The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1911-12-14
CANADIAN N-PAG|F|C
FIRE CASES
OF Much Interest To
Skowhegan People
The Referees viii Hear the Several
arguments of the Attorneys in Port
land, Feb. |.

For the past three weeks a trial
has been in progress before the L. s.
Circuit Court in Portland of more
! than usual interest to Skowhegan, in
as much as the attorneys and most of
the plaintiffs are Skowhegan people.
j 1t was the case of Louise II. Coburn
ct ais; Charles Clark and the heirs
of Hiram Moore of Madison, and John
/ Clark of Skowhegan; Bin w. Page
of Skowhegan; and F. T. Bradstreet
of Gardiner, and Annie L. Bradstreet
of the same town. against the Cana
dian Pacific Railway, in a suit for
damages on their respective properties
alleged to have been caused by fires
set by the Canadian Pacific Railway in
1908 in the neighborhoo of Jackman.
Louise H Coburn ct ais represented
the two divisions of the Coburn es-
tate, now known respectively as the
Coburn Heirs, and Coburn Lands,
which sued the defendant railway for
approximately 5000 acres of timber
land burned in the township of Attean
and nearly 1000 acres burned in Jack
man Plantation. The branch of the
Coburn heirs which R. l.. Marston acts
for was represented by the Hon. For
rest Goodwin and Butler & Butler of
/ Skowhegan, represented the other
branch of the Coburn heirs which
S. w. Philbrick acts for. The Clark,
Moore &. Clark interest sued for ap-
proximately 1000 acres of timberland
burned in the south half of Jackman
Plantation and were represented by
Butler & Butler of Skowhegan and
Bernard Gibbs, Esq, of Madison. f.
T. Bradstreet and Annie l.. Bradstreet
sued for approximately 300 acres of
timberland destroyed by the same fire
in township No. 4, Range 7, lying
just south of the Clark, Moore &
Clark land, and Annie l.. Bradstreet
was represented by Johnson and Per
kins of Waterville, of which firm
Senator Johnson is the senior partner
represented Fred T. Bradstreet. Bin
w. Page sued for about 100 acres of
timberand destroyed in Dennistown
plantation.
The plaintiffs brought in evidence
TO show that the damage was occas-
ioned by a small initial fire set on the
right of way by the railroad section
men to burn up old ties and refuse
They claimed that this fire was set
on Sept 3, 1908, and mulled away in
the ground until Sept 9th, when a
strong wind from the northwest blew
it over Sally Mt. across the lower
part of Attean, crossing Moose river at
the New McKenney House into JaJk-
man; that the fire then mulled, grad
ually burning north onto the Little
Big Wood mountains in the north
part of Attean until the 2S1h of the
same month, when a strong wind
from the southeast carried ii across
the north part of Attean into Dennis
town and Forsythe, and that on the
10Th of October another bag gnle COM
ing from the northwest swept the fire
back across Dennistown and Attean
and completed the destruction that is
now manifest on the ground.
The Plaintiffs summoned about
ninety witnesses, in the support
of their case, mostly from
+bo rIontotiop IF IarIrrpar u+lYinb vro @
nearly depleted of its male popula-
tion by the trial. The defendants
claim that the original fire, set Sept.
3rd by the section men was put out
unknown causes about 40 feet dis
tant from this original fire, and that
this latter fire, together with two
other fires, which apparently mira
/ culously started on Sept. 9th, the day
of the first gale, was the occasion of
the damage alleged by the plaintiffs.
The railroad summonsed about 100
witnesses in support OF their con-
tention, nearly all OF whom We're en-
ployees of the road, including con
ductors, engineers, brakemen, fire
men, and section men.
The suit was bitterly contested by
both sides, both on the initial liza
bility of the railroad and on the
amount of damage which was caused
to the land 1t had been expected. up
| to the last moment that the suit
would be tried before a jury in the
/ U. S. Circuit court, and the jury had
even been sworn in, when the counsel
! for the defendants, Hon. f. c.. Ryder
of Bangor and the Hon. Herbert NJ.
Heath of Augusta announced that
they would agree to try the case be-
fore Judge Hale of the u. S. Cir
cult Court and Judge Savage of the
Maine Supreme court, as referees.
! All four cases were tried together for
J the reason that the initial liability of
the railroad applied to all of the tracts
in question. The evidence was all put
| in and both sides rested on Monday
night. By agreement the two referees
will hear the several arguments of
the attorneys in Portland, Feb. LIST,