whether or not the said plaintiffs are the owners in fee each of a certain farm of land in the town of West Farms, in the county of Westchester, situate as therein described; and, whether or not the said farms have dwelling houses on them, and what is the extent and value of the said farms; and, whether or not the same have from the earliest times been used as dwelling houses, and have been always free from nuisances and comfortable, healthy and desirable places of residence, nor have they sufficient knowledge of the said several matters to form a belief.

And the defendants further answering, admit the existence of an island called the South Brother or Eaton's Island, in the Long Island sound, and that it is in a southwesterly direction from the dwelling houses occupied by the said plaintiffs, or some of them, and these defendants are informed and believe, that the distance of the said island, from the nearest of the said dwelling houses, is about a mile, but for what purposes the said island has been used from the earliest settlement of this country these defendants are ignorant, nor have they sufficient knowledge thereof to form a belief.

And these defendants further answering, admit that they, in company with William L. Baxter, about the first day of May, one thousand eight hundred and fifty, purchased the said island for the purpose of prosecuting the business of boiling bones, and preparing them for sale, and they admit that their plans did originally contemplate the conveying of carcasses to the said island, but they say that this latter part of the business was found to be attended with so many inconveniencies, that it was abandondoned early in the month of August last, and carcasses

were not brought to the said island after the eighth day of that month, and these defendants deny that they ever contemplated bringing offal to the said island, or that the same was ever brought.

And these defendants further answering, admit that about the time stated in the said complaint, and for some time previous, carcasses of horses and some other animals were conveyed to the said island, and they admit that the garbage collected from two hotels, in New York, was taken to the said island to be fed out to swine, but they deny that any offal was so taken, and they admit that a considerable number of swine were kept upon the said island, for the purpose of being fattened, but these defendants deny that the said swine were ever fed upon the flesh of the said carcasses or on offal, but on the contrary, say that their food was of the same description as that ordinarily bestowed upon such animals, consisting of the fragments of food and substances left from the tables of hotels, and they deny that their arrangements contemplated the burning and grinding of bones upon the said island, or that they ever were burnt or ground there.

And these defendants further answering, say that the whole number of carcasses of horses brought to the said island, is one hundred and thirty-three, and that these were all brought before the ninth day of August last.

And these defendants further answering, deny that the stench arising from the operations conducted on the said island impregnates the air at the farms and residences of the said plaintiffs, so as to sicken the inmates of their families, or deteriorate the value of their property, or that

it did so impregnate the air at the time of the commencement of this suit, and they deny that at the time of the commencement of this suit, and for a long time previous, there had been, or has been since, or now is, an offensive or disagreeable smell proceeding from the business conducted on the said island.

And these defendants further answering, deny that on or about the fifteenth day of August last, any persons visiting the said island, found there a barge or vessel with carcasses of horses on board, these defendants having entirely abandoned the carrying of said carcasses to the said island, on the eighth day of August last, and none having been sent there since that date, and they deny that the said persons found there, at any time, any hides or entrails covered with maggots as stated in the said complaint; the hides upon the said island having been always clean and well preserved, and free from any offensive substance or vermin, and no entrails being permitted to remain upon the said island, and they further say that the said bones referred to were clean and entirely free from any animal matter other than what belonged to their own structure, and that they were incapable of becoming of fensive, however long they might lie, and they deny that the said persons found such a stench upon the said island, that they were unable to remain there many minutes, as stated in the said complaint.

And these defendants further answering, deny that any miasma or stench of an unwholesome or poisonous nature, or calculated in any way to impair or endanger the health of the said plaintiffs or their families, or of the surrounding inhabitants caused by the operations of the said defendants, has ever proceeded from the said island, and

they deny that since the said eighth day of August, at which time the defendants ceased to carry carcasses to the said island any unpleasant or disagreeable odor has been produced by the business conducted on the said island.

And, these defendants further answering, say: that in the beginning of August last, the defendant, Lent, moved to the said island and took up his residence there, for the express purpose of being constantly on the spot and superintending the business to prevent the possibility of any nuisance arising; these defendants understanding that there had previous to that time been some complaints, which these defendants are informed and believe were solely owing to the men in their employ, whose duty it was to have disposed of every thing as it arrived in the barges; having on one occasion been absent from the island without the knowledge of these defendants, by which the business at the said island was neglected; and, that, immediately on discovering such neglect, these defendants took active measures to prevent the recurrence of a similar accident; and the defendant, Lent, repaired to the said island, in person, as has been stated; and these defendants say, that since that time, and since the said eighth day of August, the business of these defendants has been confined to the boiling of bones for the purpose of cleaning and preparing them for sale, and to the fattening of swine; that the bones used in the said business have been procured from the markets in New York daily, and have been uniformly fresh and free from taint, and have been delivered on board the barges of the defendants, and taken to the said island the same day that they were collected in New York; that on arriving at the said island, they were always immediately put into the kettles and

boiled for a period of from eight to ten hours, till they became divested of every particle of animal matter which had adhered to them, and were perfectly clean and white: that they were then taken from the kettles and placed in a pile to dry, the liquid in the said kettles being poured into a trench and carried into the sea; that before being used again, the kettles were always washed and thoroughly cleansed; and that to guard against the possibility of any cause of complaint, the utmost attention has always been paid to cleanliness, and nothing offensive or likely to become so, been permitted to remain on the said island, and salt and lime in great profusion constantly used; that the said swine have been fattened wholly upon fragments collected from the hotels in New York, and which these defendants purchased by contract; that to avoid any thing offensive, the said swine were always fed at low water, on the space left bare by the receding tide, so that the tide on rising again, would wash off every thing which

remained.

And these defendants further answering, say that while they were pursuing their lawful business in the manner aforesaid, without creating any nuisance or annoy ance to the inhabitants of the neighboring shores, or to any other persons, they were, on the second and third days of September, one thousand eight hundred and fifty, served with the summons and complaint and the injunction in this

cause.

And, these defendants further answering, say: that there are no dwelling-houses upon the said island, except the houses of the workmen engaged in the said business; and that the said island is in the middle of the East river, and removed a considerable distance from either shore,