Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1909-06-10

" Deyeri one oI the supervisors OF
Valley township. He has known the
road in question since 1860. He de
scribed conditions as indicated on the
blue print The fence which now
stands were the wagon track formerly
was and aots as an obstruction was
erected by the defendants The wit
ness saw them build it, AS supervior
he requested them TO remove it but
they refused to do so. BY relocating
the fence the defendants have reduced
the width Of the road from 221a feet
to 1915 feet. The obstruction is dang.
erous. When the defendants have their
horse tied in the road it is impossible
to drive by. 1t is difficult for two
vehicles to pass.
The next witness called was ]. A.
Merrill, another member of the board
of supervisors of Valley township He
has known the road for % years, dur
ing which the road was known as a
township road and the old boundaries
were always recognized. On April 81,
1908, notice was first served on the de-
PENDANTS to remove the fence, which
they refused to do. The obstruction
is especially dangerous at night. In
addition to the fence and posts erected
in the road four foot walk has been
constructed along the fence.
AFTERNOON SESSION.
The first witness called in the after
noon was d. R. p. Childs, former sup.
ervisor of Valley township. He has
known the road for 30 years The
fence as the defendants have erected
it is in the public road as it used to
be raveled-where the beaten track
used to be-
John Hendricks, former resident
OF Valley township, was sworn. He
has known the road for over fifty years
He corruborated previous witnesses.
AT this point it became plain that
the Commonwealth was aiming to
prove that the road in question before
the lines were changed by the defend
ants was recognized public highway
by prescription, accepted, maintained
and used by the public for twenty.one
years.
Jackson Maus was the next witness.
He remembered the road from the day
it was first opened. Ii is the same now
as when laid out with the exception
OF the fence built by the defendants.
James NJ. Irland was called to the
stand to identify photographs that he
had taken.
Dennis Bright was next sworn. He
has known the road in question from
boyhood He is the owner Of land
abutting on that owned by the defend
ants. The fence as moved is six feet
or more in the road. The original
fence, which was the southern bound
airy of the road, stood there from the
time that he was a boy. 1t was the
southern boundary for fifty years.
Other witnesses for the Common.
wealth were F. P. Johnson, John Con.
way. Edward Boyer. John Wintar.
steen and Abraham Hendrickson.
AT 8 p. IN. the Commonwealth rest
ed. A W. Duy in outlining the de-
fense to the jury explained that in
1853 the court Of what was then Col,
umbia county appointed three viewers
on public road leading from Reuben
Blue's saw mill to the Danville and
Washingtonville road. The viewers
met, viewed the highway and laid il
out in 1858. Unfortunately, however,
for all parties some OF the records are
lacking. But following a report Of
the viewers fence was erected l6l2
feet from the line Of the Maus prop
erty and the tract at the north Of it,
later the property Of f. P. Johnson.
The new road cut through several
other tracts until it came to the Maus
tract when it followed the line be-
tween it and the land of John Blue on
the north. This road 39 feet in width,
has been in use ever since.
1t is the contention of the defense
that Lewis Msus, the then owner, set
the fence more than 1872 feet south of
she property line. This. it is alleged,
can be proven by the location Of q
fence. which according TO old resi-
dents stood just 1612 feet north of the
property line and remains of which
can be found
1t was to recover this tract of land
that Law in the road that the defend
ants, after any amount of trouble and
controversy with supervisors. finally
removed the fence to what they hold
Is its proper location, just l61a feet
south of the property line. The orig
inal fence on the northern side Of the
road l6 = feet from the property line,