102 Pa. 38 | Pa. | 1882
delivered the opinion of the court, April 3rd 1882.
These are two appeals by The Central Railroad Company of New Jersey from decrees laying out, and changing the route of, a public road, located across and upon its land and tracks in Northampton county. The allegations of the appellant are set forth in a petition to the Quarter Sessions asking to open or strike off certain precedent proceedings, under which the road in question had been laid out and ordered to be opened. The petitioner complained that no notice of the proceedings had been served upon The Central Railroad Company of New Jersey, and that no damages had been assessed to that corporation on account of the occupancy of its land and premises. As we can take no cognizance of depositions in such cases, our examination must be confined to the state of the record as it appears before us. The record commences with a petition for the opening of a public road in .Palmer township. It is in the usual form, mentions only the beginning and ending points, and describes none of the land over which the proposed road is to pass. The order to viewers corresponds in this respect with the petition. The return of the viewers describes a road, one of the courses of which extends “ across the Lehigh and Susquehanna division of the Central Railroad of New Jersey, south fifty-nine and one-lialf degrees, east seventy-seven feet to land of William Firmstone’s estate.” This is the first mention of The Central Railroad Company of New Jersey as a party interested as an owner or occupant in the proceedings. In the same return of viewers damages are awarded as follows, “ to Lehigh and Susquehanna Division of the Central Railroad of New Jersey, ten dol
It is quite apparent from this recital that no inference of service of notice of the view under the second petition can be •drawn from the general statement in the report, that five days notice was given to the owners and occupants of the land through which the road passes, because The Central Railroad Company •of New Jersey is nowhere described as such owner or occupant. But if it were described as an owner or occupant no damages are assessed to it and no release of damages from it is returned with the report. In this state of the record it is manifest that the proceedings are fatally defective and should have been set aside. The invalidity of such proceedings is fully established by the following cases: Neeld’s Road, 1 Barr 355; Boyer’s Road, 1 Wr. 257; Road in Lancaster City, 18 P. F. S. 396; Road in Cogan House Township, 7 W. N. C. 257.
An affidavit is returned with a copy of a notice of the view addressed to the appellant, in which the deponent, Yalentine
The orders of confirmation are reversed and all the proceedings are dismissed and set aside at the cost of the appellees.