16 Ind. 314 | Ind. | 1861
Young sued Harvey for the value of a horse alleged to have been killed through the negligence of the latter. The facts in the case are as follows:
Harvey, the defendant, commenced digging a well upon a lot owned by him. He sunk it to the depth of six feet, being forty-two inches across, and then abandoned it. It was located in an uninclosed lot, near the line of a street, in a suburb of Indianapolis, but without the corporate limits. It
"Whether it can be, or not, depends upon the degree of probability there was that such accident might happen from thus leaving exposed the partially dug well, considered, perhaps, in connection with the usefulness of the act or thing causing the danger. Durham v. Musselman, 2 Blackf. 96.
If the probability was so strong as to make it the duty of the owner of the lot, as a member of the community, to guard that community from the danger to which the pit exposed its members, in person and property, he is liable to an action for loss occurring through his neglect to perform that duty.
"We think any reasonable man, of ordinary understanding and extent of observation of the ways of life, would say that the probability of injury to others, under the circumstances, from leaving the well in question in the condition it was, was not only strong, but that it amounted almost to certainty— a probability as strong as would arise from an unguarded cellar on a street in the city. "We think Harvey was guilty
The judgment is reversed, with costs. Cause remanded for another trial.
A petition for rehearing was overruled in this case.