In which case following facts were given: The defendants employed independent contractors to construct a reservoir on their land which was separated from the plaintiff's colliery by intervening land. Unknown to them beneath the site of the reservoir, there were some disused shafts connecting their land with the plaintiff's mine. The independent contractors were negligent in failing to discover this. Water from the reservoir burst through the shafts and flooded the plaintiff's mine. The defendants were held personally liable, despite the absence of blame in themselves