The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1906-08-18
WITNESSES HEARD
FOR HEALTH BUREAU
No Odors, They Say, Arose From
Garbage Dumped by
the City.
MOTION FOR N0N-SUIT
0VERRULED BY THE COURT
No Intention to Commit Nui-
sance Is Justice Smiths
Holding.

When the case against the City
Health Commissioner was resumed be-
fore Justice Smith Friday morning At
torney DAILY for the defense argued
motion for non-suit on the ground that
the court had no jurisdiction over the
person of the defendant or of the sub
lect of the action, for the reason that
boards of health arc created under the
Legislative grant in charters to muni-
clpal corporations and their actions and
determinations are quasi judicial and
neither the board nor its members can
be charged criminally or held liable
civilly for their official acts, and even
though their Judgment be erroneous, it
Is conclusive
The defense argued that this doc
trlne is fundamental and that the Leg
lslature has determined how a health
oihcer shall be punished for non-per-
formance of duty, which is that he
shall be given hearing by the State
Board Of Health and if found guilty of
the charges preferred he shall be re-
moved from Office. The defense argued
that the Legislature, having prescribed
this mode Of punishment, it is the only
method that can be pursued.
Question of Evidence.
II was also argued by the defense
by the prosecution to show that the
materia! deposited at Horseshoe
Bend" by the city garbage wagon was
of such nature as to create a nui-
sance, but, if created at all, it had
been created by private parties, who
had deposited the offensive matter
after nightfall, and that all of the Of
fensive matter had, by instruction of
the Health Commissioner, been covered
over by the drivers of city garbage
wagons,
After the motion for non-suit was
argued, the matter was taken under ad-
vlsement by the court until 9 clock
in the afternoon. When court opened
in the afternoon the Judge stated that
he could readily see from the evidence
introduced that there had been no in
tention on the part of the Health Com
missioner to create nuisance, but that
1t seemed TO him to be within the prov
ince Of the jury to determine whether
or not the material deposited on the
dump by the city garbage wagons had
been the cause of creating a nuisance
and that he therefore would deny the
motion for non-suit. Several witnesses
were then put on the stand for the de-
fense,
Testimony for Defense
Nellie Bloomquist, who stated that
one else, testified that she had never
ssmelt any odor arising from the ma
terial deposited on the dump by the
city garbage wagons.
Robert Breunsbach and Mary A., his
wife, both testified that they had seen
wagons, not belonging to the city,
dumping swill and other garbage on
tected any odor arising from the ma
terinl dumped by the city garbage
wagons
Richard Beynon testified that he had
traced the odors arising from the dump
at night to the night soil and other
matters deposited on the dump Mt night
by wagons belonging to private par
Commissioner on the Stand.
The defendant was the last witness
placed on the stand by the defense He
testified that he had never given in
structions to any one but the drivers
OF city garbage wagons to dump gar
bage on the property in the "Bend"
and that the drivers had all been in
structed to cover up any vegetable
matter that might be mixed in with
that SO far as he had known these in
structions had always been obeyed.
The Commissioner also testified that
on five or six occasions he had gone to
the dump himself and found that during
the night some one, not in the employ
of the city, had dumped swill, night
soil and other materials of an offensive
nature. The cross-examination of the
defendant will be commenced at 1890
this morning andit is expected that the
case will be concluded before court ad-
journs again.
After the theater Try German lunch
at The Heidelherc cafe annoy