The Portland daily press., 1893-12-27
THE CUSHING CASE.
The Testimony for the Government Put i'll
Yesterday.

TIE Cushing's Island condemnation
proceedings were resumed yesterday be-
fore Judge Webb. %
Col. Hams was called and was cross
examined very briefly.
John W. York, one of the assessors of
Portland, was next called by Mr.. Dyer.
He thought the land in question might
be worth as land" about $25 an acre.
He was not allowed to state the as
sessed value of the land. He was
handed the deed by Mr.. Cushing to the
hotel company, and the document was
then read by Mr.. Dyer. The witness was
asked what. in his opinion would be the
fair market value of the hotel, the five
acres attached to it, and all rights
covered by the deed. Mr.. Baker objected
to the question, but it was admitted by
Judge Webb, and Mr.. YORK replied, $45, :
0Oo." Mr.. Dyer here turned the witness
over to Mr.. Strout, who asked him if he
knew at what price land had sold on
Cushings island. Mr.. York replied that
he did not.
A. G. Both was called and examined
regarding the elevation of the land
above high water mark. He said that
nineteen out of the thirty-three acres are
more than seventy-two feet above high
water mark, thirteen more than eighty
one, ten and three-quarters more than
ninety, five and one-half more than
ninety-nine, one acre more than one hun
dred and ten feet, and fourteen acres
lower than seventy-two feet He was
asked by the court if he could show
what proportion of the land owned by
Mr.. Robinson was included in his esti-
mates. He could not and was given
time in which to complete his estimates
William O. Fox, one of the assessors of
the city of Portland. was called by Mr..
Dyer, but as he had no personal
knowledge of values at the islands he
was told to stand aside, and Charles W.
7. Cooling, was called. Over this witness
there was well fought legal battle, the
question being whether he could qualify
as an expert on land values on the
islands. Mr.. Cooling said The had never
bought or sold land there, but believed
that he had knowledge of the value of
the hotel property. 81 know what it
was offered to me for,n said Mr.. Cooling,
"and that was s3O,0oO."
II object. said Mr.. Strout
When was that offer made to YOU?
last fall?" asked Mr.. Baker.
mo, last spring." replied MIR. Cooling.
"And that is all you know about the
value of the property" was asked. and
Mr.. Cooling said he supposed it wasn't
worth more than what the owners
offered to sell it for. On cross-examina-
ton Mr.. Cooling said that his opinion re-
garding the value of land at Cushing's
island was not entirely formed because
of offers made to him. He had heard
men "who put money into it" talk, and
that assisted him in arriving at the con-
clusion he had expressed.
George W. Morse was called. He said
he was for twenty years manager of the
Portland company, and owns land at
Delano Park, Cape Elizabeth. Mr..
Strout objected to questions regarding
that section, but the court thought the
evidence of the same order as that intro
duced by Mr.. Strout himself to prove by
residents of other islands, the value
of land at Cushing's, and the question
was admitted. Mr.. Morse said that in
his opionioh the land had no market
value. He bought his land eight years
ago, and would not be willing to give
one-half what he did then. He thought
values were declining there. He thought
that land at the park might be worth
about $1,000 an acre. The government
works at Portland Head come up to the
park. They are about 1000 feet from his
house. The court excluded question
whether he had been disturbed during
the past year by the men in the employ
Of the government.
Mr.. Morse was followed by Joseph A.
King, who gave some facts regarding
Great Diamond island. Land on Great
Diamond sells for from $500 to So, 500.
an acre and in his opinion thirty-three
acres of land there would be worth as
much as the thirty-three acres the gov
eminent wants at Cushing's. He had
Cushing's for $3O00
A. l.. Farnsworth, an assessor of the
city of Portland, was called, but like the
other assessors had no personal
knowledge of values at the islands, and
gave way to Mr.. Both, who added to his
previous statements, the exact height
above high water mark of the ten acres
owned by Mr.. Robinson of Chicago.
At the req uest of the foreman of the
jury, there was a general explanation
given of the ways" at Cushing's. The
line of questioning had special refer
ence to the much talked about middle
road" In answer to question by Mr..
Baker, the court said that at the proper
time the jury would be instructed that
ways that may have been trampled down
without opposition on the part of the
owners of the land, do not take the
place of ways established by the original
plan, unless the original WAYS have been