Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-05-08
MRS. SCHENLEY SUED.
Heavy Damages Claimed forthe Leak
ing of an Old Salt Well.
SOAKING DOWN A PlPETOWN HILL
Mrs. Sullivan Complains That Her Property
is Being Ruined.
PROSPECT OF OUTSIDE SETTLEMENT

Mrs. Mary E. Sullivan, of Ross street. mas
brought suit against Mrs. Mary E. Sehenley
for $40, 900 damages. 1t is an action In tres
pass. filed BY Cassidy and Richardson, at
torneys for the plaintiff.
Mrs. Sullivan owns two houses at NO. 2o3
and 255 Second avenue. They are at the
foot of the hill which slopes down from the
high point occupied by the College of the
HoIy Ghost. The houses stood, originally,
some 12 feet from the base of the hill, but
now the base is situated right on the top of
Mrs. Sullivan's coal houses. 1t is for the
movement of the hill that Mrs. Sullivan has
brought suit.
Ordinarily hills are very decent affairs.
They are inclined to stay where they were
originally located, but, it is alleged, this
hill back of Second avenue has been exceed
ingly unreasonable in its conduct. Its
erratic behavior deserves, Mrs. Sullivan's
lawyers think, decided reproof by the
courts of Allegheny county.
STRUCK A LAWSUIT.
Some Is years ago, Mrs. Schenley, who
owns the hillside above Mrs. Sullivan's
houses caused a we'll to be sunk with the
idea of striking oil. No oil was developed,
the present lawsuit being the only tangible
strike. Traces of salt were shown, and the
we'll was abandoned. The salt water after
ward showed itself strongly, after the vein
washed its way clearly into the opening
made by the we'll. This water has risen TO
the top of the hole, and for sew
eral years poured down over the
hillside to the rear of Mrs. Sullivan's
property, washing down shale, gravel and
copious quantities Of Sixth ward clay. After
enduring this thing for some two years Mrs.
Sullivan made complaint, when Mrs.
Schenley's agent caused the salt water over
flow to be run into surface drain and car
ried into the main sewer which goes into the
river near that point. This did not, it
seems ameliorate the difficulty. For the
last three years the water has been percolat-
ing through the hill from leaks in the we'll
below the surface, and has been, little by
little, washing down the declivity until the
entire slope threatens to move, some bright
morning into Mrs. Sullivan's tenants front
yard, and the residents in that neighborhood
would not be surprised to see the College of
the Holy Ghost take up a position on the
bank of the Monongahela.
INCRUSTED WITH SALT.
Mrs. Sullivan's attorneys say the mud and
salt water have loosed the foundations OF
her house. The brickwork has been dis
turbed, and on the inside of the cellar the
bricks are incrusted with salt. The cellars
and lower floors are constantly damp, the
outhouses in the rear yard have been COM
pletely crushed, and the property has been
SO injured that good tenants cannot be pro-
cured. Mrs. Sullivan formerly owned Nos.
249 and 251 Second avenue. These she sold,
at bargain, to man named Taggart, but
he now threatens the forfeiture of his pur-
chase because of the damage done to the
property by the sliding of the hill. The
amount of damages claimed by Mrs. Sulii-
van is 1000. 1t is possible that the Schen-
ley agents may be empowered to settle the
claim. If not, the case will not come to
trial until next fall.
A visit was paid to Mrs. Sullivan's house,
on Ross street, yesterday, but the lady was
not at home and could not be seen.