Gulf, C. & S. F. R. Co. v. Matthews

• Decision Date: 22 June 1893
• Citation: Gulf, C. & S. F. R. Co. v. Matthews, 23 S.W. 90, 3 Tex. Civ. App. 493 (Tex. App. 1893)
• Parties: GULF, C. & S. F. R. CO. v. MATTHEWS.
• Court: Texas Court of Appeals

23 S.W. 90

GULF, C. & S. F. R. CO. v. MATTHEWS.

Court of Civil Appeals of Texas.

June 22, 1893.

Appeal from Burleson county court; John Alexander, Judge.

Action by J. W. Matthews against the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railroad Company to recover for damages caused by fire set by defendant, and which burned posts and grass on plaintiff's land. From a judgment for plaintiff, defendant appeals. Reversed.

J. W. Terry, for appellant.

WILLIAMS, J.

The court erred in the portion of the charge defining the measure of damages. The correct measure was not the difference in the value of land caused by the burning of the grass, because that was temporary. Railway Co. v. Horne, 69 Tex. 644, 9 S. W. Rep. 440. The measure of damages is the value of the posts and of the grass destroyed, and the injury caused to the value of the land by the destruction of the turf. Evidence of the value of the grass as hay, as well as for pasturage purposes, should be admitted for the consideration of the jury; and from a showing of all the purposes for which plaintiff's grass was useful and...