Millhiser v. Willard

• Decision Date: 12 December 1895
• Citation: 96 Iowa 327,65 N.W. 325
• Parties: MILLHISER ET AL. v. WILLARD ET AL.
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

96 Iowa 327

65 N.W. 325

MILLHISER ET AL.

v.WILLARD ET AL.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

Dec. 12, 1895.

Appeal from district court, Marshall county; George H. Carr, Judge.

Action in equity to enjoin the maintenance and for the abatement of a nuisance. There was a hearing on the merits, and a decree for the plaintiffs. The defendants appeal. Affirmed.O. Caswell, for appellants.

J. L. Carney and T. Brown, for appellees.

ROBINSON, J.

The defendants are copartners, and, under the firm name of H. Willard, Son & Co., had, for some years prior to the commencement of this action, maintained a rendering establishment within the corporate limits of the city of Marshalltown, on premises which are particularly described. The plaintiffs own and occupy, in the same locality, other premises, including dwelling houses. The plaintiffs allege and the evidence shows that, for three years preceding the commencement of this action, the defendants had maintained on their premises large tanks, in which were habitually rendered the carcasses of hogs, cattle, and horses which had died from disease or accidental causes; that during the time stated large numbers of such carcasses were transported to the establishment, in different stages of decomposition, and there steamed, the fats extracted, and the residuum, called “tankage,” disposed of by burying it in pits, hauling it onto land in the neighborhood, or shipping it to Chicago. Some hides and tallow were also treated on the place. It is contended by the appellants that carcasses were received only when frozen, in the winter season, or at other seasons but a short time after the animals had died, and before decomposition had become noticeable; that the carcasses are cut into pieces, placed in the tanks, covered with water, and sealed up so that no odors escape; that steam is then introduced into the tanks, and gases are drawn off through a pipe which opens into the firebox of the boiler, where the gases are consumed, and that no odors therefrom escape; that in warm weather carcasses unfit for rendering, and the tankage, are buried in pits, and noxious and disagreeable odors are thereby almost wholly prevented. There is much testimony which tends to support the claims of the appellants. Men who have been employed in the establishment testify strongly in support of those claims, their evidence tending to show that odors can seldom be discerned beyond the grounds occupied by the defendants. Officials of the city of Marshalltown to whom complaints were made visited the premises frequently, and testify, in substance, that the establishment was well conducted, so far as they had observed, and that the odors therefrom were noticeable only a short distance away....