95 Mich. 140 | Mich. | 1893
On the trial of this cause the jury found in favor of the defendant.
It appears that the plaintiffs, in April, 1889, purchased upon contract 87 acres of land, now situate in the city of Alpena. The land is somewhat over half a mile in length north and south and 80 rods wide, the south end being bounded by the Thunder Bay river. The river at a point near the east boundary formerly made a short detour to the north into the land, and then returned to a point only a few rods from where it had departed from its course, thus forming an ox-bow, including about 7 acres of land, and its neck being only about 150 feet wide. Many years ago the water cut a channel across the neck of the ox-bow, through
The defendant is a corporation organized under the laws of this State as a rafting, running, and booming company. Its operations extend over some miles of this river, and consist in running all logs delivered to it down the river to various saw-mills. It maintains a dam for flooding pur-
poses, about six miles up the river from plaintiffs’ land. It is used by the defendant when the water gets low in the river for the purpose of floating logs off the rapids in the river, which commence two or three miles above the plaintiffs’ land, and extend up to the dam. The water is raised by means of gates in the dam, and is ponded when the river gets low in the summer, to raise the water on the rapids to float the logs off.
The plaintiffs’ claim is that during the spring and summer of 1889 the defendant, by means of this dam and its gates and appliances, accumulated and ponded the water of the river, and then let it off in floods, thus raising the water in front of their lands, and causing injury to their grass and pasture lands, hay crop, and potatoes, destroying their bridge and roadway, and washing away a quantity of their land.
The court directed the jury on the trial, substantially,’ that if the defendant company so raised the water in the river as to cause it to overflow and destroy the plaintiffs’ crops growing upon their premises, the plaintiffs would be entitled to recover for such injury whatever damages the jury might find they had sustained.
It is contended by plaintiffs’ counsel that the court was in error—
1. In refusing to permit plaintiffs to recover for the value of the land destroyed.
3. In refusing plaintiffs’ request to charge the jury that under the evidence the plaintiffs were entitled to recover.
*143 3. In permitting defendant to introduce in evidence certain deeds.
Certain other questions were discussed orally, which we-do not deem it important to notice, as it appears that all the questions of fact in controversy on the trial were fully and fairly submitted to the jury.
We find no error in the record.
The judgment must be affirmed, with costs.