The Newtown bee., 1891-01-09
49,
SOUTHPORT OYSTERS.
THE OYSTER CASE.

THE OYSTER CASE.
There has been considerable interest in
the criminal prosecution brought by a
nnmber of oystermen against A. II. Bond
and G. Swayne of Bridgeport, charging
1st, That they staked out and enclosed
certain oyster grounds off Southport and
encroaching on the natural beds.
I'd, That they willfully removed certain
buoys set out by the State commissioner
of she'll fisheries.
ID, That they had no stakes which
were visible at high water and that there
were no names or tags thereon as requir-
ed by law.
The defendants entered u. plea of not
guilty. Hon r. f. DeForest and Attor-
ney j. B. Klein of Bridgeport appeared
for the State and Attorney Stiles Judson,
Jr, of Bridgeport for the defendants.
The case was tried at the Town hall, Sat-
urday at 80 and lasted till p m.
The first witness for the State was D..
G. Sanford, a civil engineer, employed by
the shell fish commissioners in mapping
the oyster grounds of the State. Had
examined the grounds on October27, 80.
Found buoy 40 feet from line and found
seven other buoys in line to the end of
triangle (here an elaborate map was in
PRODUCED showing the grounds for a con-
siderable distance each side of the disput-
ed question: He buoyed the correct line
for Capt Bond several times. Rocks WIS.,
IDLE at every low water. 1t was admit
ted by the defence that they knew the
correct line. He was employed by the
shell commissioners 1880 to 1885. Had
buoyed the lines at least 20 times. Sew
eral times for Bond & Currier, Mott &
Shaffer and others.
Benjamin r. Wilmot of Greenwich
Had been familiar with grounds for 80
years. Great many oysters caught on
the triangle, one of the best places on the
Connecticut shore. Buoys of Bond not
in position. Nice hard bottom. Saw
buoys in said position about two weeks
after Thanksgiving.
Charles E, Palmer: Been in oyster
business "a years. Know all about the
Southport beds. Was present when Mr.
Sanford ran lines. Looked at buoys of
Bond. Buoys about 100 feet out of the
way, eight buoys in same line.
f. Sturdevant: Good natural grounds.
Grounds in general are good, this year.
Bonds buoys were out of position. Buoy
was not on corner. Original line on nat
ural bed. w. d. Mills: % years an oys-
terman; good set of oysters on these
beds.
w. A. Lewis: The triangle is of value
as it goes from the island.
James Brophy, John Cihak, and d. B.
Hawley: Northeast corner good. No
large rocks.
Capt Lawson, Norwalk: Know South
port waters. Northeast corner about
correct and from there the line was $50
feet north of the correct position. Good
natural bed. Position of buoy at that
time at low water, in about eight feet of
water.
Capt McGinnis Found buoys consider
ably out of place. Good bottom. None
of the buoys were where they should be.
The first witness for the defence was
A. A. Bond: Placed certain buovs in the
north line of the lot in question. Went
down first part of October and saw that
the buoys were gone. l reset buoys
about October 16 to 20. Went down
there and set four buoys on the Shaffer
line. Got the ranges and land marks of
Sunken or Flat island and shore. Buoys
often shifted by severe storms. Set buoys
October 20 in line from Fish Rock to
Green's Farms and rocks on sunken line,
southwest corner gone. North, south
and northeast corner and intermediate
buoys were gone. Dredged on ground
without buoys. Put buoy on northeast
and northwest corner of Skaters line.
them back where they belonged. Could
be easily seen that they were wrong.
Bogart & Pike staked buoys.
Capt Rivers: About October 4, 80,
Shaffer line was out of the correct line.
Al. Hart: Oyster grower for 10 years.
Was on ground December 81, 80; also
days before. Severe storms. Heard
that Bonds line was not correct.
G. E. Lee: Went out with DR. May and
Hart on September 20 and set out buoys.
Have dredged off Southport beds. No
buoy on northwest corner on September
80. Remember Capt Rider and j. p. Bo-
CART testified to the same point. Defence
then rested.
State in rebuttal called d. C. Sanford.
The severe storm was October "A, 80.
TENDER.
Capts Palmer, Sturdevant and McGin-
mis- testified that there was no severe
storm before October "a.
Attorney j. B. Klein opened for the
State and made a fine argument, plainly
setting forth the points made by the
States witnesses and argued that the de-
PENDANTS ought to be convicted. He was
followed by Attorney Judson for the de-
fence, who claimed that the buoys were
washed away by severe storms and that,
in replacing the buoys, the defendants
made an innocent mistake and were not
guilty of a wilful encroachment on the
beds. Judge DeForest closed for
the state and made brilliant argument |
Of about 20 minutes. Judge Morris then
his decision, acquitting the ac-
cused, on the ground that there was no.
to violate the law, that the en-
was mistake and that the |
defendants had corrected their error.
The lawyers and witnesses were oblig-
ed to remain in the court house all day,
The justice being anxious to finish in one
lay and SO did not adjourn for dinner.