Wilcox v. Henry

77 P. 1055, 35 Wash. 591, 1904 Wash. LEXIS 485
CourtWashington Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 21, 1904
DocketNo. 4757
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 77 P. 1055 (Wilcox v. Henry) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Washington Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wilcox v. Henry, 77 P. 1055, 35 Wash. 591, 1904 Wash. LEXIS 485 (Wash. 1904).

Opinion

Mount, J.

Respondent brought this action to restrain appellant from maintaining a nuisance. The nuisance complained of consisted of a slaughter house, rendering tanks, and stock pens, located in the city of Seattle, about a quarter of a mile distant from respondent’s residence. On the trial of the case, the court made findings of fact in substance as follows: That respondent is the owner of certain lots and a dwelling house thereon, located on what is commonly known as “Beacon B[ill,” in the city of Seattle; that appellant is in possession of certain tide land lots of Elliott bay, lying immediately west of Beacon Hill, at the foot thereof, and about fifteen hundred féet in a southerly direction from respondent’s dwelling; that appellant, at the time the action was begun, and for a long time before, was, and is now, operating and maintaining upon said tide land lots a slaughter house, stock pens, furnaces, vats, and other appliances for the manufacture of lard and tallow, [594]*594and for slaughtering large numbers of cattle, hogs, and sheep; that the said slaughter house and stock pens are kept in an unclean and filthy condition, and the appellant suffers and allows the offal, filth, and animal refuse matter to he collected, deposited, and remain in and about the said premises, until the said matter becomes putrid and decayed and fills the air with noxious and offensive odors; that appellant also throws and deposits offal, filth, and animal matter in the waters of Elliott bay, which said offal, filth, and animal matter are, by the action of the winds and tides, cast upon the shores and there decompose and cause nauseating and offensive smells and odors; that these nauseating, unwholesome, and offensive smells and odors so taint the air and food, in and about respondent’s said dwelling house, that respondent’s rest, and that of his family, is disturbed at night and his said dwelling hftuse is thereby rendered unfit for habitation; that, by means of the various acts and things done as above found, and by reason of the location of said slaughter house and stock yards with reference to the said Beacon Hill, appellant pollutes and corrupts the atmosphere in and about the homes of the people living on Beacon Hill, and thereby deprives each and every of such homes and residents of pure air; that thereby the comfort and peace of every resident of said Beacon Hill is destroyed, and said homes rendered less enjoyable, and the market value of the property on said hill is, and has been, greatly depreciated; that said Beacon Hill rises from one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet above the said slaughter house and stock pens of appellant, is a beautiful place in which to live, is covered with homes, and is thickly populated. The court concluded, that the said slaughter house and stock pens were a public nuisance; that respondent suffered special injury therefrom, and has no adequate remedy at law therefor, [595]*595and that respondent was entitled to an order restraining the appellant from operating said slaughter house, and from slaughtering animals, rendering offal, lard or tallow, or depositing the offal or animal refuse matter in the waters of Elliott bay to the injury of appellant; and a decree was entered accordingly. From this decree defendant appeals.

Tt is first insisted by the appellant that the complaint upon its face shows that the nuisance, if any exists, is a public nuisance, and does not show that the respondent is specially injured thereby; and, second, that, if respondent was disturbed by noxious smells, such disturbance was intermittent and therefore not a cause for equitable relief. The findings of fact, as above stated, follow very closely the allegations of the complaint, and are in substance the same. Eor that reason it is not necessary to set out the complaint in more detail in this opinion. Section 3084, Bal. Code, defines a public nuisance as follows :

“A public nuisance is one which affects equally the lights of an entire community or neighborhood, although the extent of the damage may be unequal.”

And the next section, in enumerating such nuisances, provides that:

“It is a public nuisance, . . . (7) To erect, continue, or use any building, or other place, for the exercise of any trade, employment, or manufacture, which, by occasioning noxious exhalations, offensive smells or otherwise is offensive or dangerous to the health of individuals or of the public.”

Section 3087 provides that:

“.Every nuisance not included in the definition of section 3084 is private.”

Section 3093 provides:

[596]*596“A private person may maintain a civil action for a public nuisance, if it is specially injurious to himself, but not otherwise.”

There can be no doubt that the nuisance alleged in the complaint, and shown by the evidence, is a public nuisance. The right of the respondent to restrain it, therefore, depends upon whether the allegations of the complaint and the facts proven show that respondent is specially injured thereby. The substance of the allegations of the complaint upon this point is that the filthy pens, the offal, and the refuse matter, made by appellant in the conduct of his business, cause obnoxious, nauseating, and offensive smells, which taint and corrupt the atmosphere and food in and about respondent’s dwelling, so that said dwelling house is thereby rendered unfit for habitation, and the value of the property on Beacon Hill depreciated. These allegations, it seems to us, bring the case clearly within the rule of special injury. The rule upon this question is stated in Wood, Nuisances (3d ed.), at §§ 668, 669, as follows:

“The general doctrine is, and may be regarded as the well-settled rale in courts of law and equity, both in this country and England, that for damages arising from a purely public nuisance, that is, one whose effects are common to all, producing no special or particular damage to one, as distinguished from the rest of the public, there can be no redress except by indictment or information in equity at the suit of the attorney general or other proper public officer.”
“By common injury is meant an injury of the same kind and character, and such as naturally and necessarily arises from a given cause, but not necessarily similar in degree, or equal in amount. If the injury is the same in kind to all, it is a common injury, although one may actually be injured or damaged more than another. To illustrate, we will take the case of a slaughter house erected upon a public street. To all who come within the sphere of its operation [597]*597or effects, it is a nuisance, and offends the senses by its noxious smells. It is a common nuisance in such locality, and in its general effects produces a common injury. But to those living upon the street and within its immediate sphere, it is both a common and a private nuisance. Common in its general effects, but private in its special effects upon those living there. To the public generally it produces no injury except such as is common to all; but to those owning property in its neighborhood, or residing there, it produces a special injury, in that it detracts from the enjoyment of their habitations, produces intolerable physical discomforts, and diminishes the value of their premises for the purposes to which they have been devoted.”

See, also, Ross v. Butler, 19 N. J. Eq. 294, 19 Am. Dec. 654. In the case of Ingersoll v. Rousseau, ante, p.

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Bluebook (online)
77 P. 1055, 35 Wash. 591, 1904 Wash. LEXIS 485, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wilcox-v-henry-wash-1904.