The morning journal-courier., 1908-12-18
Long Trial in Superior Court Ends With Judgment Against McMullen, Weand & Nc
 Dermott Company.
OVER HARTFORD BRIDGE
Stone Supplied by plaintiifs Unpaid for and Contract Broken by Build CTS of structure Over Con
 nccticut River.

After one of the longest trials in the
 court history of Connecticut, the jury | in the clyil sioc of the superior court
 yesterday afternoon brought a verdict
 of S3l5l6,99 for Peter anu John Beattle
 against the McMullen, Wcand & Me | Dermott company the builders of the
 Hartford bridge which was recently
 dedicated with so much ceremony, The
 suit was for $SiOOO Judge Ralph
 Wheeler spent most of the morning in
 charging the jury They brought in q
 verdict at o'clock and took the case
 at noon.
 The case was over contract for
 stone that the plaintiffs had with the defcudants There was large amount
 of stone for the bridge ordered by the builders from the Beattie brothers who
 conducted business from their quarry
 at l.cete's Island in Branford They carried on this business and sued for
 their father 8s his administrators,
 They sued in their own names in rep
 resentative capacity. The testimony
 was that the bridge builders did not
 pay for a large part of the stone they f had furnished and that the contract was broken They had charts and nr-
 dcrs to show that the granite that was ordered was to have been cut in cer-
 tain way, The builders said that they had ordered it cut in T different way, Pieces Of granite were introduced In evidence 10 show that they had been cut as the contract said they should Dc. Those were among the exhibits that the iury took with them while de- cldinE the ease.
 The jury have over 95o exhibits in fll There were scores of books con talumg figures or orders, contracts and payments between the Iitigants, dozens Of maps and charts, and many letters \ and memordanda
 It is understood that the jury spent | almost all of the time they were ir | their room in discussing the amount o' 1 the verdict and that they were unani Y nous from the first that there should II bo some decision in favor of the plain | tiff IL is said that they went over th' K evidence and exhibits in an effort ti K determine what damages should h' N awarded and that most of tho three \ hours in the jury room was spent 1T Y discussion and but little n halotng b Judge Wheeler delivered learne, Y charge to the jury that showed tha 'E hc had dclycd deep Into the subject Q |E it This occupied from the time Q II opening court until llAi when the iur! N went out From shortly after 1 until ts o'clock. they were excused for lunch II con- Al exactly { o'clock in the after M noon they delivered their verdict The 4! brought verdict for over s26000 an' II for S5.0O0 interest Judge Wheele M thought that this was excessive inter est for a moment or two, but, as man of tho contracts were over four year old. he soon figured that the jury ha' H calculated correctly.
 !k Immediately after the verdict, 1ndS n II. Stoddard, counsel for tho dc'encc N filed a motion to have the judgment sc i! aside This win be considered some III time in the near future lt is sail M that in the event of its not being al M lowed that the defendants will appea N the case.
 M The trial opened on November IS \ Il that time, Peter Beattc took in I stand For sxty-two and a half hour !. during the court sessions of tho mex El ten days, hc occupied it making tn t record for the longest testimony by single witness in the state court an nals. The trial itself is one of th longest civil trials on record, oacapy l ing the full time of tho court fc M twcnty-onc court days
 M Counsel in the case were Judge ! stoddard and ex-Congressman Lou
 sperry of Spcrry x Mclean of Har'
 ford, and Judge Zacher and Willal K II. Ely of Ely Hacher and Ely of in M city. The former represented the dc
 fcnse and the latter the Bcattie brotl N CTS