The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1900-07-26
FLAWS IN TITLE.
East Jerseys Right to Land
Questioned at
Hearing.
HEARING IN ClTpS SUIT
Cortlandt Parker, Sr. Has
Been Engaged as Col.
Prices Associate.

Especial to 'tThe Jersey City News."1
NEWARK, July 26, 1900-In accordance
with the request of the Street and Water
Commissioners made at the special meet
ing last Monday City Counsel Price has
associated with him in the suit against
the East Jersey Water Company, Cort-
landt Parker, Sr. The Commissioners on
learning of the elaborate efforts to be
made by the company in the defense of
the action because of the belief that it
would be advisable for the city to add to
its array of lawyers.
By resolution introduced by Commits
sioner Garrison. Monday the City Coun-
sci was asked to secure additional law
yers. He had consultation Tuesday
with the Street and Water Commissioners
and secured the assistance of Mr.. Parker.
When the contract of September "a, 1889,
the original one between the city and the
company, was in contemplation, Mr.. Par
ker was associated with Joseph Coult,
who was then City Counsel in preparing
the instrument. Mr.. Coult is counsel for
the East Jersey Company now.
Mr.. Parker was selected because of his
knowledge of the contract. AT the hear
ings next September in the suit between
the city and the company. Mr.. Parker
will participate with Colonel Price.
In addition to him, other lawyers may
also be retained by the commissioners.
Hearings in the suit of the city against
the East Jersey Water Company were
continued yesterday in the Common
Council chamber before Herbert w.
Knight as special master in chancery
The hearing today was continuation of
the evidence for the city.
The first witness was William H Wal
lace, of this city, who is official searcher
of the Fidelity Trust Company To that
company the city gave the work of exam
| lining the titles of the reservoirs in the
water shed and the right of way for the
pipe line from the Maeopin intake to New
ark. Mr.. Wallace has charge of the
searching of titles for the Fidelity COM
pany in all parts of the State outside of
Essex county.
The examination of Mr. Wallace was
conducted by Herbert Boggs, associate
counsel with City Counsel Price. Mr..
Boggs was especially employed by the
Street and Water Commissioners, in ad-
dition to the Trust Company. to exam
inc the titles for the city. In doing this
| he became Intimately acquainted with
| the status of all the titles involved, and
I on account of this knowledge took up the
| particular line of examination relating to
| titles.
| Mr.. Wallace, on his examination, stated
defects that he had found in the records
| of the titles. The first title taken up
| was that relating to property formerly
owned by Andrew ]. Slingerland. A right
|
| was condemned by the East Jersey Com
pany in the name of the city.
| In the records of the condemnation pro-
ceedings a notice purports to have been
served on Aletta Slingerland. Mr.. Wal
| lace stated that at the date of the no.
| tice, Aletta Slingerland was dead. Her
| interest in the property had been that of
| a mortgage. Although the condemnation
proceedings were commenced in 1891,
Aletta Slingerland had been dead in 1882.
for in that year the mortgage she had
| held had been transferred by her admin
| istratrix to Emily Slingerland and Ellen
Meade. No notice in the condemnation
proceedings had been served on either of
these latter parties.
| Another strip, which the pipe sne
| crosses, was owned by the late vice-Pres-
fdent Hobart. 1t was purchased by him
| from John Joseph Blauvelt. The fee,
however did not lie exclusively in Blau-
velt Besides him, Samuel and Emily
Roome had interests. No conveyance was
i made by them to Mr.. Hobart up 10 l-st
| year, when the search of the Fidelity
| Trust Company was made. Nor up to
| that time had any conveyance been made
| by Mr.. Hobart to the East Jersey Water
| Company
| The property was purchased by Mr..
Hobart evidently to transfer to the water
company, in which he was a heavy stock
holder.
| Since Vice President Hobart's death, a
conveyance of his rights has been made
| by Mrs. Hobart. as executrix of her hus-
band:
AT one point in Morris County the pipe
| line is carried beneath the Lackawanna
Railroad Company's tracks. A convey
| ance of a right of way has been made
by the company itsel ito the East Jersey
| Water Company. When the road was
| bonded, however, a mortgage was made
| to a trustee to secure the investments of
of the bondholders. The trustees re-
fused to give a lease of the mortgage for
lHt TiSHt Oh way penedth the railroad
| tracks unless the consent of all the stock
| holders was obtained.
| This has not been done and the defect
remains. The flaw in the title is more
| technical than important but it always re-
| mains to be taken advantage of by any
of the bond holders who might become
| obstreperous- 1t may be necessary, in or
der to absolutely clear the title, to begin
condemnation proceedings to obtain the
legal title to the right of way under the
| railroad tracks.
| Several other cases where the titles are
defective, were told of by Mr.. Wallace.
They related principally to the rights of
heirs. to property along the right of way.
| who could not be found by the representa-
tives of the East Jersey Company, or who
were overlooked when the right of way
was obtained.
After listening to much of this very
| monotonous evidence, Mr.. Coult stated
that as the search under the direction of
Mr.. Wallace was made in the last part of
1898, some of the defects complained of
had been cleared by the company He
proposed that the city's counsel make up
| a list of the defective titles.
'sThose that are incurahle.' - he said, "the
company will admit on the record and
those that are durable the company will
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