The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-05-07
DOUBT REMOVED.
Recent Court Deci-
sion Has Created
Confidence.
LAWYE RS ARE HAPPY
They Believe Land Owners
Can Secure Heavy Dam
ages From State.
LAWYE RS ARE HAPPY

Clinton. May 6.-If the metropolitan
water board ever had a prospect of
settling with the large number of per-
sons of this and surrounding towns,
whose land has been taken by the state
it is gone now.
In a conversation with several of the
lawyers who have suits to try for eli
ents who want more money for their
land than the state is willing to give,
the correspondent of The Spy found a
vast amount of glee on their part ov-
er the victory won by Judge John NJ.
Corcoran, in Cunningham VS.. Common
wealth, in which a verdict for $40, 100
was rendered for the plaintiff
In this case the office of the attorney
general was willing to settle for APP
proximately $1,000, which the plaintiffs
had refused. The verdict was a gain of
$4,000 for the plaintiffs, which leaves
them a nice margin of gain after pay
ing lawyers fees.
Among the local attorneys who have
suits against the state growing out of
the condemnation of land for the Wa
Chusett reservoir are e. A. Evans, Wal
ter r. Dame, Jonathan Smith, Il. F.
Larkin and of course Judge COrcoran.,
There is a feeling of confidence among
these attorneys that did not exist be-
fore the verdict in the Cunningham
case, which is felt by everybody here
to be a brilliant victory.
Persons who contemplated bringing
suits are holding back in the belief that
oh Of q
ment with the water board is better
than it was
The people throughout this section
took unusual interest in the Cunning
ham case. The settlements that have
been made with men whose land has
been taken have been so unequal that
nearly all, regard the water board and
the office of the attorney general with
suspicion. A few men have received
much more as it is generally conceded,
than the reasonable value of their pro-
perty, while many others have found it
impossible to get what they consider
fair market value.
Undoubtedly much of the bad feeling
that exists toward the office of the at
torney general is due to the manner in
which the cases have been handled.
The effort to employ neighborhood eX-
perts met with great popular disfavor.
The Spy once published exclusively a
story dealing with the procedure.
The Spy also published a letter
written by Assistant Attorney General
Hallowell, in which he explained that
the experts were consulted in the inter-
est of the claimants rather than against
their interest.
This letter was considered by the To-
cal attorneys, and by Judge Corcoran,
an indication of weakness. This opin-
ion was confirmed when the superior
court, sitting in Boston, decided that
those who sue the state for land da-
images in the matter of the reservoir
are entitled to hearing by jury in the
superior court.
That the attorney generals office has
been guilty of grave errors in tactics
all lawyers here believe.
This town, where old fashioned New
England morals are very much the
| rule, has been twice treated to sensA-
ttons along unaccustomed lines, this
week.
The matter first referred to may be
more properly described as the renewal
in modest way of a sensation. By
the publication in The Spy of the list
| of divorce libels on for trial in the SUI
periOr court in Worcester, the details
| of scandal even now far from an
cient, were recalled. The case of Ropes
VS.. Ropes heads the list. 1t is a drama
in local high life. Its climaxes will not
| be pleasant. The husband sues. The
! cause set up in the complaint is the
worst
The second affair is not scandal in
! fruition like the first. but one in germ
ination. 1t was observed in the supper
room at the May festival, on the first
| night. Pretty much everybody of
wealth and distinction not only in this
| town but in this vicinity was presett t.
! The crowd was at its largest when d
| man of acknowledged social position
and wide influence came in to supper
with the other woman The wife was
already there, with some women
/ friends. Many people who knew the sit
| uatiOn expected a scene There was
| none, however. The wife, with a high
| breeding and scornfulness that every
| body admired, simply but not see. At
! terWard the other woman left the hall
! in a carriage. Almost at the same in
| stance the wife left to walk to her
| home.
! All Of this was so public and the cir
cumstances attending it so well known,
| that it has been universally talked
( about in town all this week
Morris Meyer, the Mechanic street
| jeweler. is not in the least phased by
| the financial misfOrtunes that over
whelmed him recently. Yesterday at
ternoon his stock in the Mechanic
street store was sold at auction to
Louis L. Gray of New York by E. A.
| Evans. the assignee. Thomas Murphy
was the auctioneer. Today MIR. Meye,
was engaged in packing the same
| stock. He will transfer the goods TO %
High street, the store formerly occU-
pied by Strout. the jeweler. Here he
| will be in a better location To the
correspondent of The Spy he said. this
afternoon: Nov | am out of my bust
ness troubles. I expect U, get along all
right. My new store is in a superior
location. 1 think l shall do better than
| 1 have ever done before"
! The Kennedys closed their engage
ment at the Clinton theatre tonight.
| Manager Cannon will close the season
with the pastoral comedy, Joshua
! Simpkins,' Wednesday evening
! Many young people connected with
| the Unitarian church here, will go TO
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