Robinson

The plaintiffs allege that the defendant, in working its coal-mine, caused to be discharged upon the lands of the plaintiffs, lying below, a large quantity of the refuse of the product of the mining ground—a large quantity of water, as also of the smaller and finer portions of the coal, together with sand and clay and other refuse mixed with water—the whole forming a flowing mass, which the defendant compelled and still compels to descend upon the land of plaintiffs, covering it to the depth of one foot and upwards, rendering it incapable of profitable vegetation, and wholly useless to the plaintiffs. At the trial, the plaintiffs in opening the case, having read the complaint and stated that they expected to prove the facts therein alleged, were, on motion of the defendant, nonsuited. We are of the opinion that the court below erred in nonsuiting the plaintiffs. As we understand the complaint, the invasion _ of the plaintiffs’ premises was not the result of mere natural causes. The water charged with the refuse matter of the defendant’s mine did not descend upon the land of the plaintiffs in its natural course of descent, nor as the mere result of the law of gravitation; it is…