The Portland daily press., 1895-06-29
CORPORATIONS AT ODDS.
Rumford Falls Paper Company VS..
the Power & Railway Companies.

Bill in Equity Filed in Supreme Court
Claim that the Power Company Has
| Violated an Agreement and is Wanton-
1y Damaging the Paper Company.
| Messrs Woodman & Thompson, attor-
neys for the Rumford Falls Paper Com
pany, of which Mr.. Daniel f. Emery of
this city is president, filed in the clerk
of courts office at South Paris, yester-
day, bill in equity against the Rumford
Falls Power Company and the Port
land and Rumford Falls Railway Com
pany, of which Mr.. Hugh J. Chisholm is
President, praying for a temporary and
permanent injunction against these two
corporations ito restrain them from doing
certain acts alleged to be in violation of
an agreement with the paper company
and detrimental to its interests. The
case will probably be heard next Tues
day at South Paris.
| All the facts in the case have not yet
come to the surface, but from the allega-
tions contained in the bill in equity it
appears that the complainant is the own
| er of large paper and sulphite plant
| at Rumford which uses the water power
of the RuInford Falls Paper Company
| This plant was completed and began the
manufacture of paper in August, 1898.
and now employees $50 men, and running
| day and night. When the mill was com
pleted the Ru1nford Falls Power Compa-
ny, as an inducement for the erection of
| the mill, promised and agreed that the
paper company should have the use of a
way known as Card street, which is not
public highway, but was owned by the
power company, for the purpose of load
| ing and unloading cars at the mill, and
| in accordance with this agreement the
| railroad company constructed spur
| track which the paper company used for
delivering material when the mill was
being built. When the mill was COM
pleted it was found that the track was
too low to permit the logs of complainant
company to pass through the log haul up
through which they were conveyed by an
endless chain to the wood room of COM
plainant company. Thereupon the power
company agreed with the paper company
and the railroad company that the track
should be raised above and moved from
it's original location, and should remain
as changed until some further change
might become necessary to prevent in
jury to the power company, and that such
further change should be made only on
the adoption of some plan that would
accommodate the interests of the paper
company. The change was made on
July rs, 1898, and the logs passed through
the "haul-up'' all right. This condition
| remained until the 18th day of May of
this year when, without notice to the
paper company, $50 feet of the spur track
was suddenly taken up by the railroad
company, with the knowledge and con-
sent of the power company. At the time
the track was taken up the paper compa-
ny had large number of cars laden with
coal waiting to be unloaded A palo of
| these cars had been unloaded and at
O'Clock when the men stopped work the
| track was all right. During the night
it was torn up without any notification
| to the paper company, leaving the latter
| with from 90 to 80 carloads of coal on it's
hands which could not be discharged
except into carts and then hauled to the
| mill But this was not all. On the 18th
of the present month, the power compa-
ny notified the paper company that after
the first of July the track would be placed
back at it's original elevation and looa-
tion as regards the haul up, and notified
the railway company that the track
would not be operated after that date
except at its original location and eleya-
| tion.
The paper company alleges that the
| removal of the track was the cause of
much loss and damage, and that the re-
| location of the track where it was origi-
nally will render the log haul up useless
and will put them to great expense.
| The company also alleges that this re-
| location is not necessary to prevent in
| jury to the power company's property,
that it is in violation of the agreement
made with it, and is part of plan
| to discontinue the use of the spur track
which will result in great loss to COM
plainant and which is in utter disregard
of the agreements respecting the track
and the use of Cand street Therefore
the complainant asks the court to issue
an injunction to forbid the power COM
pany from interfering with the grade of
| Cand street so as to prevent the use of the
log haul-up and an order compelling the
company to replace the spur track re-
moved on the 18th of May.
The defendants answer to the bill has
| not yet been fled.