The Signal, 1909-4-29, Page 1010 'Iaao•DAT, Aram '29, 1909.
THE SIGNAL : GODERICH ONTARIO.
TWENTY-FIVE CASES ENTERED AT
HURON COUNTY ASSIZES.
Settlement Reached in Horseshoe
Quarry Cases after Commence-
ment ot Trial Vtdean Case Die
missed -Many ot the Actions Set-
tled or Adjourned --Notes of the
Cases.
The list of cases ent...d for triad at
the jury sittings of the High Court tor
this county. which wet a held this week
at the court house. was a rei'ord.break-
er, there being no fewer that twenty•
five actions set dqwn. The trial judge
was Honorable •Mr. Justice elute.. A
flood many of the cases were ad-
journed and a numherltwere settled
without trial, so that ,the court con•,
eluded yesterday afternoon, having
opened on Monday afternoon at 1
o clock.
There were nine cares in which 3. 1'.
Brown, of Ooderich, figured as one of
the defendants. Most of these arose
out of the sale of debentures in the
Horseshoe Quarry Company of 'St.
Marys. and in these cases A. J. Mc-
Pherson and William Proetort of
Stratford, who with Mr. ,Brown were
the financial agents who wade the
sales, were also defendants, together
with George D. Laurie. of St. Marys,
d the Horseshoe Quarry Company,
L . The plaintiffs were Mrs. Nary
Nto es, who sued for 41.500; Mrs
Jane 'lark, who sued for IWO; Jacor,
Stoke , for $1,600; Miss Maggie Mur-
ray, for DUO; Joseph Whitely, for
$1,6on ; C ; fes J. S. Nafte!, for $500:
William M vittie, for $2,000. There
all reside in Ooderich or vicinity.
There were tw. actions against J. P.
Brown and Willi
out of the sale of
the J. E. Murp'•v
Ltd., William (.r
suing for -$1.q)' a
tie for a tike amrntnt:
engaged on these
L E. Dancey, for
liam Proudfoot, K C., for the
ant Brown : Qeurg
K. C., Toronto, a for the defeledien
Pherson ; R. 8. Robertson, Stratfo
for the defendant Proctor: en
Charles °arrow for the defendant
Laurie and the• Horseshoe Quarry
Company. His Lordship struck nut
the jury notice in all these cases and
decided to try them together.
The evidence of William McVittie,
Frederick 0. Morley and Oeo. D. Lau-
rie was taken. Mr. Morley is a chart-
ered accountant who was employed
with the firm which made the annual
audit of the books of the Horseshoe
Quarry Company. He quoted from the
audited statement, to show that for
years the company had been operatdd
at a considerable loss _end on a state-
ment issued 13th June, 1806, for the
purpose of selling the deheutures of
the company he pointed out, where
meets had been inflated and the liabil-
ities placed too low. Mr. Laurie told
of the history of the venture from
1801. it had been losing money right
from the start and things were con-
tinually getting worse. He felt that
the company might do better under
different management and wee hoping
for better things, but things went
from had to worse. The issue of de-
bentures in 1006 was to pay liabilities
to the tank and other debts. The
statement which was prep.tred as to
the financial condition of the company
in order to sell the debentures he
signed, he said..hecause he was told
e a
to do so. Before further evidencWein
given the judge advised s settlement,
and the settlement finally reached was
the payment by Mr. Brown, Mr.
Proctor and Mr. McPherson of 112,400each, ora total of $7.200, without
costs, this in settlement of the nine
actions entered for trial here and flys
cases at Stratford.
Videan vs. the Ooderich Elevator
and Transit Co., Ltd. -An action
n
under the Workman's Copesation
Act and common law for personal in.
juries. The plaintiff, Harry.Videan,
claimed $6,(110 damages for the in-
juries sustained in an accident at the
elevator on September 14th, WOK
The plaintiff on the occasion of the
accident was taking in the slack of
the rope of the car -puller over the
drum, and, according to the state-
ment of claim, the rope, owing to its
being in a defective and worn and
frayed condition, began to bind so
tightly around the drum that it
ceased to come in over the drum and
the driving belt began to slip and
scorch and the machine itself for a
few moments came almost to a stand-
still. The plaintiff immediately gave
the signal to the engineer to stop, hut
the signal was not obeyed. and as the
plaintiff was in the act of picking up
the rope again the drum began to re-
volve and the plaintiff was' caught be-
tween the rope and the drum and
carried completely around it, sustain-
ing injuries to his left anti and hack.
Dr. Vt hitely gave testimony as to the
extent of his injuries. Mr. Videan, lie
said, would never regain the normal
;not,use of his arm, probably never (nor
than a flfth of its normal strength.
The prosecution sought to show that
there was negligence on the part of
the defendant company in providing an
old frayed rope for use on the car -
puller. in not having a clutch on the
machine no that the operator could
throw it out of gear at once in case of
emergency, and in the engineer's not
being at his poet to take off the power
as soon as the signal was sent in.
'ibe jury visited the elevator on Wed-
nesday morning to see the location
and nature of the machine. They
took a good deal of time in their de.
liberations and. returned anSWers_.tu
the questions submitted to them by
the judge, on which His Lordship dis-
missed the case. The jury had placed
the damages to which the plaintiff
would he entitled at $3,600 under com-
mon law or three years' wages under
the Workman's Compensation At•t.
They, however, placed some resrnnsn•
bility for the accident on the plaintiff
and in view of that finding the judge
dismissed the case. Chat+les Darrow
acted Inc the plaintiff and 1Vtn.
Proudfoelt, K. C., for the defendants.
The action of Bissett ve. the Guelph
a Goderich Hallway Company for
damages. which has had one ad-
journment already, was given anot her
on ;Lemont of the"absence of Rome of the
material witnesses at the trial of the
action brought by M. A. Pigott & Co.
against the railway conipanv.
Morrow vs. G. T. R. -An action hy
George Morrow against the G. T. R.
for 10,500 damages for injuries. The
plaintiff was unloading coal from ie
car nn a siding for Wilhelm Lee when
a train of cars was' shunted against
the car from which Morrow was un•
loading, resulting in injuries to the
plaintiff. Thin cane was settled with-
out trial, the defendagreeing ants agring to
pay the plaintiff $1,(111 damages. his
doctor's hill, hospital hill, and coats.
Eggert, es. Herr. The plaintiffs are
the surviving residuary legatees under
the will of the late Joseph Herr.
whirh they are advised is of dmtbtfiil
onestruelion. The actlon is for a dec.
m :