Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-05-31

district court at DeS Moines. The ver-
dict which was rendered by jury of
twelve men after about one hours de-
liberation gives to the city $14,520.33
the full amount of the principal and in
terest asked for by the city. The AS
syrian Asphalt company, being in bank
ruptcy, was not defended in the case
and the entire amount, of the judgment
was rendered against the bonding COM
pany.
History of Case.
The history of this case which has
attracted great attention, not only
throughout Iowa but also other states,
is briefly as follows: The Assyrian
Asphalt company of Chicago, in the
fall of 1898, secured the contract for
the paving of West Second street. The
work was to cost the city 1000 To
guarantee the durability of the COM
pany's work and also to guarantee that
the paving be kept in good repair for
period of seven years the American
Bonding and Trust company, of Balti-
more, executed bonl for $4,000 to
the city.
OF Poor Quality.
The paving put down by the COM
pany proved to be of very poor quail
ty and within a year the asphalt top
began to crumble. Meanwhile the AS
syrian Asphalt company failed and the
bond company was called upon to put
the pavement into proper condition. A..
u. Sinclair, a Chicago engineer, who
had had charge of the work original
ly, was sent out by the bond company
and made extensive repairs. This
work did not prove successful and in
1902 suit was brought by the city
against the bankrupt comp any and the
bond company for the full amount. of
the bond.
In District Court.
The suit was brought in the Wapel-
10 County District court and was ap-
pealed by the bond company to the
United States court at Keokuk.
Recently it was transferred from the
Keokull court where it could not have
been heard till the October term to the
same court at Des Moines.
The case was called Wednesday
morning and after three days trial
before Judge Mcpherson and jury a
verdict was rendered yesterday after
noon upholding the claim and the de-
mand of the city in every particular,
City Solicitor w. H. c. Jaques, had
charge of the case on the part of the
city and was assisted by Attorney Will
liam McNett as counsel for the Ottum-
wa Traction & Light Company which
was responsible for the paving seven
feet in width beneath the tracks of the
company W.. w. Epps and G. w. Whit
more, of Ottumwa, and the Keokuk
law firm Of Scott Howell G. Son, rep
resented the bond company.
The witnesses for the city who at
tended the trial were Mayor T. H.
Picker, City Engineer G. R. Allen,
Chief of Police John w. Gray. N. L..
Arrison, G. G. Keyhoe. Daniel Smith,
William Shook, E. l.. Daggett, Charles
Snoop. G. Ream, j. F. Brady, NJ w,
Roberts.
The witnesses who testified against
the city were Fred Dings. James King,
w. E. Jones. S. H. Burton, NJ. L. To
land, A. j. Sinclair, of Chicago, F. P.
McC ormack, special engineer, of Kan
sas City.
First of Kind.
The case is the first one of it's kind
to come to trial and is of the
greatest interest and Importance to ev
cry city of the state which is engaged
in public improvements. Had the bond
company won it would have been a
valuable precedent.
The bond company denied it's liabil
ity on the ground that the completion
of the paving by the Assyrian Asphalt
company and its acceptance by the city
of Ottumwa was a release of the bond
Judge Mcpherson instructed other
wise.
Point Was Valuable.
This one point, had it been sub
mitted to the jury, would have been
of immense value to the bond com
panies of the United States inasmuch
as it would have established a pre-
cedent of allowing bonding companies
to escape liability in similar cases
where guarantees for a term of years
are made and the bonding company
given the right to plead a release
when the work was accepted by the
city Judge Mcpherson instructed the
jury to find whether the work was
done in a workmanlike manner and if
the materials named in the specifca,