West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1895-09-19
CRAIG VS.. THE RAILROAD.

Charles u. Craig sued the Il. X 4.
q +. Railroad for %, 200 damages.
On Tuesday morning. in the Cir
cult Court. the jury returned a
verdict giving Craig judgment tor
$3.50 damages.
There has been more interest
manifested in this case than any
other Of the kind in this Court for
years. The citizens Of the town
have attended in large numbers,
and great variety OF opinions
were expressed as to what the YER
dict Of the jury would be.
The case was opened on Saturday,
September 9TH, and continued ten
days. A large number of witnesses
were examined aud the costs have
amounted to large sum of money.
Mr.. Craig was so unfortunate as
to have his large barn, which stood
near the railroad track, burned
down about two and q half years
ago. For this loss he held the
railroad company responsible, claim
ing that the barn was fred by
sparks from the locomotive.
He also claimed damages for a
failure of the company to fence a
certain field on his farm, as con-
tracted for.
A claim was also mado by Craig
against the company, asking for
damages because of failure of the
company to provide proper crossings
on the railroad through his farm.
General damages for 50, 900 were
asked for. The items to be proven
were: 5000, the value placed upon
the barn; $427.50, the value placed
upon the contents of the barn; $50
per year, for eight years, damages
claimed on account of the crossings,
and $40 per year, for eight years,
damages claimed on account of
failure to fence the field.
The best of legal talent was em =
| ployed on the case. Messrs. Fort
ney and Crogan were the attorneys
for Mr.. Craig, and Messrs. Wot.
ring and Dawson represented the
railroad company. Mr.. Craig was
the prosecuting witness, of course,
for himself, and Mr.. j. A. Martin,
general manager of the railroad,
looked after the interests of the
company. Legal points were holly
contested by the attorneys and a
great deal Of time spent in exam =.
ming and cross examining the wit
nesses. The argument of counsel
on both sides was eloquent and in
dlcative of the great ability of the
four attorneys.
1t is not our place to comment
upon the verdict of the jury.
Twelve good and true men heard
the evidence, with al of the details,
and the merits Of the case were
doubtless correctly summed up and
fairly weighed, and the verdict is
the result.
The jury did not grant any dam
ages for the loss of the barn,
they evidently believed the fire was
caused in some other way-not from
sparks from the locomotive. The
$3.50 damages awarded to Mr..
Craig was for the failure to put a
fence around his field.
The costs in the case will amount
to very close the sum of $500, as
near as we are able to ascertain from
those interested. The costs the
railroad company will have to pay.
There is some talk of an appeal,
| ouI VIC hIe uOI aOl0 TO learn any
thing definite concerning this, as
Mr.. Martin, the general manager
Of the railroad is out of town.
The jury was composed of the
following gentlemen: .A.Grimm,
foreman, Thomas Sanders, Nelson
Gibson, King jenkins, Frank Rode.
HEAVIER, Thomas f. Loar, L. K.
Frankhouser, Clark Hamilton, b.
f. jenkins, l.. W. Hibbs aud Geo.
B. Duff.
Over at Terra Alta last week one
OF the most popular young men of
/ HI L....... L..---- 4 ;.