Edward Douglass White

“ The city of Richmond passed an ordinance allowing Scott and Myers to close the alley along the line of their property for a period of thirty years upon the condition that they should not build upon it, that the right to keep it closed should be revocable by the city whenever it deemed best, and that the city should be held harmless for any damage which might be incurred from closing the alley. ”

“ We do not stop to notice the many authorities which are cited to sustain from many different angles of vision the premise upon which the proposition rests because we think its inapplicability to the case in hand is so obvious that it is unnecessary to do so. ”

“ The plaintiffs in error then began this suit against the defendants in error to enjoin the enforcement of the ordinance on the ground that, as the alley in question had been dedicated to the public by Shafer, and had been accepted by the city, and treated as a public alley for many years, the city was without power to grant the right to close it, and that doing so would wrongfully inflict damage upon the plaintiffs as the owners of the property abutting on the alley for reasons which were fully stated in the bill, and which it is unnecessary here to detail. ”