Powers v. City of St. Paul

• Decision Date: 22 November 1886
• Citation: 30 N.W. 433,36 Minn. 87
• Parties: Ann Powers v. City of St. Paul
• Court: Minnesota Supreme Court

30 N.W. 433

36 Minn. 87

Ann Powers v. City of St. Paul

Supreme Court of Minnesota

November 22, 1886

Appeal by defendant from an order of the district court for Ramsey county, Wilkin, J., presiding, overruling a demurrer to the complaint, in which it was alleged that the injury complained of occurred on September 11, 1884, and it was not alleged that any notice of the injury had ever been given to the mayor or clerk of defendant.

Order affirmed.

W. P Murray, for appellant.

S. P Crosby and Rogers & Hadley, for respondent.

OPINION

Mitchell, J.

This is an action to recover damages for injuries to the person of plaintiff, alleged to have been received by reason of defects in a sidewalk. The injury happened September 11, 1884, and the action was commenced March 6, 1886. The sole question raised by this appeal is whether the cause of action was barred by the statute of limitations.

Prior to 1878 the time of commencing actions against the city was left to be regulated by the provisions of the General Statutes. In March, 1878, an act was passed, in the form of an amendment to section 1, chapter 12, of the city charter (Sp. Laws 1874, c. 1,) providing that "no action shall be had or maintained against the city of St Paul, for any damages claimed for alleged injuries to person or property, after the first day of May, 1878, unless an action be commenced within two years after a cause of action has accrued. " Sp. Laws 1878, c. 26, § 2. Section 19, chapter 7, Sp. Laws 1885, entitled "An act to amend the charter of the city of St. Paul, and the acts amendatory thereof," and approved March 2, 1885, reads as follows: "No action shall be had or maintained against the city of St. Paul on account of any injuries received by means of any defect in the condition of any bridge, sidewalk, street, or thoroughfare, unless such action shall be commenced within one (1) year from the happening of the injury, or unless notice shall first have been given in writing to the mayor of said city, or the city clerk thereof, within thirty (30) days of the occurrence of such injury or damage, stating the place where, and the time when, such injury was received, and that the person injured will claim damages of the city for such injury; but the notice shall not be required when the person injured shall, in consequence thereof, be bereft of reason. Nor shall any such action be maintained for any defect in any street until the same shall have been graded, nor for any insufficiency of the ground where sidewalks are usually constructed when no sidewalk is built."

It will be observed that this is not in the form of an amendment to any existing provision of the city charter, but in the form of an independent section. This statute, by its terms, took effect from and after its passage. It will also be observed that the limitation act of 1878 and that of 1885 do not cover the same ground; that of 1878 applying to all actions for any injuries to persons or property; that of 1885 only to actions for injuries received by means of any defect in the condition of any bridge, sidewalk, or thoroughfare. The only limitation imposed by the act of 1878 is as to the time of commencing the...