Delaney

This is an appeal from an order granting defendant Ralph L. Smith Lumber Company a new trial after a jury verdict in favor of plaintiffs in an action by plaintiffs to recover damages for injury to property as a result of allegedly negligent logging operations.

The record shows that the Delaneys operate the Trinity Alps Resort which is located in the Trinity Alps region of Trinity County. During the month of December, 1955, heavy rains in the area caused Stuarts Fork of the Trinity River to rise and to carry logs and debris down the river into and over the Delaneys’ property. In the process buildings on the property and the dining wing of the resort were washed away and destroyed. The location of the resort is some 2 miles below the confluence of Van Matre Creek and Stuarts Fork. The Ralph L. Smith Lumber Company had been logging the East ½ of Section 19, Township 35 North, Range 9 West, which is above the confluence of the streams. After the damage to their property, the Delaneys brought this action to recover for the loss incurred against the lumber company and the other defendants.

The complaint alleged:

The complaint alleged further that the defendants during their logging…