Los Angeles herald., 1892-10-13
OVER A QUARTER Of A MILLION,
The Damages Asked from the
Santa Fe Road. :
The Hall-Kegel Vendetta Assumes a
New Phase.
Yesterdays Proceedings in the Courts.
An Important Damage Suit.
New Cases Filed.
Court Notes.

Inc trlai OF Mrs. Arcadia Is. de Baker
big damage suit against the Santa Fe
railroad secured good start yesterday
in department four OF the superior
court, before Judge Van Dyke and a
jury.
When court convened. the available
sitting capacity of the courtroom was
tested to the utmost by the cloud OF
witnesses, interested spectators and
term trial Jurors. There are great
many people interested in this case.
Property owners along the line OF the
overflow OF the Los Angeles river oi
1889. who were damaged as well as Mrs.
de Baker, are watching the suit with
esgerness.
The present case is not the only one
which has been brought against the
railroad. There have been IL suits in
all, including the de Baker suit, which
will depend largely on its fate. They
have all been brought through Messrs.
Wells. Monroe & Lee, counsels for Mrs.
de Baker, and the names of the plaint-
ifs and the amount of damages claimed
are as follows: j. J. Woodworth, s67,-
$40; Andreas Daneri, $4,000; Milton
Shirley, 1880; George Probert, $4,000
Henry James, $500; s. Barbarena,
$2500; l.. l.. Bequette, $5250; f. M. jam
ison. $4,000; Barbara Lugo de Ramirez,
$500; Henry Lee, $6850; j. E. Shirley,
$1,000. The total amount of these claims
is $126 320, and added to Mrs. de Bak-
er's claim of $l55, ,705 26 makes grand
total of $685., 2,O252 26, which the
Santa Fe company is asked to pay over
for the ravsges of the Los Angeles river
in the winter OF 1889, upon 900 acres Of
the Laguna ranch and several hundred
acres of neighboring lands also sub
merged and practically ruined.
1t did not take great while for the
selection of Jury, neither side exercis-
ing many challenges. The gentlemen
selected are as follows: r. A. Hoyt, E..
A. Kellam, VIM. H. Walker, VIM. T.
Haynes, Thos. Wardell, VIM. Guenther,
E. B. Grandin, G. L. Brown. Mission
Remley, E. D. Stone, John B. Ham, and
B. F. Brown.
The first witness was Willard Bassett,
who owned the land through which the
river in the great flood of 1889 broke
from its channel and spread over the
lands damaged. He was examined by
Mr.. Monroe, of counsel for plaintiff, and
his testimony was largely devoted to fix
ing the various places on the river above
and below the break upon map which
had been tackled on the black board.
This map was designed to show the
channel OF the river before and after the
food, and the crevasse through which
the mountain torrents passed. Mr.. Bas-
sett testified that he had observed two
foods before that of 1889, and that the
nhor a1 of 1,a t,,1 1000 oh
by the levee on the west side OF the river
built by the railroad, which had mar
rowed the former channel. He described
the position Of the levee, showing that
it ended in the break through his land.
He stated that the value of the lands in
the Laguna rancho before the food was
about $500 an acre, and that the over
flowed land has now very little market
value, being covered with sand.
Upon cross-examination by Mr..
Hatch, Mr.. Bassett stated that the flood
OF 1889 was due to storms, and that it
was an unprecedented volume of water
that flowed down the river. He said he
had begun suit against the railroad for
damages to his property early this year,
some two years after the damage was
done.
There were several other witnesses
during the day, among them being An
tonic Maria Lugo and Andronica E.
Sepulveda. They testified principally
in regard to the food of 1889, the dam
age to property southeast of this city
and values of the land OF the Lsguna
rancho. The cross-examination of the
witnesses is being thoroughly conducted
by the defense. The trial will be re-
sumed this morning.