, 1899-05-05
The April Courts.

Extracts from the Cape May County Gazette.
The several Courts of Cape May
county convened on Tuesday morning,
April 25th, with Supreme Court Justice
George G. Ludlow and Common Pleas
Judge H. S. Douglass on the bench,
the court room being crowded to its
utmost capacity.
The obtrusively plain appearance of
the was considerably modified by
a t~astefully arranged collection of
bright-colored blooming plants arranged
by the deft hands of Sheriff John w.
Reeves.
For years it has been apparent that
one of the greatest needs of the court
house was suitable desks for the exclu-
sive use of the Clerk and Sheriff during
the sessions of court, and the experience
of the present week added force to this
demand.
The Clerk called the following grand
Jurors, all of whom answered to their
names: Foreman, A. Carlton Hildreth;
Richard B. Sites, Samuel E. Ewing,
Latimer r. Baker, Frank S. Ashmead,
l.. E. Hughes, John Mecray. Harry G.
Wheaton, Benz. f. Barker, Lewis Still
well, Enoch Madara, Alexander r.
Ludlam, Stephen B. Wilson, Thos. E.
Ludlam, Furman Pilgrim, Charles
Matthews, Charles Way, Frank Ruth
erford, Jacob Feldman, Joseph Hand,
Charles Brewer, James Budd, Edward
G. Wheaton, r. Howard Thorn. Mr..
Thorn, being the oath man, was ex-
cused.
IN THE COMMON PLEAS COURT.
Lawyer Joseph Douglass, Jr., moved
for Sd default in the attachment case
of r. w. Ryan vs.. Taylor Henry;
allowed.
The four Appeals noticed for trial
were disposed of as follows:
No. l, Joseph Dallas VS.. Theo. Whea-
ton, went off for the term by consent.
No. 2, Lemuel E. Miller, appellant,
and Cape Island Gas Company, by
j.. Henry Edmunds, Supt., appellee.
Mr.. Samuel Beldon, representing Ed
munds, insisted upon trying the case,
sASs.sa that having secured
1897, was entitled to enjoy the benefits
of the same before the dawn of eternity.
MI. J. S. Leaning, counsel for Miller,
said his client was in Mexico, and
wanted the case to go over again, for
Nc. 8, Allen Waters, appellant, and
Irving Vessels, ct al, appellees; went
over" on account of the illness of Mr..
Waters
No. 4, Burgher V. VanHorn, appel
liant, and John w. Wilbraham, APP
pellee, Mr.. John B. Huffman, attorney
for VanHorn, and MI. iona. Hand, at
torney for Wilbraham.
1t appeared that in June, 1896, Mr..
VanHorn, who is a prosperous builder
at Wildwood, entered into negotiation
for the purchase of a lot or lots with
the well known Frederick E. Swope,
giving the latter, or his agent Wilson
Banks, a check for $50, dated some
days ahead in order that he might have
time to investigate the scheme. Mr..
VanHorn says that he learned suffi-
Gent to convince him that he was the
victim of a skin game, and stopped
payment on the check. The check was
endorsed by Swope 'to the order OF
John w. Wilbraham,n who sued Van
Horn before Justice Nichols, obtaining
Judgment in full VanHorn appealed
and the case was retired before Judge
Douglass. Wilbraham swore that he
had cashed the check for full face value.
that he had several times demanded
payment, and that VanHorn had at
one time promised to work out the
amount of the check. This statement
the defendant denied emphatically.
After the testimony closed, Mr.. Huff
man asked for a non-suit OH the ground
that plaintiff had failed to prove the
signature of Swope. Decision reserved.
In the Supreme Court list was the
suit of Ocean City Association VS.. Wm.
Shriver, in tort. This suit is one, the
final termination of which, will proba-
bly, affect the title to hundreds of val
liable ocean front lots along the coast of
Ocean, Atlantic and Cape May coun-
ties, the point at issue being the owner
ship to ~alluvial deposits made by the
action of the sea. In October, 1894, the
plaintiff Association sold an ocean front
lot to one Howell, who in 1897 sold it to
Shriver, who used it for a boardwalk
business, buying at the same time the
riparian rights of the state. Subse-
quently the land "made outn for a con-
siderable distance, and when the city
put down its new boardwalk last sum-
mer the Association started to erect a
pavilion on the front between lot $40
(Shriver's original purchase) and the
ocean. Shriver at once took foreible
possession, and appropriated the piling
thereon to his OWL uses, claiming that
under his deed and the riparian grant,
he owned to low water mark, including
all alluvial deposits. The plaintiff al
leges that the state had no right to con-
vey him such a right, and that if it did
so, the title cannot be sustained. The
case is attracting a great deal of atten-
ton among owners of seashore property,
and it is said that hundreds of other
property owners are ready to take adj
vantage of the result of this cas- if it
shall be decided in Shriver's favor by
the Court of Errors, where it will un-
doubleday go, no matter which wins in
the Supreme Court. Samuel w. Bel
don, of Camden, and Albert A. Howell,
of OCEAN EifV ranraSapt ShriVar and