Joseph McKenna

“ There is nowhere, in either of the ordinances, a grant of any right or privilege to build a wharf at the terminus of Morrison street. In the ordinance adopted in 1878 there is scarcely an inference that the lower floor of the wharf was to extend into Morrison street, and, as regards the upper floor, the provision is that it should not extend beyond the line of the block, except for passageway of a certain described width and over the north side of the street. ”

“ If we determine what rights plaintiffs had in Morrison street and the river, we shall be able to determine their contentions. Plaintiffs claim a contract with the city based on the ordinances which authorize plaintiffs to construct their wharves, but they also claim rights which they say were attached to the property and reserved to it by Daniel H. Lownsdale, 'of the wharves and wharfing privileges.' The rights so reserved are made especially dominant. Indeed, the rights obtained from the city are somewhat minimized and depreciated. ”

“ And plaintiffs, to point their reliance on the reservation in the Lownsdale dedication, say: 'Whether the ordinances do or do not purport to grant a privilege or right to use or appropriate the street or an extension thereof for wharfing purposes, the right exists, and it existed because of the reservation in the plat, long before the ordinances; and it exists independent of any action of the city. This right is different in kind from the right of the public to use the street. ”