East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1910-12-10

DR.. Henry Waldo Coe has brought
suit against w. ]. Furnish in the cir
cult court in Portland for 100000 ac-
tual and 100000 punitive damages
for an alleged conspiracy to defraud,
defame and injure Coe in his handling
Of the affairs of the Inland Irrigation
company and the Furnish Ditch COM
pany.
Coe has also filed suit against the
Inland Irrigation company, the Fur
nish Ditch company. Furnish and H.
L. Moody for 100000 damages be-
cause of the cancellation of the con-
tract held by him for the handling
and sale of the lands of the two COM
panies He also asks costs and dis
bursements.
The two suits. in which Coe asks
aggregate damages Of s1,400,0 900, have
grown out of the dispute between Coe
and Furnish over the transaction of
the business of marketing the Furnish
lands near Pendleton in Tmatilla
county.
Will Answer Charges.
"At this time I do not want to re-
ply in detail to the charges made by
DIR Coe neither does Mr.. Furnish"
said Colonel J. H. Raley to the East
Oregonian this afternoon. 1t is
case that involves so many things
that must be set forth al length in
order to be properly understood.
Within a short time we will file a
formal answer to the complaint filed
in Portland and until that answer is
ready We will have no statement to
make"
Answers Personal Charge.
However, upon one feature of the
charge brought by DR.. Coe, Colonel
Raley was willing to speak at once.
1t was to deny emphatically the ac-
eously as attorney for DR.. Coe and
for w ]. Furnish. According to
Col. Raley the charge is wholly un-
justified, He says that when the Fur
nish-Coe contract was drawn up the
work was done at the Imperial hotel
in Portland, He was present as at
torney for the Furnish Irrigation
company. DR.. Coe was represented
by George S. Shepard and Charles H.
Carey, while A. C. Spencer was pres
ent as attorney for the Hibernia Saw
ings bank. Colonel Raley also rep
resented w. ]. Furnish in connection
with the. bond issue that was made.
The following story from the Ore
gon Journal sets forth in detail the
charges in the complaint filed by DR..
Coe.
Sensational Charges.
In the complaints filed Coe makes
sensational allegations against Fur
nish, owner of the lands. ]. H. Raley
OF Pendleton, attorney for the COM
panies. and H. L. Moody, president
of the irrigation companies.
1t is set out in the complaints that
up to July 2, 1910, the business and
social relations of the plaintiff and
Furnish were pleasant, and that Coe
had every confidence in the friend
ship and integrity Of Furnish. He
did not believe, he says. that Furnish
would enter into any plan or scheme
to injure the plaintiff, damage his
reputation, defraud or defame him.
Furnish took advantage of this trust
fulness. Coe alleges, and conspired to
wrong and defraud him.
Coe alleges that he entered into a
contract with Furnish February 25.
1909, to handle the lands of the two
irrigation companies. When he enter
ed into the fulfillment OF the contract,
Coe says, he found that the project
was in badly tangled and disorgan-
lied condition. Furnish had been un-
successfully trying to market the
lands. The project was greatly in
debted, sales We're at a standstill and
the property apparently had no mar
ket value.
Sold Much Land.
No provision had been made by
Furnish for the construction of dams
or reservoirs, the system of bitches
was defective and inadequate, and
things were in n bad state generally.
However. Coe sets out between the
date of the contract and July I, 1910,
he had sold upwards of 100000
worth of land. for which s275,0oo
had been paid as a part of the pur-
chase price on the contracts of sale.
Reservoir sites had been purchas-
ed, dams had nearly been completed,
bitches had been reconstructed, and
the price of the land had jumped
from $40 to $50 an acre to 5000 and
$500 an acre.