Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1913-10-10

ises in repair or not is generally an
affair of his own, yet If he fails to
keep his premises in proper repair
and. because of this, injury occurs to
the property of his neighbor-as
through fall of his barn-he must
answer for it. This rule applies to
those owning adjoining tracts OF
land. but not to those who own separ-
ate parts Of the same building. Thus
one may own the first floor of a
building and another the second.
Neither is bound, in the absence of
special agreement, to keep his por-
ton in repair so that injury may not
result in the other portion. If the
owner of the upper portion fails to
keep his roof in repair and rain in
jures the property of the owner OF
the lower half there is no liability.
Every landowner owes to his
neighbOr what is known in law as la
teral support That is, in digging a
ditch or making an excavation close
ging must see to it that support is
not withdrawn from his nelghbor's
land so that it will cave in or be
weakened in any way. Neither land
owner may withdraw the support
from the others land. This does not
mean that one may not excavate, it
means that he must by means of
wall, or by props, support the others
land so that it will not tumble down.
If he fails to do this he is responsible
for all resulting injury.
The support that is owed to the
land of the neighbor is support to
the land in it's natural condition, that
is unincumbered by the weight OF
buildings. Thus if one excavates on
his own property, and the land of his
neighbor on which house is situated
caves in, he is responsible for the
resulting injury if the excavation
would have caused the land to cave
in had no house rested upon it. But
if the land would not have caved in
but for the weight of the building
upon it the person digging has not
violated the duty of lateral support
to the land in it's natural condition
and is not responsible.
The right to excayate does not
relieve the landowner from the duty
to take reasonable precautions and
carry on the work with due care. He
must excerse ordinary skill and care
to avoid injury to adjoining land
upon which there are buildings. In
many states statutes have been enact
ed which govern the making of eXca
vations, limit the depth, specify the
precautions which must be taken,
etc Usually these statutes require
that notice be given to the owner
of the adjoining property of the in
tended excavation so that buildings
may be protected. Whether there is
a statute or not this is a wise pre-
caution.
In the absence OF some special
restriction one may build almost any
sort of a structure that he desires on
his property and in any location so
long as he keeps it within the boun-
| daries of his property. He owes no
| duty to his neighbor not to shut Off
| the light or air from structure on
the adjoining premises. This is the
general rule. There may be some
restriction applying to the particular
premises, imposed by the transfer of
some previous owner, which regulates
the kind of a structure which may
| be built, where it may be built and
for what purposes it may be used.
There may be a municipal ordinance
regulating the sort of building that
may be built within certain limits,
and if so it must be complied with.
| Before you plan to erect a structure
or buy land with view of erecting a
structure be sure that you know what
the restrictions are. Spite houses
are, generally speaking, within the