The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1911-09-14

one with respect TO business and in
come.
In looking at the market value o.
any Of the component parts of thi.
system you are to take the value moi
only in relation 90 the system as
Whole but also the use TO which tn,
Pacific Power & Light Co. is actually
putting the property and its adaptable
! ity for that use
"You are further instructed that yol
can not measure the value of the sys
TEN and property sought 70 be takel
by the city of Hood River in this ac
tion by its value to the city, or by tn,
city's need for the particular property
or its contemplated use of the prop
erty.
"You are further instructed tina
you can not value any of the compo
nent parts of the system by thei
value to the city Tor by the ciy's in
tended use thereof, but you are coniine,
to consideration of the present valu,
of the system as a whole in its present
condition.
81 further instruct you that there il
no evidence before you of any compel
ing water plant in the City of Hoot
River, nor is there any evidence befor,
you that there is any likelihood of Z
competing plant coming to the city
and so you are not to consider thi,
element in arriving at the market
value of the system.
There is no evidence before yoU
that the city of Hood River is building
or is contemplating building an inde
pendent water system TO the one
sought to be taken in this action, ant
SO you are not to consider this as al
element affecting its value.
You are not to take into considera
tion in determining the present mar
ket value of the system any action
taken or threatened to be taken OF
contemplated by the City of Hoo,
River in building or looking towarC
the building of a system to supply tn,
city and that might come into compe
tition with the plant of the Pacific
Power & Light Co.
There has been some testimonl
introduced before you concerning
water shortage. If any water short
age has been caused by the careless
or operation of the present system Of
the Pacific Power q Light Co. in fur
nishing water to the City of HooC
River and to its inhabitants, and sucl
shortage could be removed by proper
and business-like management of the
present system, then the evidence oi
such water shortage should be disre
garded by you and not considered il
the valuation of the system.
If you find that either or both o.
the sources of supply of water used il
the present system is liable to contain
ination from cesspools or outhousei
you are to consider in this connection
the power and authority of the City 0
Hood River to remove the same ant
to provide for proper sewer system t.
remove such possible sources of con
tQnination to the water supply. Ii
other words you are not to consider
the source of supply vaueess, if il
would otherwise be valuable, beeaus,
it is liable to contamination if th,
source of possible contamination eur
be removed.
There has been some evidence
brought before you to the effect tha
the city of Hood River has not sufl
cient number of fire hydants in tn,
present water system. On this point
instruct you that under the terms oi
the charter of the City of Hood Rive
and under the terms of the franchis,
held by the Pacific Power & Light Co
from the City Of Hood River it is tn,
duty and business of the City of Hoot
River to enter into am agreement will
the Pacific Power 4 Light Co. fo
whatever hydrants the city may re
quire and that under the circumstance
the number of fire hydrants becomes
immaterial and does not affect in am
way the present market value of thu
system.
There is no evidence that the Cit,
of Hood River has demanded from th,
present owners, or any of the prede
cessors of the water works any by
drants for fire protection, or that Thu
present owners or any previous owners
has declined to furnish fire hydrants ol
the request of the city and | therefor,
instruct you that any evidence to th'
effect that there is not sufficient fir
hydrants in the City of Hood Rive
should be disl egarded by you in arriv
ing at the present market value of tn,
entire system"
The verdict, placing the value of tn,
plant at $32, AL, is a compromise one
Members of the jury have admittet
that the instructions of the cour
caused them to raise the price severa
thousand dollars, and had they usei
their own judgment as to the actua
value Of the plant, considering point
which they considered vital, but whicl
were excluded by the instructions o
the court, the verdict would hav,
placed the value under $25. 600. Tn,
latter price bears out the contention
of those who have fought the case foi
years, against paying the eXcessiv,
price demanded by the old company
Had vote been taken within the pas
seven years as to paying the old com
pany $25, 900 for the plant, there il
little doubt that it would have carried
by large majority. That the jury il
the present suit have admitted that il
their judgment, unhampered by th,
instructions of the court, the verdic
would not have exceeded that figure
should be particularly gratifying t.
those who for number Of years hav,
based their judgment on that figure
However, the city government, il
order to hasten the work of improve
ment in the city, is willing to submi
to the verdict. In letter receive,
from Attorney j. F. Laing by A. S
Hall, the local manager of the Paeifi
Power & Light Co.. it is stated tina
the attitude of the company's counse
is toward appeal. However, no defin
ite action has been taken by them.
Mrs. Charles II. Castner and Mrs
George H. Steinhof were hostesses o
the past week, entertaining Tuesda,
at the home of the former with bridge
! The prizes wre won by Mrs, Cannon