The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1889-10-30
The Gas Company Claims Thirty
five Thousand Dollars
FOR DAMAGE TO THEIR GAS MAINS
The Street Car Company Answers the Tele-
phone Company-POlice and Probate
Pickings-Judicial lettings.


these it acquired the right to lay gas pipes
to supply gas for the use of the citizens Of
Salt Lake; that By virtue of said grant and
contract the said plaintiff has expended
vast sums of money in completing the said
contract and in laying the said gas pipe;
that large parts of the city of Salt Lake
have been supplied with gas pipe, through
which the said plaintiff furnishes gas to
the citizens of Salt Lake living along the
lines of street where the said plaintiff has
laid its pipe; that among other places where
the said plaintiff has laid pipe is Main
street, on both sides of the street; that
along said Main street, from South Temple
street three blocks along said Main street,
said pipes are laid about thirtyone feet
from the line where the buildings are erected
into the street, on both sides of the street;
that from the Cliff house corner of Main
street and Third South streets south along
Main street, the gas pipe is laid about fifty
feet into the street from the inside of the
sidewalk, on the building line; that the
plaintiff is engaged in the manufacture of
gas and fills said pipes on Main street with
gas, supplying the residents of that street,
on each side thereof, from said main pipes;
that the location of the said main pipes
was well known to the officers of the said
city and to the defendants, David James
and G. P. Brooks, to whom the plaintiff
caused notice to be given of the exact loca-
ton of said pipes before the doing Of the
acts hereinafter complained of.
Plaintiff further alleges that during the
months of September and October, 1889,
the said defendant Salt Lake city, by its
employees and agents, began digging a
sewer along Main street; that in the con-
structing of said sewer David James was
appointed, undertook and acted as superin
tendent and overSeer of the work; that
c. p. Brooks was appointed and accepted
the duties of, and has performed the labor
of chief engineer; that in constructing
the said sewer, in the block between Fifth
South street and Fourth South street, the
said city, by its agents and employees, neg
igently dug trench for the SAID sewer,
some fourteen to sixteen feet deep, and sew
eral feet wide, within twelve to eighteen
pipe Of the plaintiff. That in digging
said trench they took out the
solid earth, holding it up during
the process of digging by plank props and
braces; that after laying the sewer pipes
the props. braces and planks were taken
out and loose earth lightly thrown in the
trench: that by reason of said earth
being thrown in there and not being sut1i-
GENTLY hard TO withstand the caving ten
dency of the ground, the effect of that
loose earth being placed in the trench was
that the whole country caved, and moved
the earth for distance of from six to
twelve feet from the said gas pipe, this
being shown by great cracks in the earth
after the said sewer had been filled up, at
the distance above mentioned from the
sewer; that in consequence OF the said cav
ing and shifting of the;earth, the pipe of the
plaintiff, in the block mentioned, known
and designated as the gas main, was
turned, moved, broken and wrenched, so as
to become useless, and thereby the plaintiff
lost quantities of gas, and the entire pipe
has become worthless and useless and will
have to be relaid before the plaintiff can
use the same to any advantage for
the purposes for which it is laid; that in
other parts of Main street, within the said
blocks above described, the said sewer has
been run, by the said defendant and its
employees, within five feet of the gas
mains of this plaintiff; that in consequence
thereof great damage has been done by
wrenching and displacing the pipe and the
loss OF gas by reason OF the same being
filled with loose earth, and further damage
will follow in consequence of the same
cause; that in consequence of the said
negligent and wrongful digging of the said
sewer in the close proximity to the gas
mains Of the plaintiff on both sides of Main
street from South Temple to Fifth South
street, the entire mains of plaintiff have
become worthless, useless, and will have
TO be relaid with new pipe, at loss to the
plaintiff of not less than SIS 900; that the
pipe of the plaintiff was so laid by the
plaintiff as to leave ample room
and space for putting in sewers,
which might thereafter be constructed, and
the injury to the gas mains as aforesaid
was wholly without the fault of the said
plaintiff, or any Of its employees or agents;
that before locating said gas pipes, as
aforesaid, the said plaintiff and its prede-
cessors in interest submitted the proposed
location of its gas works and obtained ap
prevail thereof by the city council of the
said Salt Lake city.
Plaintiff further alleges that the said de
PENDANT, Salt Lake city, and its agents
threaten to lay their sewer pipes on other
streets than Main street. in such close
proximity to the gas pipes of plaintiff
that it will cause the injury thereof
by the caving of the earth, in consequence
of the filling being placed in without proper
support; that any trench dug within fifteen
feet of the gas mains of plaintiff is neces-
sarily injurious, and will break and iniure
the gas mains of plaintiff, fif cen feet being
as near as such trench as is necessary for
the sewer can be dug and not disturb the
earth where the gas mains are laid that
digging it nearer than that is negligence;
that defendants threaten to dig trenches
on other streets within the immediate
proximity to the gas mains of plaintiff
muCu Mlbulu III GCCl 1CCG buCICOl
That if said defendants are allowed to
continue to construct their sewers in such
a close proximity to the plaintiffs mains,
it will cause plaintiff irreparable injury
which cannot be compensated in
dollars and cents; that in consequence of
the necessity of re-laying the main gas
pipes of Main street caused by the afore-
said negligent acts of defendants, the plain
tiff will necessarily lose the custom and
profits arising from the sale of gas during
this time of re-laying the said gas mains
and from this time until such new mains
are completed; that large quantities of gas
have alreadye scaped drought the injuries
and breakages heretofore described and
before the injury can be repaired vast
quantity more of gas will leak, be lost and
destroyed; that the damages to plaintiff
by reason of the said various negligent
acts and omissions of the said defendant
amount to not less than S35, 900.
Wherefore plaintiff prays Judgment:
THAT it recover of the defendant the
sum Of S35, 600 damages.
2-That an injunction may issue out of
this honorable court, restraining said de-
PENDANTS from continuing to dig trenches
or lay sewer pipe within fifteen feet Of the
gas mains of plaintiff.
3-For such other and further relief as
may be proper in the premises.
The temporary injunction asked for has
been issued and the defendant will show
cause why the order should not be made
permanent at an early date.
THE RAILWAY ANSWERS.
The Salt Lake city Railroad company has
fled Its answer in the suit brought against it by
the Rocky Mountain Bell Telephone
company. The answer denies generally
each and every allegation of the plaintiffs
complaint; and further anSw erIng says that the
stringing of their wires and the operation of the
electric system are within the terms of the city
ordinance, while the telephone company has