Fort Pitt Gas Co. v. Evansville Contract Co.
| Decision Date | 05 June 1903 |
| Citation | 123 F. 63 |
| Parties | FT. PITT GAS CO. v. EVANSVILLE CONTRACT CO. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit |
W. B Rodgers, for plaintiff in error.
Wm. M Hall, Jr., for defendant in error.
In Error to the Circuit Court of the United States for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
Before ACHESON and DALLAS, Circuit Judges, and KIRKPATRICK, District Judge.
This writ of error has brought up the record in an action by the defendant in error against the plaintiff in error to recover for the destruction of a dredge of the former by an explosion of natural gas, alleged to have been caused by the negligence of the defendant below in the construction and maintenance of its pipe line in and under the bed of the Ohio river, at or near Legionville, in the state of Pennsylvania.
The plaintiff in error avers, inter alia, that 'The court below erred in charging the jury as follows 'In addition to the value of the boat, the plaintiff, if entitled to recover, is entitled to recover the value of that boat during the time it lost the use of it. It will be for you to determine what time that was, in what time it could have rebuilt her; what time would have elapsed before it could have replaced that boat. During that time it would be entitled to a just rental for her value. I will not enter into a detail of the testimony as to what that rental value is, as the estimates range over a considerable difference in value. In determining that rental value, you have a right to consider the ability of this boat to do the work for which she was intended, the long reach of the boat, her capacity for moving dirt cheaply, and all those elements can fairly be considered in determining what the value of the boat is."
By this part of the charge the jury was, in effect, instructed that if the plaintiff was entitled to recover at all, it was entitled, not only to the value of the dredge at the time of her destruction, but, in addition thereto, to her rental value after she had been destroyed. This instruction was erroneous, because the rule it prescribed for ascertainment of the amount of the recoverable damages involved the award of two-fold compensation for the same loss. The right to use the dredge was incident to its ownership, and therefore compensation for its destruction, which of course extinguished the ownership, would necessarily be compensative of the consequent deprivation of its...
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...is totally destroyed is because such damages are included as a part of the award for total loss [.]"); Fort Pitt Gas Co. v. Evansville Contract Co., 123 F. 63, 64 (3d Cir.1903) (applying Pennsylvania law, stating: "The instruction [that plaintiff was entitled to the value of a dredge plus i......
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... ... fit injuria,' and inheres in the contract of hiring, and, ... if it were necessary to plead it, a proposition that ... Brewing Co. v. Ort, 113 F. 482, 483, 51 C.C.A. 317; ... Ft. Pitt Gas. Co. v. Evansville Contract Co., 123 F ... 63, 64, 59 C.C.A. 281; ... ...
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