Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1886-12-16
ADJOURNMENT or COURT.
MRS. H0GG GAINS HER SUR FOR
NURSING MRS. LOBB.
The Ease Of ssBig Frank'r's Release
aH~id Under Adyisement sSana Gets
n yeyd.ct for e25O-The Licens, 3.

nv RtD " hstA AhNNAH 49, AeIt-eAFO
Held Under Adyisement Kent Gets
n yeyd,ct for e25O-rhe Licensss.
The case of Mary U. HoRg VI Elizabeth
Lnbb's executor was argued al the session
of superior court, yesterday afternoon
wee4. Mr.. Lore, for defendant. asa cd The
court TO charge that the seiTicesTenaered
Mrs. Lobb by Mrs Hogg we're in the ma
ture of family services, for which her
husband should sue. Mr.. Birdr for
the plaintiff in a vigorous speech, claim
ing that her case had been fully esiab
lished and that she was justly entitled to
compensation for her faithful laoor'
Argument lasted until O'Clock, and
the jury expressing desire not TO he
sent ont then, the charge Of she court
waa deferred until this morning,
The case of Daniel Fl. Kent We. the
Mayor and Council Of Wilmington was
then resumed. Walter Bacon, ESQ.,,
opened for the defence, and shid 1t would
be shown that the trench Ia w1ioh Mr..
Kent horses were ipinFet was pfS Si3erly
filed up, but that a terrific rain storm
came and washed it into dangerous
condition, and before it could be fixed
the accident happened.
Alfred Dowling and Michael Farley,
water department employees, testified that
the trench was carefully filled mp in the
usual manner, and that no pudding was
necessary, as the ground was too soft,
and pudding would have made il worse.
Court then adjourLed uptil 10 O'Clock,
Thursday morning.
At the opening OF superior court Thurs
Ii. fho aharna nf tba Af
the jury in the case of Mary E. Hog vs..
John Morrison, executor of Elizabeth W.
Lobb, was delivered by Chief Justice
Comegys. He said this was the first
action of the kind tried in this court
since the passage of the married woman'E
act, in 1873, under which q married
woman can sue and recover for service,
performed outside of her real family
duties. He then detailed the dutiee of Q
wife, and said that while it was her duty
to cook for her husband, children and
boarders, it was no more part of her
duty to attend to boarder during sick
ness, without compensation than it wat
the duty of physician TO attend sucl
boarder without pay.
AT 10. 90 o'clock the jury retired, and
after deliberating for 20 minutes aeturned
verdict for the plaintiff for the full
amount claimed and interest from Sep
tember Sd, 1885, in all 81 ,680.60.
The case of Daniel H. Kent vs.. the
Mayor and Council of Wilmington was
then resumed, with ex-Chief Engineer II
B. McIntire on the stand. He said that
in his opinion it would have been dan.
gerous to puddle the pipe trench into
which Mr.. Kent's horses fell, as the
ground was made ground, and it was i'm.
possible to ram it. He remembered the
storm of August 18th, 1885, and thought
it sufficient to make the covering of the
trench very soft and unsafe.
Enooh Moore was called and said the
storm of August 18th, 1885, was an
unusually severe one. He notified the
water department the next morning Of
the condition of the trench. He said
there was good driveway alongside oi
the trench, SO that teams need not be
driven across the excavation.
City Solicitor Turner offered in evi
dence an almanac showing that on August
18th, 1885, the sun set ut 6. 50 p. m.
John G. Bennett, clerk in Pusey A.
Walton's coal Office, testified to the
heavy storm of August 18th, 1885
He said the trench was we'll filled in and
covered up before the storm, but aftei
the rain it had sunk down six or sever
inches.
John Dougherty, late foreman of the
water department, testified to repairing
the washout in the trench early the mex
morning after the storm,
Miles Dorsey, water department EN-
pioye, tesuntd tnat the pr,,on OF the
ditch where the wash. out occurred wa'
hlled up with more aare than ~-.y othel
part of the trench, because ~ was betweeI
the railway tracks and the ground was toe
soft to puddle. II was perfectly safe fol
teams to pass over when the jiiling in was
finished.
Captain Horace Wilson of the steamer
Brandywine stated that the boat reached
Wilmington on the evening of August
18th, 1885, between and 645 O'clock,
p. m.
Thomas M. Culbert said William p
Voshell had said to him that he did MOI
think Mar. Kent's horses were much dam
aged by the accident and did not know
that Mr.. Kent claimed any damages until
he saw that a petition had been sent tc
the water commissioners Witness also
EhW NhO hNAoSb hbOhh u AuOhbh thhoa eA'
accident, and they did not seem to bt
much injured. He attempted to see then
again, but the colored hostler refused hin
admittanoe to the stable.
Robert Hagan, liveryman, said he hat
seen MIR. Kent's team before the accident
and judged them to be worth about $500
Chief Engineer Bond was called ani
identified letter to the water commits
sioners, from Lore and Emmons, in which
Mr.. Kent's damage was placed at $500. 75
Charles Jester of Jester & Mcdaniel
knew MIR. Kent's team and thought the
black mare was worth from 5000 TO $3.50
He could give no estimate of the value Of
the mate.
The defence here rested, and the case
was argued. Nj. Emmons opened fol
the plaintiff and was followed by City
Solicitor Turner for the defendant, whC
argued that the damage sustained by the
plaintiff was solely due to the heavy
rain-storm, for which the city
was not responsible. Mr.. Lore CLOSED
for the plaintiff, and the Jury was briefly
charged by the chief justice. He said
the question was, the street, leaving the
rain-storm out of the question, in such
condition as it should have been in. The
city is required to keep the streets in fail
travelling condition, and its duty in regard
to the trench was to fill it up with the
same care and attention that good
business mau would have done under the
circumstances. If the city did this the
plaintiff is not entitled to recover; other.
wise he is If the accident was due en-
tirely TO the extraordinary food resulting
from the terrific storm, then it was MOI
caused by the city's negligence. This
was q question for the jury to determine
AT ~ 55 O'Clock the jury retired ani
court took recess.
The Jury in the Kent case returned al
245 O'Clock, awarding the plaintiff yer
dict for $3.50.
The last jury trial of the present tern
of superior scourt was heard in Eth,
afternoon. II was the case of O. Aultmaf
a. Go. vs. Francis Duggan. Hoffecker
Hoifcker for plaintiffs and L O. Vande
grift, Esq, for defendant. Duggan hat
| purchased from plaintiffs Sweepstak,
thresher and engine for 81. 800, giving il
payment four notes for $347.60 each. Fl,
| paid two of the notes, hat there is bal
ance of $27845 on the other two, OF
which the suit was brought
Duggan's defence was that he was OIL
agent Of the company and, as such agen
was entitled to commission on the sal,
of a thresher to Thomas Gould fo
81, ,507 50, which commission exceeded
the amount due on the notes by 1880
He said he wrote to Hugh Matthews, thu
Baltimore agent of the company. request
ing that his commission be credited OF
the notes, but received no answer. Thomai
Gould said he purchased the thresher OIL
Duggan's representation, but was after
wards told by j. B. Evans of Smyrna tina
he (Evans) was the company's agent fo
| that lonalitv