Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1904-02-13
COMPLICATED CONTROVERSY.
TILr BETwEEN CousTY COURT
AND A LEeAL Fiam,
removal Of Pmbiic TOAD Furnishes
Ground for an interesting
Hattie

! evening granted 90 the Berkeley
County court an injunction restrain
ing the Standard Lime ~ Stone Co.
from placing a track upon or ia any
wav obstructing the public road ieac
ing past the company's quarries at th'
southern edge of the city.
This ID one of the developments u
IN ipterestino controversy now BEING
waCed between the County conrt and
the STANDARD company, with the
GERRY Ran a. Potomac railroad in
volved ais the third and Involuntary
party. Some time ago the railroad
tracks of the Standard company, which
paralleled the Charles Town pike al
the quarries were rendered unfit Tor
use pv reason of the giving way Of the
embankment on which they were con-
structed. In order to remedy this, the
Standard company sought.t to outain
possession, through purchase, Of a
norton OF the roadway, aud is legal
representatives went before the rounty
court with petition for the latter to
change the road to q point about ~
feet from its present line.
This. it is claimed BY the attorneys
for the quarry people. would save to
the company many thousand dollars.
aud would obviate ihe necessary Of
building long retaining wall along
the embankment which recently gave
way, and on which it Rad run its rail
road tracks. Pending the contemDlat-
ed purchase Of the desired st'lp OF
roadway, the stone company moved
it's tracks to point along the public
highway where the members Of the
County court believed them to be a
menace to public safety. The stone
company was notified to remove the
tracks by the County court aud the
latter received "a communication from
the attorneys in which they, in effect
declined to comply with tire order of
the court. Then tue injunction pro-
ceedings followed and the stone com
was enjojned from using the
tracks they had recently moved onto.
the road.
The attorneys for the quarry people
state that all arrangements had been
completed for the purchase of the
strip OF land which would have beer
renuired by the removal of the Charles
Town road from its present location.
but that the deal was blocked bv'reas
on of the fact that one Of the mem
bers of the County conrt, who holds.
as trustee, portion Of the land re-
fused to consumate the deal, after
agreeing to sell. Tho attorneys also
claim that this member of the court
bad no right to sit in Judgment in the
case by reason of the fact that he is
an interested party. although this
statement is considered to be trifle
far. fetched.
After the County court had refused
to consider the proposition to move
the Charles Town road to a new strip
of land, the attorneys for the stone
quarry people, who are also the at
torneys for the Cherry Run railroad.
presented bill for $1,000 damages to
the County court, on behalf of the
railroad. These damages are alleged
to have been occasioned by reason OF
the injunction secured by the County
court against the railroad in the mat
er of the crossing in the northern
part of the county; but it is openly
stated about the court house that the
bill for damages, as well as u possible
suit in the court, is a measure of re-
or coercion because of the
County courts refusal to facilitate
the road proposition of the attorneys
for the quarry people, This, however,
is denied by the attorneys who pre-
.ented the bill.
The case i'm nutshell is that the
quarry people wish to purchase the
present road bed of the Charles Town
pike for a distance of "A few hundred
feet, in order to escape the expense of
retaining wall, Offering to
bear all the expense of theN removal.
They failed, however, to get.the land
for the new road bed, but removed
their tracks to the present road before
the deal for the new land fell through.
Then the County court requested
them TO vacate the public road, which
they declined to do, and an Injunction
was granted by Judge Faulkner pro-
hibiting them from using the tracks.
In the meantime the controversy was
aggravated by the filing of the bill
on behalf Of the Cherry Run railroad
by the attorneys for the quarry
people.