Texas & P. Ry. Co. v. Reeves

256 S.W. 902
CourtTexas Commission of Appeals
DecidedDecember 20, 1923
DocketNo. 416-3217
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 256 S.W. 902 (Texas & P. Ry. Co. v. Reeves) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Texas Commission of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Texas & P. Ry. Co. v. Reeves, 256 S.W. 902 (Tex. Super. Ct. 1923).

Opinion

POWELL, P. J.

The nature and result of this action have been admirably .stated by the Court of Civil Appeals, as follows:

“The appellees, Reeves and wife, filed this suit against the appellant for the purpose of recovering $7,500 as damages for depreciation in the value of their homestead and for physical and mental discomfort and annoyance resulting from smoke, noise, and soot emanating from appellant’s roundhouse located near the property. The record shows that the following facts were established upon the trial: The appellees were the owners of a house and lot, which they occupied as a residence, situated within 800 feet of the appellant’s roundhouse. The roundhouse of the apellant was located at that point after the property had' been acquired by th.em and its use as a homestead begun. The operation of the roundhouse and its appurtenances, including coal chutes, etc., produced smoke, soot, dust, unpleasant vapors, gases, and noises, and the property of the appellees was injured by reason of those conditions. The value of their property before the construction of the roundhouse amounted to $1,750, and the depreciation resulting from the construction of the roundhouse amounted to $550; and the appellees had sustained damage resulting from the annoyance and inconvenience incident to the location of the roundhouse in the sum of $100. The jury also determined that those damages were not such as were suffered by the community in general. Upon those findings the court entered a judgment in favor of the appellees for $650.”

Upon appeal to the Court of Civil Appeals at Texarkana, the judgment of the district court was affirmed. See 202 S. W. 814.

The railway company then applied to the Supreme Court for a writ of error, which was granted with the notation:

“On the measure of damages the decision is in conflict with Daniel v. Ry. Co. (Tex. Civ. App.) 69 S. W. 198.”

The decision in the instant case is unquestionably directly in conflict with the decision mentioned by our Supreme Court in granting this writ, but it is directly in line with the decision of our Supreme Court, which reversed the decision of the Court of Civil Appeals 'in the Daniel Case, aforesaid, in -its opinion recorded in 96 Tex. 327, 72 S. W. 578. Under these circumstances, which did not appear in the application for writ of error, the conflict above noted has already been settled, and the decision of the Court of Civil Appeals in the instant case is correct.

The Court of Civil Appeals, in its opinion herein, does not discuss the very issue involved in this conflict, but merely refers to its former decision in the case of T. & P. Ry. Co. v. Taylor, 200 S. W. 1117, in which a writ of error has been denied by our Supreme Court. A reference to that case shows that the recovery there was for1 depreciation in value of the realty only. Therefore the case did, not • determine whether or not recovery for discomfort to the occupants of the home could be had in addition to depreciation in the value of the realty. But Chief Justice Willson, in writing his opinion in the Taylor Case, laid down the rule that such a recovery could be' had, or at least held so in substance.

In the case of Daniel v. Ry. Co., supra, the railroad company had erected a coal depot and bins near the home of the plaintiff in the town "of Stephen ville. From these bins, coal was hoisted to the engines. Large quantities of smoke and coal dust, occasioned by the almost constant operation of the plant, blew and settled upon the residence and furniture of the plaintiff. The plaintiffs were annoyed day and night by the operation of this coal hoister. By reason of these very same things, there was a double .prayer, for damages in the petition; $1,000 was asked because of depreciation in the value of the home itself, and $500 was requested because of physical and" mental discomfort to the occupants of the home. The case was submitted upon the general issue, and the trial resulted in a judgment for the railway company.

But the trial court, in its charge to the jury, restricted the recovery to the deprecia[903]*903tion in the value of the realty. He refused a special charge, as follows:

“If you believe, from a preponderance of the evidence in this case, that the plaintiff J. T. Daniel and his wife have been personally annoyed and' discomforted in the use and enjoyment of their home by smoke or coal dust, or by vibrating, grating, or disagreeable noises coming from defendant’s coal yards and coal hoist into or on the house and premises of plaintiff, then you will find for plaintiff, and award to him by your verdict such damages as, in your judgment, will reasonably and fairly compensate him for such annoyance or discomfort suffered by himself and wife, not to exceed the amount sued for for annoyances.”

The court of Civil Appeals, speaking through Chief Justice Conner, held that the trial court correctly refused aforesaid special charge, and that the recovery should be limited to the depreciation in the value of the realty.

But our Supreme Court granted a writ of error, and, as aforesaid, reversed the judgments of the lower courts and remanded the cause to the trial court for another trial because of the refusal of the special charge above set out. See 96 Tex. 327, 72 S. W. 578.

In its opinion the Court, speaking through Associate Justice Brown, says:

“The trial court committed error in refusing the special charge requested by the plaintiff. If the plaintiff was entitled to recover upon the evidence, the right of recovery is not limited to the depreciation in the value of the property, but he may recover damages for the discomfort of himself and family in the use of the home, caused by the erection and use of the coal hoists. Baltimore & P. Railway Co. v. Fifth Baptist Church, 108 U. S. 317; Randolph v. Bloomfield, 77 Iowa, 52; Illinois C. Railway Co. v. Grabill, 50 Ill. 241; Pierce v. Wagner, 29 Minn. 355; Brown v. Chicago & A. Railway Co., 80 Mo. 457; Pennsylvania Railway Co. v. Angel, 41 N. J. Eq. 316.”

Judge Brown then goes on to distinguish the former opinions of the Supreme Court of Texas, relied upon by the Court of Civil Appeals in the Daniel Case, and concludes in these clear words:

“No case decided by this court' justifies the conclusion that, if a structure, permanent in character, is a nuisance from which injury results to adjacent property, and by which nuisance the health of the occupants is impaired or the comfortable enjoyment of it is destroyed, the injured party is limited to compensation for the impairment of the value of the property. To the contrary, it is a rule of our law that full compensation may be awarded in one suit to the owner for all damages sustained from the same cause, and we see no reason why a party damaged in the value of his property and in his health or the’ enjoyment of the property should be denied the right to recover for either or both wrongs. The existence of a permanent nuisance may cause injury by destroying the comfort of a home and not cause loss in the market value of the property, or it may cause injury to both, hence adequate compensation must embrace all the damage done and no more.

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

Related

Gulf Oil Corporation v. Vestal
231 S.W.2d 523 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1950)
City of Wylie v. Stone
16 S.W.2d 862 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1929)
Massie v. Hutcheson
296 S.W. 939 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1927)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
256 S.W. 902, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/texas-p-ry-co-v-reeves-texcommnapp-1923.