Daily Kennebec journal., 1904-11-24
Case Of Finn vs.. n. {.
Tel. and Tel. Co.
Accident Occurred in Augusta
Aug. a., 1903.
Plaintiffs Case Complete and Defence
to Be Presented. Friday.

leiepnone ana Telegraph COMPANY
was resumed before Justice Whites
house in the Supreme Judicial Court.
yesterday morning. The case proved
to be somewhat drawn out. and a ver-
dict is not expected before late Friday
There will be no session of the court
today. AS previously stated in the
columns of the Journal the case is OF
considerable local interest. The acci-
dent occurred near the intersection OF
Capitol and state streets. on the af-
ternoon of August -. 1903 The p1o-
ceedlnSs of the entire day Wednesday,
We're i'm receiving the testimony of witt
nesseS OF the accident. and there was
llltle out of the ordinary Mr.. Finn
the plaintiff in the case testified during
the morning and graphically described
the accident.
Court convened ut o'clock in the
morning. and the Judge council
ana jury repaired to the scene
Of the accident. to locate the
numerous poles. wires. etc, which
We're to ebe mentioned in evi-
denca. The hearing at the court room
was resumed at 10 o'clock. John A.
Mcdonald. an employee at the State
House was the first witness called. He
WAS standing near the entrance to the
north door of the State House. on the
afternoon of Aug. "a 1903 About 4.SO
O'Clock he heard shouting. and looking
IN the direction of State and Capitol
streets saw that something was the
trouble. He Immediately went TO the
scene. and was preceded by James c.
Blaine. Jr.. by IL few feet Arriving
near the pole he observed Mr. Finn
hanging. apparently lifeless. from the
lower arm or cross bar of the pole. Ac-
cordlng to the version of the witness
MI rim was hanging by means of his
left foot caught around the pole. with
DIS mead toward the ground He de-
scribed how Mr.. Blaine went up the
pole. and finally with ropes succeeded,
IN lowering Mr.. Finn to the ground.
lie observed the plaintiffs clothes afire
under the left arm. which in his opinion
We're ignited by close contact with live
wires. To witnesses KNOWLEDGE he d;d
not recover consciousness before helm.
taken to the City hospital. in the am
bulance.
In cross examination by Attorney
Leslie l.. Cornish. witness told of see.
ing the telephone men at work previous
to the accident.
"1lllam l.. Thompson the next Wit
ness, is, ana was. at the time the acci-
oeht occurred. employed as engineer
ara fireman at the state House. His
attention vas attracted by shouting.
and he immediately proceeded to in
vestisate the cause. On observiny
the seriousness OF the accident Mr..
thompson went back to the State
House for the purpose of telephonine
the kennebec Light & Heat Co. to
shut off the current on their wire.
This wire is the one which is supposed
to have shocked Mr.. Finn.
Horace I. Stone of Sewall street was
also an employee at the State
House. He was at the scene of the
accident and described with assist
ance of numerous questions from coun-
sci. the accident as he saw il. He
told of Mr.. Blaine's going up the pole
and lowering the plaintiff to the
ground. His idea was that Mr.. Finn
was dead when on the pole. and even
after ne was lowered to the ground he
was not expected to live. He further
stated that Mr.. Blaine was told not to
touch the man on account of live
wire.
Tho next witness called was Edward
Wiggin. clerk n the educational &C.
partment at the State House. He ex-
planned to the court that the window
in the room where he was engaged
working, overlooked the lawn Of the
residence of the late Hon. James G.
Blaine. In looking out Of the window
before the accident. he had observed
men at work on the telephone poles.
and a little later when he heard shout
ing in this direction he instinctively
felt an accident had occurred to some
Of the men at work on the line. He
went to the scene. and his description
Of the occurrence was the same as
previous witnesses.
Edward T. Finn. the plaintiff in the
case. testified in his own behalf. Mr..
Finn lives in Beverly Falls. is 40
years of age and married. Since the
accident he has been unable to per-
form manual labor to any extent and
is still attended by a physician.
According to his story he has in past
life been engaged as a mill man. lum-
herman and lineman. His experi-
ence as iineman dates from 1886
when he went to work in the employ
IF the New England Telephone & Tcie- I
graph. Co. Later he worked for the |
Union Tel. Co. and in the |
spring of 1902 re-entered the employ |
of the former company. working for
them constantly since. He described |
the varied experience as a lineman.
telling of his work in the many cities
md towns, and the foremen he worked
under.
Coming to the day of the accident. i
Mr.. Finn in company with seven
,ther line and ground men and fore
nan, were working on Capitol street.
bout 4.30 o'clock in the afternoon
~ <ho IL, frov1f NJ IA III