Sheridan v. Phillips Pipe Line Co.

5 P.2d 817, 134 Kan. 260, 1931 Kan. LEXIS 225
Supreme Court of Kansas·Decided December 12, 1931·No. No. 30,115·Published·Cited by 5 cases

Opinion

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Hutchison, J.:

This appeal is in a condemnation proceeding instituted by the Phillips Pipe Line Company, condemning a right of way across a quarter section of land in Miami county for the [261]*261construction of a pipe line. The landowner attempted to appeal to the district court from the award allowed him by the condemnation commissioners, filing his bond within time, and this appeal is by the pipe-line company from the decision and order of the district court refusing to dismiss the appeal of the landowner and from the order permitting an amendment of the appeal bond and the filing of a supplemental bond in that appeal.

The sole question involved is whether or not the bond filed by the landowner with the county clerk of Miami county on November 15, 1930, in attempting to perfect an appeal from the award of the condemnation commissioners, is void.

On December 16, 1930, the pipe-line company filed a motion, appearing specially, to quash and dismiss the appeal. On December 24, 1930, the landowner filed an application to amend the original bond and to file a supplemental bond. On December 31, 1930, the pipe-line company filed its objections to the court entertaining the application to amend the original bond and to file a supplemental appeal bond. On January 24,1931, the trial court heard the motion, application and objection and sustained the application to amend the original bond and file a supplemental appeal bond and overruled the motion to quash and dismiss the appeal and also the objection to the filing of a supplemental bond. The supplemental bond was on the same day filed with the clerk of the district court, it having been theretofore filed with the county clerk. From these three rulings and orders of the district court the pipe-line company appeals to this court.

The question is whether or not the original appeal bond was void. If it was void it should not have been amended and the case should have been dismissed. The contention of the appellant is that the bond was absolutely void, and therefore could not be amended, while appellee insists it is defective and irregular only and is such as can under the statute be amended.

The unusual and questionable feature of the .bond is in the fact that an entire stranger to the transaction is named in the concluding or obligation portion of it, instead of the Phillips Pipe Line Company. The first paragraph of the bond, by way of preamble, states that on the application of the Phillips Pipe Line Company appraisers to condemn a right of way over certain land, describing it, had been appointed, that they had made an appraisement and filed their report showing the damages sustained by the undersigned [262]*262owner (the appellee herein), giving the amount of the damages awarded, which amount it states had been paid to the county treasurer; then it further recites that—

“. . . the undersigned hereby appeals from the said report of the said appraisers and appeals from all proceedings of every kind and character had or held with reference to the said application to condemn, and all subsequent proceedings, on the ground that each and all of the said proceedings are illegal and void, and further appeals from the said amounts found and reported by said appraisers because they are illegal, unlawful and without jurisdiction and as well grossly inadequate and insufficient, said appeal by the undersigned appellant being an appeal to the district court of Miami county, Kansas, and this bond is given as an appeal bond by Bernard J. Sheridan, appellant, and Jno. W. Sheridan and Frank M. Sheridan, as sureties.”

The first sentence of the second or obligation paragraph is as follows:

“That we and each of us bind ourselves, our heirs and assigns to well and truly pay to the City [Cities] Service Gas Company, a Delaware corporation, any and all lawful damages that may be sustained by the said corporation by reason of said appeal, and that we will pay all lawful costs occasioned by the said appeal if the amount finally recovered by said appeal and the proceedings incident to said appeal should not exceed the aggregate sum or sums above mentioned that were by the said appraisers’ report shown and the amount thereof that has been paid to the said county treasurer.”

Two succeeding sentences in the second paragraph are as follows:

“. . . and that if a judgment be rendered against said appellant on the appeal, said appellant will satisfy such judgment and costs so rendered against him., . . . And if the said appellant shall comply with each and all of the provisions of this bond and the terms of the foregoing appeal, and shall, satisfy all judgments rendered against him on such appeal in the district court as above specified, then this bond shall be void, otherwise to remain in full force and effect.”

The appellant contends that the obligation of the bond runs to the Cities Service Gas Company, a Delaware corporation, an entire stranger to the,transaction and record, and therefore it is not a bond to the party in interest and is an absolute nullity. The appellee maintains, and the trial court so held, that the bond did not definitely run to the stranger, mentioned therein, but really ran to the adverse party, and that it was only defective and irregular to such an extent that it could properly be amended.

The purpose in setting out above so much of the language of the bond is to be able in this connection to give proper weight and consideration to all of its provisions, as well as the part that is par[263]*263ticularly objectionable. It may be conceded that the name of the Phillips Pipe Line Company should have been inserted in the bond where that of the Cities Service Gas Company appears, yet it is possible that the context may in a measure supply this omission or possibly render the insertion of a stranger’s name surplusage. If there should be sufficient in this bond to justify a construction of it as running to the adverse party, notwithstanding the appearance therein of the name of an absolute stranger to the record, then the bond could not properly be said to be running to such stranger. This expression of the bond running to a party comes from no less eminent authority than Judge Brewer in the case of Lovitt v. Wellington & Western Rtd. Co., 26 Kan. 297, which is cited and pressed by appellant as “on all fours” with this case. But a resort to the record shows that the bond in that case was quite different from the one here involved, and therein exists the possible mistake in saying that this bond runs to the stranger when there are so many things in this bond to make that matter questionable, while in the bond in the Lovitt case there were no such features and the bond in that case presented no such possibility by its context. The bond in the Lovitt case, as shown by the record in that case, recited the entire transaction of the condemnation proceedings as being instituted and carried on by another and different railroad company, viz., the Cowley, Sumner & Fort Smith Railroad Company, and it nowhere, except in the caption, directly or indirectly refers to the Wellington & Western Railroad Company, defendant in the case. So in that situation the bond unquestionably ran to a stranger.

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Sheridan v. Phillips Pipe Line Co., 5 P.2d 817, 134 Kan. 260, 1931 Kan. LEXIS 225 (kan 1931).

5 P.2d 817 (Sheridan v. Phillips Pipe Line Co.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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