“ In apt words its 1st section not only grants a franchise to the plaintiff, but makes the life of the franchise coextensive with the plaintiff's existence; and we find nothing in the ordinance which suggests that the words fixing the duration of the franchise are to be taken as comprehending anything less than the full corporate existence of the plaintiff. ”

“ The Kentucky General Statutes of 1883, chap. 56, § 7, p. 548, under which the Water Works Company was organized in 1889, contained this provision:
'Corporations for the construction of any work of internal improvement may be formed to endure for fifty years; those formed for other purposes shall not exceed twenty-five years in duration ”

“ That contract was made for a definite term, twenty-five years, and twelve of these had expired when the seven ordinances were adopted. In adopting and accepting them the parties were not making a new hydrant contract, but acting under the one already in existence. It and the plaintiff's franchise were not coterminous and should not be confused. The contract covered the old hydrants, of which there were many, as well as the new ones, and was to expire as to all at the same time, that is, on September 10, 1903, twenty-five years after the contract was made. ”

“ Under this provision, beginning on October 6, 1890 (a little more than a year after the grant was made) , and continuing, certainly as the record shows, until September 16, 1895, the city, by ordinance, made seven distinct demands upon the Water Works Company to lay additional pipes in the streets, and in each ordinance provided: 'The city of Owensboro hereby rents of the said Water Company the above named hydrants for the unexpired term of the franchises of the said Water Company,' and promises to pay, etc. ”

“ The principle is this, that all rights which are asserted against the state must be clearly defined, and not raised by inference or presumption.' The discussion concludes with the statement, quoted from Slidell v. ”