37 Pa. 182 | Pa. | 1860
The opinion of the court was delivered, by
— The Act of April 21st 1856, which, it is con
Was it then intended to authorize filing a claim for debts
It is argued, however, that such an interpretation of the Act of 1856 makes it unmeaning. It is said, that without the act, there was a lien upon new mills for steam-engines and machinery used in their construction, and that, unless the lien be now extended to buildings altered or repaired, the act has accomplished nothing. It must be conceded, that for engines and machinery, constituting a part of a new mill, there was a lien under the Act of 1836; but, if placed in the mill, or about it, and no constituent part of the erection, they were not within the lien laws. So, if used in or about iron or coal works, but not furnished for or about the erection -or construction of a building, they could not be made the ground of a lien. There is, therefore, something upon which the Act of 1856 can operate, without its being held' applicable to old buildings altered or repaired.
• We have said enough to indicate that, in our opinion, it was erroneous to instruct the jury that the case of the plaintiff below Was covered by the Act of April 21st 1856.
It is, however, argued by the defendant in error, that, even if the court erred, in holding that the Act of 1856 authorized filing a claim, although the mill was not a new erection, yet that no harm was done by the instruction, because the mill was a new erection within the meaning of the Act of 1836. Without undertaking to review the cases which have discussed what changes made in an old building constitute it a new one, within the sense of the mechanics’ lien law, cases not easily reconcilable, it may suffice now to say, we are all of opinion that the alterations made in the saw-mill, against which this claim was filed,
Judgment reversed, and a venire de novo awarded.