Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1877-09-26
Washington County Court.


bOhN H. lNIIbrJ i'NtfWs
HENRY WYATT reporter
The jury trials on the civil docket are pretty
much ended, and there will be only one or two
more. The criminal cases are assigned for next
Tuesday, and from the long session In which the
grand jury Is ihduiging' Is supposed .hat 'ne
nu'noer Oh respondents VINO VIII DC ophgeu 70
pun themselves upon tne country 'or 'r'ai WI"
oo oo.n great anu Conspicuous 'ho si"nu jury
an. ,u" oou'' y" o"'"'o"y' a"u iepoi'ou o'o''"
''ue oh'S' oue inc h"heS eon''neu 'neIeh nave
no'' us Se' oeen inaue puoiic' eAcep. III 10"
instances one IL saiu 10 Dc James h'cnarus' IN
uio'eu ior setting nre u. ria,hneiu' las. may, anu
"notner MARY Kendall OF warren, ind'c.eu IN
conjunction with Nathanei blair, "ilham Miiis
beman H. campbell, soult Parker and James
nalr' ior burning on the ilth DAY oil octooer'
100 Ut warren certain wood-honse OF one ASH
icy H. Dutton' ADJOINING MS dwenlng-house'
hor correspondents were inuiV'eu ''S' september
'o' '''e same onence. Az nearing On iuesu"y
evening" MINIS furnished Donds ior hVe hunureu
uoiia's' anu 'he others lor TWO huhureu anu MY
uo''''iS apiece, mary hehdal Is also ihoic'eu
ior heepihg mousse oil hl-iame'
IN the preach OF promise case oil Sarah A.
mayer u.s. lhomas D frehtis, mention Oh which
was haue III iast week report the parties nave
-, y, w P'"'"''' " v" W. '''o p'o'o'
-. '.,,, - W. W., " 10 ~ -
:. ~" '"' .o'' u "'. "''
-. - ~
"' W. N''''
THE INSURANCE CASE.
Inc case OF William A. bouteile, OF Montpelier,
vs. inc westminster FIRE Insurance Company, OF
New York. which was on trial at the time last
week paper went to press, lasted till Monday
morning. ana involved the examination oil large
NUMBER oil witnesses The plaintiff, in the year
1919, poush' vi J"coo smith, Oh montpelier ABOUT
one hundred and seventy bushels OF hull-less oats
So-caed, nj eight dollars per bushel, Smith having
bought them few months before in Michigan
for dollar bushel In company with David
w. Ramsdell, of Washington, notorious as the
Norway oat" man, he proceeded to contract with
farmers to raise hu-less oats for him, he furnish
ing the seed, and they furnishing the land and
the cultivation at the rate of twenty-five dollars
an acre. In this way, and by purchase, at the
rate Of five dollars bushel, he accumulated, ac-
cording to-the plaintiffs claim, nearly four thou
sand bushels of oats, which he selling at from
seven and one half to thirty-two dollars a bushel
The oats were all stored in an old blacksmith shop,
on Elm street, in this village, opposite the plain
tiff dwelling-house. In November, 1874, Mr.. A.
C. Brown, an insurance agent in Montpelier in
sured the oats for twenty-five hundred dollars in
each of the following companies the Westminster,
Globe of Chicago, Kansas Of Leavenworth, and
Planters OF Tennessee insurance companies, at n
high rate of premium, and the policies were re-
newed on the fist Of April 1875. On the 2lst of
April 1876 the building was burned to the ground
and the greater part of the contents destroyed
The plaintiff made out his proofs of loss and
presented them TO the companes. but pay,nent
was refused. and he accordingly sued them. Two
of the companies. the Globe and the Kansas.
| have beaten him nv going into banlruptcv: the
planters il said IN he on the eve Of taking the
same simple method Of having its debts. and the
Westchester ia alone left tn stand the brunt.
| Tho chief noints mazda bv tho defenda,t in tho
present trial were first that the plaintff deceived
the commands agent Mr. Brown. at the time the
polcv was made in regard IN the real oxvnersbin n,
the oats and in regard to the quantity and value of
the grain lint that WAS not very strenuouslv in.
sisted IN II beng conceded that Mr. Brown made
no examination of the nronertv whatever and the
| halance of nroof hepg that no was n lit,Ie moro
anxors IN insrre than pou,e,,a ,yas IN no ;nsrred
second that at the fire the plaintia did not make
the exertions he should to save his property, and
that afterwards he did not sell the remnants OF
the wreck for as high n price as he ought; third
that in his sworn statements in his proof of loss he
greatly overestimated the quantity of the oats IL
the storehouse and thereby attempted to deiraud
the company ont of larger payment than he de
served The proof tended to show that Boutelle
| eyertiona nj tho fire were not very arduous mr.