The morning journal-courier., 1908-03-06
ROAD ASKS FOR
 S30,000 DAMAGES Claims it Will Have to Build $20,000 Retaining Wall
 on Humphrey
 Street. STATION WORTH S10,000 Great Surprise Sprung on Corpora. tion Counsel Rogers in Cedar
 Hill Station Appeal Suit.
STATION WORTH slo,ooo

Corporation Counsel Edward H. Rogers was given a big surprise in the superior court before Judge Rora- back yesterday afternoon when i3enja- min I. Spock, assistant counsel of the New Haven road, announced that the railroad company intends to ask for damages amounting to $20,000 in the Humphrey street extension case, in addition to the $10,000 which is the price the present Cedar Hill station Is valued at by the railroad at current prices. This makes the amount asked by the railroad $30,000. So great was the surprise of this announcement that the court announced that it did not intend to hear the entire case yes- terday. Judge Roraback said he would give Mir. Rogers an opportuni- ty to size up the situation and decide what he wanted to do in the matter and that he would come back again to hear the rest of the case when he could arrange it. The judges regular session of nine weeks in the court will end with the short calendar of to- day and he was expected to leave New Haven after that
 The s20.OO0 asked for is to pay for a retaining wall which the railroad claims will be necessary for if to build as soon as the Humphrey street extension is put through. The exten- sion will cut right through the site of the present station. It will be seven teen feet deep on an average. It will come within eight or nine feet, MT. Spock said, of the spur of the road which now goes over to the National Folding Box company's factory and to freight siding beyond This siding is. part of the old Shore Line track. At the point in question 1t is built on a curve and rests on shifting sand bed which would surely give way and cave. in if cut seventeen feet deep came as near as eight feet to it. The railroad company claims that the retaining wall will have to extend from point but few feet beyond the southerly abutment of the bridge that will carry the main line tracks over the extension to James street, a distance of approximately 37O feet.
 Corporation Counsel Rogers asked after the trial what he has to say on the matter and he replied that he thought he had better thing it over more thoroughly before he said any, thing for publication. He was assist ed yesterday by Assistant Corporation Counsel Edward P. O'Meara MT. Spock was assisted by Attorney Hen ry G. Day of Watrous & Day, the at- torneys for the road.
 During the afternoon session yes- terday IAnald Carmichael, who is at present SSldlng the new vaults in the city hall, was put on the stand by the city to testify as to the worth of the Cedar Hill station as he saw 1t. Will lis J. Black, was also put on as an ex- pert engineer. City Engineer Kelley
 was put on the stand He testified that he remembered the time when the Cedar Hill station was built. He said it was erected entirely on
 made" land, and that the station
 building had deteriorated greatly since the time it had been built in- stead of increasing in value as the
 roads counsel tried to make it ap- pear
 During the morning session the road brought witnesses to testify tha, the property is of great value to ii since it is property that it can advan.
 tageously use for switching and ware.
 house purposes. James c. Kerrigan, 2 real estate dealer, estimated for the !. road that the true valuation of the l station was about sS.000.