Vansant v. Gas-Light Company was a United States Supreme Court case that dealt with the issue of whether a gas company was liable for damages caused by a gas explosion. The plaintiff, Vansant, had leased a building from the defendant, Gas-Light Company, and had installed a gas meter in the building. The gas meter was connected to a gas line owned by the defendant. The plaintiff alleged that the defendant was negligent in maintaining the gas line, which caused a gas explosion that damaged the plaintiff's property. The Supreme Court held that the defendant was liable for the damages caused by the gas explosion. The Court reasoned that the defendant had a duty to maintain the gas line in a safe condition, and that the defendant had breached this duty by failing to properly maintain the gas line. The Court also held that the plaintiff was entitled to damages for the destruction of his property. In conclusion, the Supreme Court held that the defendant was liable for the damages caused by the gas explosion, and that the plaintiff was entitled to damages for the destruction of his property.

Justice Field delivered the dissenting opinion in Vansant v. Gas-Light Company, arguing that the majority's decision was contrary to established precedent and would lead to an absurd result. He argued that a contract between two parties should be interpreted according to its plain language, not by what one of the parties may have intended or believed at the time it was made. Furthermore, he noted that if a party could avoid their obligations under a contract simply because they had misunderstood its terms when signing it, this would open up contracts to all sorts of abuse and manipulation. Justice Field concluded his dissent by noting that while there may be some cases where equity demands relief from contractual obligations due to mutual mistake or fraud on behalf of one party, such circumstances were not present in this case and thus did not warrant overturning existing law regarding interpretation of contracts.