TITLE XIV. NEGLIGENCE. CHAPTER LVIII. DANGEROUS AGENCIES. $1143. Keeping or shipping dangerous or noxious articles or property. $1144. Vending, letting, or lending dangerous articles. § 1145. Use of fire-arms. § 1146. Explosion of steam-boilers. §1147. Blasting rocks. $1148. Contagious diseases - Unwholesome food. § 1143. Keeping or Shipping Dangerous or Noxious Articles or Property. The keeping of gunpowder, nitroglycerine, or other explosive substances in large quantities in the vicinity of one's dwelling-house or place of business is a nuisance, and may be abated as such by action. at law, or by injunction from a court of equity,' and if actual injury results therefrom, the person keeping them is liable therefor, even though the act occasioning the explosion is due to other persons, and is not chargeable to his personal negligence. But in order to render such keeping of explosives a nuisance, negligence or improvidence in keeping, or the keeping of large quantities, must be alleged and proved. The mere fact that gunpowder and other explosives in reasonable quantities are kept in a public place is not sufficient evidence of a nuisance. If the evidence shows that it is improperly kept in an exposed situation, where the liability to explosion and consequent danger is great, the fact of nuisance is established, and the owner or keeper, or both, are liable not only to indictment, but also for all damages that result therefrom. In determining the question, the locality, the quantity, and the manner of keeping will all be considered, as well, also, as the nature of the explosive and its liability to accidental explosion. A railroad company storing explosives in a depot-building having a defective chimney flue, by reason whereof the building takes fire, and there is an explosion injuring the plaintiff's neighboring property, is liable for the injury. A person is liable for injuries caused by the escape of noxious gases or liquids, where the escape is through his neglect or want of care. A lessee may maintain an action against one who has laid gas-pipes in neighboring streets so imperfectly that gas escapes therefrom through the ground and into the water of a well upon premises hired and used by him for a livery-stable, and thereby renders it unfit for use, and makes the enjoyment of his estate less beneficial, although the nuisance may have existed in a less degree when the premises were hired; and may recover for the inconvenience to which he has been thereby subjected, and expenses incurred in reasonable and proper attempts to exclude the gas from the well, but not for injury caused by allowing his horses to drink the water after he knew that it was corrupted by the gas.5 One who knowingly plants on his land a noxious tree whose limbs project over an adjoining land in which cattle are pastured is liable for an injury to the cattle caused by 2 Wood on Nuisances, 153. 3 Denver, South Park etc. R. R. Co. v. Conway, 8 Col. 1; 54 Am. Rep. 537. Thompson on Negligence, 107. See also Gas Companies, ante, Title II., Corporations; and Nuisance, post, Div. Sherman v. Fall River Iron Works, 2 Allen, 524; 79 Am. Dec. 799. But he cannot recover for injury to his business if it is illegal, as where it is carried on without a license: Sherman v. Fall River, 5 Allen, 213. And see post, Division III., Water and Watercourses. their cating the poisonous leaves. But new inventions. in machinery are not prohibited from being shown in proper places, in proper condition, and at proper times, because either men or animals may become frightened at the unusual sight.2 One who ships dangerous goods by a carrier without informing him of their nature is liable in damages for any injury which they may cause. The shipper knowing the dangerous character of the goods is bound to notify the carrier; but if he is ignorant of their dangerous character, and is guilty of no negligence, he will not be liable. The carrier to whom dangerous goods are delivered without notice is not responsible for damages which may be caused by them while in his hands without negligence on his part. In a leading case in the United States supreme court, express-carriers received and transported from New York to San Francisco a package of nitro-glycerine, a substance then little known, in ignorance of the name and character of its contents, and without negligence. The package having leaked on the voyage, when it was received at the carriers' warehouse in San Francisco, an agent and a servant of theirs, together with a representative of the steamship company which had transported it for them, proceeded in the usual manner, and in ignorance of the character of its contents, to open it for the purpose of ascertaining the cause of the leakage. While they were doing this, it exploded, killing all persons present, destroying the building in which it was, and greatly damaging other buildings. It was held that the carriers were not liable to pay damages for the property thus destroyed, except as to that occupied by them |