4. These defendants, further answering, admit that many years ago, the exact time they cannot state, plaintiff's grantors had a grist mill on the bank of the Shiawassee River on that part of section 24 west of the Grand River Road in the Township of Burns, as now located, and as to that portion of the land claimed by plaintiff, west of the Grand River Road, none of these defendants make any claim, but these defendants deny that the land claimed by plaintiff and attempted to be described by him in his bill of complaint, on the east side of said highway, is now or ever was owned by plaintiff or used for the purpose of water power; and they deny that a dam was maintained continuously across the Shiawassee River and that the land claimed, east of the Grand River Road, was used for the purpose of operating said grist mill, and they deny that said property, east of the Grand River Road, from the date of the con struction of said dam and the erection of a mill race, has been continuously used or operated for mill purposes down to the present time or down to within twenty years of the date of the filing of the bill of complaint in this cause. On the contrary, they show to the court that many years ago, to-wit, more than fifty years ago, the Shiawassee River, so-called, which is supposed to make the mill pond herein disputed, was the north branch of the Shiawassee River, being then and is now a stream of water varying in depth from one to five feet and in width from twenty to thirty feet, having, in places, banks from five to twenty feet high, coming from the lakes over in Argentine, passing just south of the corporate limits of the Village of Byron and joining with the south branch making the Shiawassee River proper. That at a point, to-wit, forty rods east of the confluence of the two branches, the north branch of said river passes through high ground, termed by some a hog-back or Indian mound, composed of sand, and said north branch was dammed across on said hog back or rise of ground and a mill-race cut through at the north end of said hog's-back to supply water for running a grist mill, at which place also, the defendants are informed and believe, and charge the truth to be, that a bridge was put across and for some time the road called the Grand River Road followed along on the natural rise of ground used as a dam for said mill pond; that, to-wit, for more than twenty-five years last past the highway has been moved and used at a point, to-wit, thirty rods west of the place where the public used to drive their con veyances on said natural elevation, and that for all of such time, to-wit, thirty years or more, no highway or passage-way of any kind has existed around or about said dam. On the contrary, the original owners and their grantees of the land along the Shiawassee River have used and owned the same down to the banks of Shiawassee River under the conveyances which were given to them of land to said river and mill pond; and defendants further show to the court that at, to-wit, thirty years ago, a hole was made through the center portion of said hog's-back and a race was made for the purpose of running a saw mill; that such race, being through sand, continued to wear away the embankment and for more than thirty years last passed the channel of the Shiawassee River has been through the center portion of said hog-back down to the junction with the south branch of the Shiawassee River instead of following its former channel, and this change in the channel also has practically emptied the water from the Byron mill pond, so-called, and the Shiawassee River is practically confined to its banks except at times of a flood or freshet when the river leaves its banks and overflows in the low and marshy parts of said former pond.

5. These defendants, further answering, show to the court that for many years the mill at Byron had become antiquated and out of repair and was not operated as a mill; that later, to-wit, twenty years ago, the mill was burned and the property remained useless for many years, but defendants admit that at the present time the plaintiff has a little feed mill on the site of the mill property west of the highway, and said mill gets its power, to some extent, from the race connected with the Shiawassee River, but the most of the water from said river goes through the dam where the saw mill formerly existed and is not upon any property claimed by the plaintiff.

6. These defendants, further answering, deny that they occupy any land or claim interest in any land except such lands as they and their grantors have had conveyances of and under which they claim title and have been in the open, peaceable, continuous, notorious and hostile possession for more than thirty years, and they deny that the plaintiff or his grantors have had any right to have any possession or use of their property during the past thirty years; that the plaintiff has not now and never has had any interest in said land and is not entitled to any relief against these defendants. On the contrary, they show to the court that the claiming by the plaintiff of some paper title to these premises, if he has such, is a cloud upon their title which they ask to have removed, and they also show to the court that the Byron mill pond, so-called, being nothing but a dry basin or miasmatic pool, breeding stench and filth and threatening the health of all of these defendants, is a menace to the community and a public nuisance which they believe in equity they are entitled to have abated and removed, and they ask that under the final order of this court that such nuisance be abated and the health of the community be protected therefrom.

7. And these defendants, further answering, deny that the plaintiff has any right to the water in the Shiawassee River different or other than that of these defendants who own land joining said river, and they deny that the plaintiff has any right whatever in the real estate belonging severally to these defendants; and they deny each and every material allegation in said bill of complaint not herein specifically traversed or denied, and they ask that the rights of each defendant be determined and that they be protected both in their property and in their health and person, and they ask that they have such other and further relief in the premises as the proofs in this case shall show that they are entitled to. A.L.CHANDLER,