Seismic Explorations, Inc. v. Dobray

169 S.W.2d 739, 1943 Tex. App. LEXIS 217
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedFebruary 25, 1943
DocketNo. 11434
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 169 S.W.2d 739 (Seismic Explorations, Inc. v. Dobray) 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
Seismic Explorations, Inc. v. Dobray, 169 S.W.2d 739, 1943 Tex. App. LEXIS 217 (Tex. Ct. App. 1943).

Opinion

CODY, Justice.

This suit was brought by Mike Dobray and wife, Elsie K. Dobray (now Mrs. Tom Mitchell), against Seismic Explorations, Inc.; against Frank F. Reynolds, its President; and against Phillips Petroleum Company, for damages to plaintiffs’ home, consisting of cracks in the walls and floors, alleged to have been caused by vibration resulting from explosions of charges of dynamite used in a reflection seismograph test. No contention is made that any physical trespass was made upon plaintiffs’ land by defendants. Before the case was tried, the wife of Dobray divorced him and married Thomas Mitchell, who became a party plaintiff in the case.

Plaintiffs alleged that they were the owners of a home, which was of hollow tile and brick construction, in Galveston County, and that said house and home constituted the residence of plaintiffs, and, prior to the injuries complained of, was of the reasonable value of $15,000; the petition further alleges that the complained of explosions also “cracked, damaged and injured the garage and outhouses of these plaintiffs. That by reason of such acts plaintiffs have suffered damages and injury to the extent of” $12,500.

Seismic Explorations, Inc. (hereafter called Seismic), and Frank F. Reynolds (hereafter called Reynolds) answered with a general demurrer and general denial, and pled that any damaged condition of plaintiffs’ house was not caused by the actions of said defendants, but by conditions over which they had no control, and further answered that in conducting their operations, said defendants exercised such care as is customarily exercised by a person of ordinary prudence engaged in the same or similar business, under the same or similar circumstances, and exercised same under permits procured from the land owners where exercised and “conducted such operations in a careful, cautious and prudent manner and in the usual and customary manner; * * * and * * * used only such amounts of explosives as were reasonably necessary, which amounts were not excessive and were insufficient to cause any damage whatever to plaintiffs’ house.”

Defendant Phillips Petroleum Company (hereafter called Phillips) answered with a general demurrer and general denial.

Over objections by defendants that they were entitled to an instructed verdict, the court submitted the case to the jury upon special issues, and upon the answers of the jury, the court rendered judgment for $8,000 damages for plaintiffs.

The proof showed that on October 14, 1938, the Phillips, acting through its duly authorized representative, called Reynolds, president of the Seismic, on the telephone and employed the Seismic to send one of its crew to the League City area to do certain specified reflection seismograph [741]*741exploration based on a discovery well. A definite pattern for the placing of the shots to be made was agreed upon. Under the agreement Phillips was to pay for the work at so much per month for the cost of the crew and other charges. It was also agreed that the agreement was to be reduced to writing. The written form of the agreement was prepared by Seismic and by it executed on November 14, 1938, and by Phillips executed nine days later. The written form of the contract carried forward the provision that Seismic was an independent contractor, that Phillips was interested only in the results attained, and that Phillips agreed “to indemnify said Seismic against and to pay and satisfy any and all of the judgments that may be rendered against said Seismic in favor of any land .owner or in fawar of anyone else * * * save in so far as same may prove to be the consequence of negligence or willful misconduct on the part of Seismic.” It should here be added that Seismic paid the salaries of its employees and Phillips had no power to discharge them, nor did it have any supervisors to accompany such crew when it did the work.

The evidence showed that reflection seismograph exploration method had for some years supplanted the refraction seismograph method in the Gulf Coast country; and the reflection seismograph exploration method was employed by the Seismic crew upon the occasion in question. The refraction method differs from the reflection method in that much heavier charges of dynamite are used in the former than in the latter. The normal charge of dynamite used for an explosion in refraction method consists of from 300 to 400 pounds of dynamite, whereas a charge of dynamite used by the reflection method consists of 2 pounds or less; this being placed at the bottom of a hole bored twenty feet or deeper and covered with water before being exploded. Upon the occasion in question, the testimony of the defendants was that the crew in no instance exploded a charge of dynamite weighing more than half a pound. No dynamite was exploded on plaintiffs’ premises and none nearer than 100 feet to plaintiffs’ house. (Plaintiffs alleged that their house was damaged by the dynamite discharged 100 feet from it.) The dynamite, which was discharged approximately 100 feet from plaintiffs’ house, was exploded at the bottom of a hole, located in Ross’ pecan orchard, which was 28 feet deep and the dynamite at the bottom of the hole was covered with water. The undisputed evidence was to the effect that such a charge, when exploded, would give only a dull thud which could be heard only a few feet away and could not have been heard at plaintiffs’ house, and that the vibrations set in motion could not have been felt at plaintiffs’ house. Indeed, the testimony was that upon the surface of the earth, the vibrations of such an explosion would be similar to those set in motion by a passing automobile in that they could not be detected by the senses at any greater distance from the hole where exploded than vibrations could be detected from a passing automobile. As against that evidence, plaintiffs introduced testimony to the effect that the detonations were heard half a mile off and shook their house so violently that dishes and cups were shaken off of a three-foot shelf and fell to the floor. Tom Mitchell, a nominal plaintiff herein, was painting the house at the time, and noticed that cracks showed up in the walls where there had been no cracks at the time he had painted said walls. Other witnesses testified to such cracks appearing after the dynamite was exploded.

The points urged by defendants Reynolds and Seismic on appeal are:

1. A verdict should have been instructed for Reynolds, his only connection with the matter being that he was the president of Seismic.

2. A verdict should have been instructed for Seismic, as its acts, as a matter of law, could not have been the proximate cause of any damage to plaintiffs’ house.

3. In the absence of testimony that the Seismic employees were not competent, there was no duty on the part of Reynolds or Seismic to give instructions to said employees as to the amount of the dynamite to be used.

4. The court erred in submitting inquiries concerning the failure of Reynolds and Seismic to instruct their employees in regard to the amount of the dynamite to be used, because plaintiffs had pleaded specific acts of negligence which did not include any allegation of any such failure as an act of negligence.

5. The court erred in submitting issues (special issues 28 and 29) inquiring about the reasonable market value of the Dobray property as improved, just before and after the alleged damage thereto, because there were no pleadings to support such issues, [742]*742and under the pleadings such issues submit an incorrect measure of damages.

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Bluebook (online)
169 S.W.2d 739, 1943 Tex. App. LEXIS 217, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/seismic-explorations-inc-v-dobray-texapp-1943.