The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1894-11-15
WINTON EJECTMEN7 suit
1t WilI Be Given to the Jury for Con-
sideratiOn Today.
FACTS DEVELOPED on TRIAL
Jennings Case Called but Had TO Dc Con.
tinued Because Juror Had Decided
Opinion-Verdict Rendered in
Moran.Leonard Case.


Lackawanna countys court has not
in its experience had a more abstruse
legal issue than the ejectment suit in
volving $4,000 that has been engaging
the attention of Judge Gunster and Il
jury in the arbitration room for the
past two days and which came to an end
yesterday at adjournment The testi-
mony on both sides was heard but the
arguments OF counsels and the charge
of the court will not be heard until to-
day.
Away back in 1876, on April of that
year, A. b. Dunning, ST., of Elmhurst,
then called Dunning, negotiated loan
of 900 with the Mutual Life Insurance
company, of New York city, and as Sc
curity executed bond and mortgage
on 1856 acres of farm land owned by him
and situated in Cummings.
W. W. Winton signed the bond as Sc
curity. Mr. Dunning defaulted in the
payment of the mortgages and the land
was sold, but did not bring enough to
cover the debt. Therefore twenty acres
of coal land, owned by Mr.. Winton, in
the Thirteenth ward was levied upon by
the insurance company and sale made,
the company purchasing 1t in. This
was in 1880, but two years before that
the same land was sold on a mortgage
held by Mrs. w. w, Winton against her
husband and she purchased it and
leased it to o. S. Johnson, Il. n. Willard
and L. A. Watres. They were in pos
session of the land when it was sold un
der the mortgage of the insurance COM
pany and are still in possession of it
and the coal company operated under
the name of o. S. johnson is mining the
coal.
Real Question at Issue.
The real question in the case is hinged
on point of law. In 1878 w. w. Win
ton became embarrassed to the extent
of $l5O.00O by the failure of the Second
National bank and he borrowed money
from his wife, who hadoa fortune in her
own right devised to her from her
father, Henry Heermans, giving her a
mortgage on the land in consideration
thereof. But in 1876 w. w. Winton
signed the bond for his brother-in-law,
A. B, Dunning, The foreclosure of the
mortgage and the sale by the insurance
company was subsequent to the sale un-
der the mortgage held by Mrs. Catherine
Winton, and the present lessees of the
land in dispute had been before the
Dunning bond sale and still are in pos
session of the land.
w. w. Winton was put on the stand
and he gave a version of the dates as
far as he could recollect occurring in
the above mentioned facts and having
to deal with them. Coal Operator o. s.
Johnson was another witness and he
testified to the lease made and other
points touching on the transfer of the
land to him and his partners for mining
the coal. Timothy Livey, n son-in-law
of w. w. Winton, was the next witness
and he told how it came that he was
concerned in the foreclosure of the
mortgage held by Catherine Winton.
Attorney Sherman, for the plaintiff.
tried to wriggle from Witness LiVey
that there was an intent to defraud in
of Judge Gunster will be awaited with
much interest. A voluminous amount
of documentary evidence was submit
ted by the attorneys on both sides.
Jennings Case Continued.
Hardly less interesting than the eject
ment suit was the famous Jennings
| trespass suit against the Lehigh Val
ley Railroad company, which was
called for trial before Judge Peck, of
| Towanda, in court room No. 9. This
suit is counterpart of the famous trial
growing out of the Mud Run catas-
| trophe on Oct. 10, 1888. James jennings.
son Of John G. Jennings, was then IS
Inflated train received injuries, 1t is al
legged, that rendered him a cripple for
life.
The young mans father Is now suing
| for compensation for the loss of his
sons services, and also for expenses
sustained while he was under medical
care.
Yesterday the case was called in
court, Attorney Cornelius Smith repre-
senting Mr.. Jennings, and /. H. Burns
the company. A jury was drawn and
Mr. Smith was just getting ready tC
open the case when Julius Moses one
Of the jurymen, stood up in the box and
addressed the court. He pleaded to be
excused from the case as he had formed
an opinion that evidence could not
change After considering his request
court concluded to withdraw him and
the case was again continued until next
term.
Plans We're Defective.
The next case called before Judge
Peck was that of Christian Alien, archi-
tect, aginst the Carbondale township
school district. Attorneys Patterson and
Wilcox represented the plaintiff, and
Attorneys eX-Judge H. A. Knapp and j.
+. Burr, the defendant. The plaintiff
is suing for fees claimed to have been
earned by drawing plans for two school
buildings. The directors allege that
Alien, through negligence made such
botch of the plans that the board was
forced to pay over $4,000 for extra work
In the main court room, before Judge
Archibald, a trivial ejectment suit be-
tween George G. Winans, as plaintiff
and Thomas d. Bevan, defendant, was
tried w. H. Stanton was Winans
attorney, and c. Comegys represented
Bevan. 1t is nothing more or less than
a fence line war, involving the title to
a strip of land two feet wide at one
end, and one inch at the other running
the length of building lot
With verdict awarding $71,79 to the
plaintiff in the Moran-Leonard case
the jury in the case came before court
and the verdict was taken.
| M,CAXVI EV.R0CHE WEnnINC