that he did not consider the act above referred to. •

The testimony of about thirty witnesses, and much documentary evidence, was introduced by the parties. This evidence appears in a separate statement of facts of 235 pages. We have carefully reviewed it, and have concluded that the court did not err in overruling the appellant’s motion.

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Bluebook (online)
100 S.W.2d 177, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ferguson-seed-farms-inc-v-fort-worth-d-s-p-ry-co-texapp-1936.