Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1900-03-21
Wednesday March 2l, l9
SOUTH CAROLINA NEWS.
Suit Against Southern Railroad.

SUUTH CARULlNA NENo.
Suit Against Southern Railroad.
Edgefeld correspondence Columbia
State, 10th instant Hon. n. G. Evans
and Messrs. Thurmond and Calhoun, of
this place, representing Messrs. Bell
& Davis, merchants of Edgefeld, filed
very important suit in the clerks Of
fee yesterday against the Southern
Railroad company. The case will test
the legal right of the Southern to the
ownership or control of the South Car
olina and Georgia railroad. Sometime
since the Southern secured control of
that road, and is now operating it.
By an act passed by the South Caro-
lima general assembly in 1897, all rail
roads are prohibited from purchasing
or securing the control of a competing
line, and Furnishes the road so purchas-
ing and securing control of a compel.
ing line by imposing penalty of 800
a day tor every day it operates the said
competing line. Plaintiffs consider the
Southern railroad and the South Caro-
lima and Georgia railroad competing
lines, and they so allege and hope to
prove it. If that is done the Southern
will have very heavy penalty to pay.
Liqour May Be Sent c. o. d.
Columbia correspondence News and
Courier, 10th: Every since the dis
pensary law went into effect in this
state, liquors shipped into the state
from another state, G. O. D., by ex-
press, have been considered contraband
and the constables have always been
instructed to seize all such shipments.
This course has been based on the as
sumption that the payment of the G.
o. D. charges amounted to a sale of
liquor in this state, and was, therefore,
a violation of the state dispensary law.
Under this assumption no end of seiz-
ufes have been made in the past, and
the express company came to that
point that it refused to take shipments
of liquor G. o. D. Recently, however,
the Southern Express company had
the matter referred to the governor for
legal investigation. The governor re-
ferred it to the Office of the attorney
general, and today the assistant attor-
ney general filed with the governor an
opinion that holds that G. D. d. ship
ments are within the dispensary law
and shows that the assumption hereto
fore to the contrary has been without
warrant of law.
Water Rights in Spartanburg.
Spartanburg correspondence News
Courier, 14th: Yesterday the court
was engaged in deciding very import
ant case. There was not so much
money involed, but the principle made
it interesting. For years people have
been going ahead obstructing streams
and building dams, and about the only
damage claimed in the past has been
caused by ponds producing sickness or
flooding lands above. But with the
multiplication of factories other nice
questions arise. Last year damage
case was brought against the Carpet
Factory, at Gaffney, because their dyes
polluted streams for several miles be-
low. The case in point yesterday was
this: The White Brothers have mills,
a cotton gin and ice factory on Law
sons Fork, near town. The Whitney |
Cotton mill is about two or three miles
above it. When first built the Whit
new dam was wooden structure with
considerable leaking. IT was claimed
that the natural flow and volume of
water was kept up even when the gate
was closed. But a few years ago
water-tight stone dam was built at
Whitney. During the day the water
would fall below the top of the dam
and when the gate was shut at night
the stream below was much reduced |
in volume. White Brothers claimed in
consequence of this that they could not
run their ice plant and cotton gin at
night for want of water, and that they
could not start up early in the day, for
the Whitney water did not reach them
for one or two hours after the gates
were lifted. r. K. Carson represented
the plaintiffs, and Simpson & Bomar
the defendants. After much testimony
and able arguments the jury gave
verdict for the defendant. This case
may 60 up to the supreme court:
This subjecr of riparian rights snd
privileges is an interesting one. Some
farmers were in town Monday, looking
up the law as to obtructing the migra-
ton of fish on small streams that ran
through several farms. They claimed
that persons below them had entirely
obstructed the streams with traps and