This case involved employees of the Mercantile Appraisers in Philadelphia who petitioned for a writ of mandamus to compel payment of their salaries after the Secretary of Revenue directed the City Treasurer to withhold pay for the last 41 appointees, citing excessive staffing and costs in collecting mercantile taxes. The Auditor General had approved the appointments and payroll amounts, but the Secretary of Revenue and Treasurer refused payment on grounds that the number of employees was unnecessary and wasteful. The court affirmed the discharge of the writ, holding that statutes granting the Department of Revenue supervisory authority over mercantile appraisers' work and tax collection empower the Secretary to limit employee numbers and direct nonpayment to protect state revenue, even when the Auditor General has approved excess hires, as the overarching statutory purpose is efficient revenue collection. The Secretary's actions were within his discretion to determine adequate staffing levels without authority to directly discharge employees.
This case involved an appeal by the Lehigh Valley Coal Company from a decree of the State Mining Commission, which held that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania held the right to surface support for Pierce Street (a state highway) and that the company must leave 50% of the underlying coal in place without compensation for damages. The Commission had determined it could adjudicate related title and support rights to resolve the petition for damages and support requirements. The court affirmed the decree, reasoning that the public highway right to vertical and lateral support was acquired through long public use, bridge operations starting in 1888, and condemnation proceedings in 1908, and that the company's 1889 lease releasing surface damage liability did not overcome the public's established rights. The company failed to meet its burden of proving entitlement to damages by showing a right to remove the coal without affecting the surface.
This case involved a creditor of the Pannonia Beneficial Building and Loan Association seeking to set aside a 1936 court-approved compromise that paid $31,150.22 to settle a larger debt owed to the Northern Trust Company during the Secretary of Banking's receivership, which began in 1932; the petitioner wanted the funds refunded for ratable distribution among general creditors, including its own allowed claim. The court affirmed the denial of the petition, holding that the petitioner was barred from challenging the compromise because it received notice of the receiver's first, second, and final accounts (filed in 1939, 1940, and 1942) but filed no exceptions within the statutory period, leading to their absolute confirmation under the Act of May 15, 1933. The core reasoning was that such confirmations are conclusive as to all matters in the accounts absent fraud, per the statute's explicit provisions and equitable principles, and the petitioner's delay until after the final account showed insufficient assets did not qualify for relief; while the court noted the compromise practice itself was improper as it should have awaited dividend distribution, this did not reopen the settled accounts.
This case was a dispute over the existence of a partnership among Mattei, Giovannini, and Masci for operating mining machinery at a coal company, with the plaintiffs seeking dissolution and an accounting from the defendant. The lower court found that the parties had formed an equal partnership by oral agreement, with equal contributions to capital, ownership of property, and sharing of profits and losses, and it ordered dissolution and a full accounting. On appeal, the court affirmed the decree, ruling that a partnership may be established by verbal agreement and implied from circumstances such as joint purchases, profit-sharing, and equal contributions to deficits, with the chancellor's findings supported by the evidence.
This case involved a former police lieutenant who was dismissed from the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police in December 1940 after a trial board found him guilty of conduct unbecoming an officer. He sought a writ of mandamus to compel his reinstatement, claiming the Civil Service Commission improperly denied his appeal because it was filed after the five-day statutory deadline under the Act of June 15, 1937. The Court of Common Pleas granted judgment for the defendants on the pleadings, and the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania affirmed. The court held that mandamus does not lie to compel a revision of a discretionary administrative decision absent a showing of abuse, and the record showed no such abuse or arbitrary action by the Commission. The delay of at least seven months after related criminal matters were resolved further supported the refusal to allow a late appeal.
This case involved a claim under a machinery insurance policy for damage to the wheel shaft of a river steamboat owned by the Campbell Transportation Company, whose claim was assigned to plaintiff R. W. Tennant. The insured boat developed a crack in the shaft during a trip up the Ohio River, discovered while moored in fog, and the insurer denied coverage arguing it did not meet the policy's definition of an "accident." The court affirmed the jury verdict for the plaintiff. The core reasoning was that expert testimony established the crack resulted from sudden stresses during landing, immediately impairing the shaft's function so it could not operate normally under full steam and necessitating repair, thus qualifying as a covered sudden breaking under the policy's terms, which were interpreted reasonably rather than strictly.