Keene v. City of Huntington

92 S.E. 119, 79 W. Va. 713, 1917 W. Va. LEXIS 142
CourtWest Virginia Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 6, 1917
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 92 S.E. 119 (Keene v. City of Huntington) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering West Virginia Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Keene v. City of Huntington, 92 S.E. 119, 79 W. Va. 713, 1917 W. Va. LEXIS 142 (W. Va. 1917).

Opinion

Ritz, Judge:

In the month of May, 1912, the plaintiff purchased a house and lot situate in the city of Huntington on Second Avenue, between Fourth and Fifth Streets. After her purchase of the property she made certain improvements thereon and has-been occupying it as a residence ever since. In the summer of 1914 the defendant purchased four lots on Second Avenue immediately west of the residence of the plaintiff and erected thereon an incinerator plant, at which plant it burns garbage, dead animals, and all kinds and character of refuse which it is deemed expedient to collect and destroy. The plaintiff claims that ever since the operation of this plant her property has been very much injured; that there results from the burning of this .decadent organic matter noisome odors which are very offensive; that smoke settles upon her house and upon her furniture, and that there is left as a. result of this smoke coming in contact with the house and furniture and other property a greasy offensive substance; that this smoke also deposits small particles of inorganic matter. She brought this suit to recover damages resulting. from this injury, claiming that the value of her property has been materially decreased. Upon the trial she introduced a number of witnesses who testified to the facts in regard to the deposits left by the smoke, and to the offensive odors and other injuries claimed from the incinerator plant, and also witnesses as to [715]*715the difference in the value of her property immediately before and immediately after the construction of the plant. The defendant introduced‘witnesses to prove that this plant was the most modern plant devised for the purpose of disposing of garbage; that it was erected by the city at a cost, for the plant and the ground upon which it is situate, of something like twelve thousand dollars; that it was erected in a skillful and proper manner; and that the plant ever since it has been in operation has 'been operated properly and skillfully. It also introduced a number of witnesses who testified that there were no odors arising from the operation of this plant; that there were no deposits left by the smoke upon articles with which it came in contact; and that there were no ashes or other substances deposited upon the ground by the plant, except that some of the defendant’s witnesses stated that there were small particles of charred paper at times emitted from the stack. Before the evidence was introduced the jury was taken to the plant to view it in operation. Again, at the conclusion of the evidence, on motion of the defendant, the jury was permitted to view the plant in operation and the effects of such operation. The cause was then submitted to the jury upon the court’s instructions to the effect that if the plaintiff’s property was affected in the way she and other witnesses testified, and was thereby injured, she was entitled to recover, and the measure of her damages would be the difference between the value of her property immediately before and immediately after the said incinerator plant was constructed and put in operation. The defendant contended upon the trial that the plaintiff in any event should only be allowed to recover temporary damages, that is, such damages as were proved to have been sustained prior to the institution of the suit, and this is the main contention in this Court.

There are some other points raised by the defendant which we will dispose of before proceeding to the consideration of the proposition upon which the defendant mainly relies.

In the trial of the case the defendant offered to prove by witnesses T. S. Scanlon and O. H. Wells that they had observed other incinerator plants of the same type as this 'one [716]*716in operation, and no odors aros'e from the operation of these other plants, and no sediment was deposited from the smoke. This evidence was rejected by the court. Both of these witnesses testified as to the operation of the particular plant in question. They observed its operation many, many times, and both testified positively and emphatically that at no time did this particular plant ever discharge any smoke containing sediment, nor was there ever any greasy or slimy substance deposited from the smoke, or any odors arising from the operation of the plant. In view of their positive evidence as to the effect of the operation of the plant in question, it can hardly be conceived why it was thought material to prove by them what they observed as to the operation of other similar plants. Ordinarily evidence of collateral facts is excluded from the consideration of the jury as having no particular foree in proving the fact in issue. 1 G-reenleaf on Evidence, §52; Whitelaw v. Whitelaw, 96 Va. 712 (32 S. E. 458); Hartman v. Evans, 38 W. Va. 669. "We fail to see how the statements of these two witnesses as to their observations of other plants in operation, could in any wise strengthen their positive statements as to the operation of this particular plant.

It is also assigned as error that the court permitted the plaintiff to prove that odors arose from the garbage wagons being driven into the incinerator, and that it was error to permit evidence to show that pieces of charred paper were emitted from the stack of the incinerator, for the reason that these matters were not charged in the declaration. It is charged in the declaration that the plaintiff’s property is affected by th'e operation of this plant because uf offensive odors coming therefrom, and particularly from the deposit of ashes therefrom. It is specifically charged in the declaration that some of the odors affecting the plaintiff’s property arise from the wagons containing garbage while they are being hauled into the plant, but even if this were not' so it ciearly appears that the deposit of the garbage in the plant is one of the things necessary to' be done in order to its operation, and no specific averment of offensive odors arising from the wagon would be necessary when there is a general [717]*717averment of injury by reason of offensive odors arising because of the operation of the plant. The defendant repeatedly moved the court to exclude ,the evidence of the deposit of charred paper on plaintiff’s lot. It is true the court overruled these motions, but at the end of her evidence the plaintiff submitted to such motions, and while the record does not show that the court took any particular action on it, we must conclude that where the defendant has asked for a particular thing to be' done, and the other party submits to it, it is granted. Even if this were not so these deposits of charred paper emitted from the stack must be taken to be included in the terms used in the declaration. It is charged in the declaration that deposits of ashes and other substances are made upon the plaintiff’s lot which are emitted from the incinerator. This is sufficient to include the deposit of this charred paper, and the court committed no error in admitting the evidence to the jury.

The remaining proposition, and the one upon which chief reliance is placed, is as to the character of the plaintiff’s injury. The plaintiff contends that in as much as it is shown in this ease that the incinerator plant is constructed as a permanent public improvement by the city for the carrying out of its corporate powers, and from the proper operation of this plant injury results, the damages are permanent.

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Bluebook (online)
92 S.E. 119, 79 W. Va. 713, 1917 W. Va. LEXIS 142, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/keene-v-city-of-huntington-wva-1917.