Glenwood Light Water Company v. Mutual Light, Heat Power Company
| Decision Date | 15 November 1915 |
| Docket Number | No. 38,38 |
| Citation | 60 L.Ed. 174,239 U.S. 121,36 S.Ct. 30 |
| Parties | GLENWOOD LIGHT & WATER COMPANY, Appt., v. MUTUAL LIGHT, HEAT, & POWER COMPANY |
| Court | U.S. Supreme Court |
Messrs. Charles S. Thomas, George L. Nye, and William P. Malburn for appellant.
Mr. John T. Barnett for appellee.
This is an appeal from a decree of the district court, dismissing a bill of complaint for want of jurisdiction; the jurisdiction having been invoked upon the ground that the suit was between citizens of different states, and that the matter in controversy exceeded the sum or value of $3,000 (Judicial Code, § 24, act of Mrach 3, 1911, 36 Stat. at L. 1087, 1091, chap. 231, Comp. Stat. 1913, §§ 968, 991). The bill, besides the requisite averments as to the citizenship of the parties, alleges in substance that complainant is the owner by assignment of a franchise granted in the year 1887 by the town of Glenwood Springs, in the state of Colorado, and subsequently renewed, entitling complainant to erect and maintain a plant for the purpose of supplying the town and its inhabitants with electric light and power; that complainant and its predecessors, prior to 1911, constructed an electric light and power system, and erected poles and wires in the alleys of the town, in the manner provided for in the ordinance, and complainant has continued to carry on its business and supply electric current to the town and its inhabitants, and still continues to maintain its poles and wires in the streets and alleys of the town; that in April, 1911, the town attempted to grant to defendant the right to erect a plant and construct a system for furnishing the town and its inhabitants with electric current, and defendant commenced the construction of a plant, and began to furnish light to the town on or about October 1st, 1912, since which date its wires have been used for carrying electric current for the purpose of lighting the town and furnishing light to some of its inhabitants; that complainant's poles were erected, so far as practicable, in the alleys of the town, as was provided in its ordinance, and its wires were strung on those poles and connected with the premises of its customers in accordance with the terms of the franchise and the regulations of the town; that defendant has erected its poles and strung its wires principally in the alleys of the town, and particularly in the alleys occupied by the poles and wires of complainant, and for the most part upon the same side of the alleys used and occupied by the poles and wires of complainant, for the purpose and with the intent of interfering with and harassing complainant; that complainant's poles are of the size usually employed in towns and cities approximating the size of Glenwood Springs, but that defendant's poles are about six feet shorter, and on account of the narrowness of the alleys have been set on practically the same line as complainant's poles, so that defendant's cross-arms and wires are brought immediately below and in close proximity to complainant's wires, so as to make the maintenance and operation of its wires by complainant exceedingly difficult, as well as dangerous to the property of complainant and its customers, owing to the probability of damage by fire caused by short circuits, and dangerous to the safety and lives of complainant's customers and of its linemen and other employees who, in the discharge of their duties, are required to climb its poles; that, because of this, complainant is and constantly will be threatened, so long as defendant maintains its poles and wires as aforesaid, with liability in case of injuries to persons and property caused by the maintenance of defendant's wires and electric current in close proximity to the wires and current of complainant; that complainant's business is increasing, and more wires are being constantly required to supply the...
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...from removal of the burden imposed by the statute is the matter in controversy. Glenwood Light & Water Co. v. Mutual Light, Heat & Power Co., 239 U.S. 121, 125, 126, 36 S.Ct. 30, 60 L.Ed. 174; Gibbs v. Buck, 307 U.S. 66, 74, 59 S.Ct. 725, 83 L.Ed. 1111; American R. Co. of Porto Rico v. Sout......
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