"The inhabitants of the town of Houlton, in the county of Aroostook, by Thomas P. Putnam, Frank W. Pearce, and Wallace A. Dykeman, the selectmen of said town, complain against Frank W. Titcomb, of said Houlton, and the Houlton Savings Bank, a corporation duly existing by the laws of said state of Maine, and having its place of busines at said Houlton, and say:
"First. At a legal meeting of the inhabitants of said town of Houlton, held on the 31st day of March, 1890, being the regular annual meeting of said town for the year 1890, and the warrant for which meeting contained a sufficient article for that purpose, said town made and adopted the following by-laws or ordinances respecting the erection of buildings therein, and defining their proportions, dimensions, and the material to be used in the construction thereof, and establishing a fire district in the village of said Houlton, and to regulate the building and prohibit the construction of wooden and frame buildings therein:
"'Section 1. For the purpose of securing the prevention of fire in the village of Houlton, a fire district is hereby established therein, the boundaries of which shall be as follows: [The boundaries of said fire district here follow.]
"'Sec. 2. No wooden or frame building shall hereafter be erected, nor any building now erected, or hereafter to be erected, be altered, raised, roofed, enlarged or otherwise added to or built upon with wood, nor any wooden building be removed from other territory, to and upon the territory described in section one, nor from any portion of said fire district to another portion thereof, except as hereinafter provided, and any such building so erected, added to, or removed contrary to the provisions of this ordinance, shall be deemed a public and common nuisance and abated as such.
"'Sec. 3. The municipal officers may grant licenses to erect, alter, raise, roof, enlarge or otherwise add to or build upon, or move any wooden building within said District, upon such terms and conditions and subject to such limitations and restrictions as they may prescribe; but before any such license is granted, a notice of the application therefor shall be published in a newspaper printed in said town, at the expense of the petitioner.
"'Sec. 4. Any person, whether owner, lessee, contractor or agent, who shall violate the provisions of this ordinance shall forfeit and pay for the use of the town the sum of fifty dollars, to be recovered by an action of debt in the name of the town treasurer; which said by-laws and ordinances were, thereafterwards, on the same day, duly entered, and recorded in the town records of said town of Houlton, and are still in force.'
"Second. Said Frank W. Titcomb and said savings bank are now, and for a long time heretofore have been, seised in fee or otherwise entitled to and in possession of a certain tract or parcel of land, situated within the boundaries named and set forth in section one, and bounded and described as follows: [The boundaries of said land here follow.]
"Third. Said Frank W. Titcomb and said savings bank are now erecting, altering, raising, roofing, enlarging, and otherwise adding to, and building upon with wood, a certain two-story wooden or frame building upon their said lot or parcel of land hereinbefore named and described, without any license from the municipal officers of said town of
Houlton to do the same, and in violation of said by-laws and ordinances, and in violation of law
"Fourth. Said Frank W. Titcomb and said savings bank threaten, purpose, intend, and are about to proceed forthwith to fully complete, erect, alter, raise, roof, enlarge, add to, and build upon with wood, said wooden building, without any license from the municipal officers of said town of Houlton to do so, and are now at work upon the same in violation of said by-laws and ordinances.
"Fifth. That said wooden building if so erected, altered, raised, roofed, enlarged, added to, and built upon with wood, as threatened, intended, and purposed by said Frank W. Titcomb and said Savings Bank, and as they are now doing the same, will be a public and permanent nuisance, by force of said by-laws and ordinances, and the statute in such case made and provided; that it is situated in the most compact part of the village of said Houlton, and closely surrounded by other buildings; that it will jeopardize the other property and buildings situated in said village, and render them much more liable to damage and destruction by fire, and greatly lessen the value of all other property situated in said village, and that the damage so arising as aforesaid will be great, irremediable, and permanent; and that unless prevented by the order of your honorable court a great, irreparable, and permanent injury will be at once done to your complainants.
"Wherefore, inasmuch as your complainants have no plain or adequate remedy at law, and great, irreparable, and permanent injury will result to them unless your honorable court will interfere to prevent the same, may it please your honors, as a court in equity, forthwith, on due notice first given, to require of the defendants full, true, and perfect answer to make all and singular the several allegations of this bill, and that thereupon, on proper hearing had of the parties, you would order and decree that said defendants be perpetually enjoined and restrained against erecting, altering, raising, roofing, enlarging, or otherwise adding to, or building on with wood, said wooden building, in any way as threatened, intended or purposed by them as aforesaid, and that such other or further decree may be made as to your honors may seem fit and proper in the premises; and, further, for the reasons aforesaid, may it please your honors to grant an immediate preliminary injunction, such as above prayed for to continue until a full hearing of the parties and a final adjudication shall be arrived at, and it may please your honors to decree costs to the complainants."
"First. The said defendant admits that the inhabitants of said town of Houlton, on the 31st day of March, 1890, adopted the ordinance set forth in paragraph 1 of the plaintiffs' bill.
"Second. The said defendant admits that he and the Houlton Savings Bank are the owners of the land and premises named and described in paragraph 2 of the plaintiffs' bill.
"Third. The said defendant admits that on the 19th day of May, 1903, said Frank W. Titcomb was about to raise, roof, and enlarge the building situate on the premises described in paragraph 2 of the plaintiffs' bill, and referred to in paragraph 3 and 4 of the plaintiffs' bill.
"Fourth. The said defendant admits that he, the said Frank W. Titcomb, on the said 19th day of May, 1903, did purpose and intend to alter, raise, roof, and enlarge the building then and there situate on the premises named in paragraph 2 of the plaintiffs' bill, and referred to in paragraphs 3 and 4 of plaintiffs' bill; but the defendant denies that he was altering, raising, roofing, or enlarging, or that he intended then and there to alter, raise, roof, and enlarge the said building without license, but he avers and declares that he, the said Frank W. Titcomb, then and there had authority and license from the inhabitants of the said town of Houlton, then and there to alter, raise, roof, and enlarge said building, as he was proceeding to do.
"Fifth. The said defendant denies that the said wooden building named and referred to in paragraphs 2, 3, and 4 of the plaintiffs' bill, if erected, altered, raised, roofed, enlarged. added to, and built upon with wood as intended and proposed, then and there by said Frank W. Titcomb, would be a public and permanent nuisance by force of any by-laws, ordinances, or statute in such case made and provided, because they say that in truth and in fact the said building is not situate in the most compact part of the village of said Houlton, and is not closely surrounded by other buildings, and that said building would not jeopardize the other property and buildings situate in said village, and would not render much more liable to damage and destruction by fire, and would not greatly lessen the value of other property situate in said village, and that there would be no damage arising therefrom, and that there would be no irreparable, and no permanent injury done to said plaintiffs or any one else; but in truth and in fact the said defendant, Frank W. Titcomb, says for the defendant to raise, alter, repair, and complete said building as he proposed to do, would be a permanent benefit to said village of Houlton, and an increase of the value of property in said Houlton.
"Sixth. And the said defendant further says that the said plaintiffs are estopped from setting up the claim made by them in their bill, and that the defendant should not be enjoined and restrained as requested in the plaintiffs' bill, by virtue of the ordinance
set forth and named in paragraph 1 of the plaintiffs' bill, because he says that on the 27th day of April, 1903, at a legal meeting of the voters and inhabitants of said town of...
