Kentucky Lead & Oil Co. v. New Albany Water-Works

62 Ind. 63
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedMay 15, 1878
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 62 Ind. 63 (Kentucky Lead & Oil Co. v. New Albany Water-Works) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kentucky Lead & Oil Co. v. New Albany Water-Works, 62 Ind. 63 (Ind. 1878).

Opinion

Perkins, J.

This action was commenced in the Floyd Circuit Court hy Conger & Howard, against the Yew [64]*64Albany Water-Works, the Kentucky Lead and Oil Company, the Ludlow Valve Company, Richard Wood & Co., DeWitt C. Hill and Michael Zier, partners, Ered. D. Conner, assignee of Hill & Zier, in bankruptcy, and other defendants who need not be named.

The object of the suit was to enforce a mechanic’s lien held by Conger & Howard on two buildings constructed by them, situated on two separate and distinct lots of land, in Eloyd county, owned by the New Albany WaterWorks.

The original plaintiffs, Conger & Howard, alleged in their complaint, that Hill & Zier agreed for a valuable consideration to construct and build a complete system of works for the defendant, the New Albany Water-Works, and that they, the said Conger & Howard, at the request of Hill & Zier, did certain work, and furnished certain materials to be used, and which were used, in the construction of the reservoirs and pumping house; that a certain sum of money was due to them from Hill & Zier; and that they had duly filed, in the office of the recorder of Eloyd county, notice of their intention to hold a lien on .these buildings.

The Kentucky Lead and Oil Company, the Ludlow Valve Company, and Richard Wood & Co., were made defendants to answer as to any interest they might have in the property covered by Conger & Howard’s lien.

The Kentucky Lead and Oil Company and Richard Wood & Co. each filed a cross-complaint, consisting of a single paragraph, claiming liens under section 647 of the code. The Ludlow Valve Company filed its cross complaint in two paragraphs, the first of which asserted the existence of a mechanic’s lien, and the second attempted to charge the defendant, the New Albany Water-Works, upon a notice under section 649.

Separate demurrers were filed by the New Albany Water-[65]*65Works to each paragraph of these several cross-complaints, the ground of objection assigned being the insufficiency of the facts stated to constitute a cause of action. These demurrers were sustained by the court below, and judgment was rendered on the demurrers. These rulings on the demurrers to the cross-complaints of the Kentucky Lead and Oil Company, the Ludlow Valve Company, and Richard Wood & Co., present the questions to be determined on this appeal.

The cause proceeded to trial as to the other parties, but no notice need be taken of that branch of the proceedings.

The material averments of the cross complaint of the appellee, the Kentucky Lead and Oil Company, are, that on and before November 10th, 1875, the New Albany WaterWorks was a corporation, organized for the purpose of constructing • a system of water-works in and near New Albany, Indiana, to supply that place with water; that this corporation purchased and owned divers lots and parcels of land on which to erect its buildings, engine-houses, engines, machinery, structures, reservoirs, and other improvements; that it became necessary for it “ to build, construct, and join and unite with lead, in, under, and along the streets and ways of the city of New Albany, long lines of water-pipes, connected with the reservoirs of said water-works, and all other parts of said systemthat I>. C. Hill & Co. made a written agreement with the WaterWorks Company to furnish all the necessary-material, and to construct and complete the works; that D. C. Hill & Co. “ employed the appellant, the Kentucky Lead and Oil Company, to furnish the lead to be used in connecting and joining together the water-pipes connected with the reservoirs and buildings of said works; that the said appellant, during 1875, furnished, as such sub-contractors, all the materials in the shape of pig-lead in the construction, connecting and joining together of the said water-pipes; [66]*66that all of the said material was used in and for the construction of said works, and the same was used and placed in, and upon, and around the water-pipes of said waterworks, which pipes were connected with, attached to, and formed by such connections part of a complete and perfect system of water-works, being joined to the two reservoirs built of brick, stone and other materials, situated on lots 2 and 4, on Front street, containing two acres, and lot 11, on Knob street, in Asahel Clapp’s Knob plat of section 3, township 3 south, range 6 east, in said Floyd county, and being joined to the engine-house and dry well on a part of lots E and IT, on the Ohio river bank, west of Evans street, said engine-house being a three-storied building; that the work was approved and accepted by the Water-Works Company; that appellant’s claim amounts to $1,050.73, evidenced by the acceptance of D. C. ITill & Co., which is filed with the complaint; that the appellant, within sixty days after the completion of the building and system of water-works, filed in the recorder’s office of Floyd county notice of its intention to hold a mechanic’s “ lien on the said building, the interest of the said New Albany Water-Works in the lots aforesaid, upon which they and it stand, and are constructed, and in and upon the said system of water-works, for the amount of said claim,” etc. A copy of the notice of lien is filed. It is averred that the claim is due and unpaid, and there is a prayer for the enforcement of the lien, etc.

The appellee insists that the cross complaint is insufficient for two principal reasons :

1. Because it does not appear that the appellant furnished materials for the construction of any building, or that it furnished any engine or other machinery for any mill, distillery or other manufactory.

2. Because there is no sufficiently specific description, in the notice of lien, of the premises or property for the con[67]*67struction or repair of which the appellant furnished material.

The notice and the cross-complaint state that the appellant furnished to Hill & Co., who were the principal contractors, “ pig-lead,” which was used by Hill & Co. to sol'd er and joint certain water-pipes which were laid down in Ihe streets and alleys of the city of New Albany. These pipes were designed to be used as conduits for water to be supplied by the appellee, and they were connected with the reservoirs on the knobs in Clapp’s Knob plat, and with the pumping house on the river bank on parts of lots “ E ” and “F.”

The words used in the statute creating liens in favor of mechanics are these : “ Mechanics, and all persons performing labor, or furnishing materials for the construction or repair of any building, or who may have furnished any engine or other machinery for any mill, distillery or other manufactory may have a lien separately or jointly upon the building which they may have constructed or repaired, or upon any building, mill, distillery, or other manufactory for which they may have furnished materials of any description and on the interest of the owner in the lot or land on which it stands, to the extent of the value of any labor done or materials furnished, or for both.” 2 R. S. 1876, p. 266, sec. 647.

We have a statute under the following title, viz.: An .act for the incorporation of manufacturing and mining •companies, and companies for mechanical, chemical, and building purposes,” the 1st section of which is as follows:

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Eufaula Water Co. v. Addyston Pipe & Steel Co.
89 Ala. 552 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1889)
Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad v. Oxford Iron Co.
33 N.J. Eq. 192 (New Jersey Court of Chancery, 1880)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
62 Ind. 63, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kentucky-lead-oil-co-v-new-albany-water-works-ind-1878.