Western Carolina Democrat and French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1913-1915, 1913-05-29
FUTURE OF MILLION AND a. HALF
DOLLAR POWER DEVELOPMENT.
fcontinued from 1st Page.l

dertake to change the law after the
condemnation proceedings had been
begun, and he further took the position
that Mr.. Oates had no holdings that
could be developed with his present
plant and that the I~nterurban company
should be allowed to proceed.
On the other hand, it was conteRded
before the Legislature that If the In
terurban Company was allowed to pro-
| coed, it would ruin the Hendersonville
company and would destroy property
to the value of nearly $685. 00. Mr..
Stewart wa showed under and the act
was passed by the jury seem to have
| indicated his position for by their
erdict rendered on Saturday afternoon
they found that the lower riparian
rights for which the Hendersonville
company demanded $55, 900 were worth
$500, an dthat the upper rights for
which it demanded $3.50 0 were worth
$4,000. The jury further found that
the Hendersonville company had at
the lower place no power at all that
could be developed.
An Independent Company.
When the matter was before the
Legislature the charge was made that
the promoters of this compny were
but members of a water power trust
of which it was charged that the
Southern Power Company was the
head. 1t developed on the trial of
this action at Hendersonville last week
that there was absolutely no ground
for this charge, and that the men who
are behind the Organization are form
ing an entirely independent company
for the operation of an ~interurban sys-
tenn and the furnishing of electric
power. 1t was also shown in evidence
that the Kuhns of Pittsburg, Pa, a
branch of Kuhn, Loeb & Co., the great
trust magnates, are fighting the Blue
Ridge Interurban Railway Company.
Spartanburg Takes Notice.
OF especial interest to the people of
S~partanburg was the testimony of Mr..
Knox, the manager of the Spartanburg
Railway & Power Co., who testified
as a witness for the Hendersonville
company. Mr.. Knox's company owns
the street railways in Spartanburg and
is now the only company furnishing
light and power to that city. 1t would
not be hard to guess that he is desir-
Gus of keeping the Blue Ridge Inter
urban Railway Company out of Spar
tanburg. On the witness stand last
week Mr.. Knox testified that his Spar
tanburg company had a contract with
the Kuhns of Pittsburg, Pa, that if
the latter could defeat the Interurban
company in the contest over some of
these riparian rights, then the Spar
tanburg company would buy out the
1 1h7ac nh 11r0o0ols--1 oo1s014 4ho
interest controlled by the Kuhns have
been moved into the Federal court
and will be heard by Judge Boyd at an
early date.
Contest for Water Powers.
The rivers of western North Caro-
lima have been for ages dashing their
way toward the sea and beyond their
value in furnishing a little water to
the RIPARIAN owners they have been
considered almost v~alueIess until with
in the last few years. Suddenly the
whole country seems to have walked
to a realization of the fact that here
in the bosom of our mountains is to
be found power enough to run rail-
roads and motors of all sorts without
number. Hence, the struggle to OBJ
tain possession of these water powers.
The courts and juries and everywhere
trying out the rights involved.
Goes to Supreme Court.
The case at Hendersonville will go
by appeal to the Supreme court of
North Carolina. Judge Lyon reserved
his final decision until the 1st day of
July, but as soon as he renders his
judgment the case will be passed up
to the Supreme court and the rights
of the parties will be there finally de-
termined by the highest court of our
State.
Notable Array of Attorneys.
There was a notable array of attor-
neys appearing in the case. For the
petitioner, Blue Ridge I%nterurban
Railway Company, were Tillet &
Guthie of Charlotte. Smith & Shipman
of Hendersonville and Judge James S.
Manning of Raleigh, while appearing
for the Hendersonville Light & Power
Co., were Judge James H. Merrimon,
Britt & Toms of AshevilIe and Michael
Schenck and Station & Rector of Hen
Jacksonville. This list of attorneys
will guarantee the truth of the state
ment that the case was bristling with
points from start to finish, and that
many knotty problems will be put up
to the Supreme court for it's final solu-
gtion.
Speech of Mr.. Smith.
Hon. w. A. Smith, who was one of
the attorneys for Blue Ridge Interur-
ban Railway Co., spoke in part as fol-
lows:
sThere are just two things in this
case, the facts and the law. It is not
what the lawyers says, it is not the
argument of the lawyers,-the only
thing the lawyer a do is to point out
the facts SO you can make the argu-
ment. 1t may not do any good but it
is the, business of the lawyers, and
that is the way they make their living.
If you don't lie me talk to you, I could
not make a living, so you have got to
help me make my living.
Let's see if We can get out of the
brush. 1 want to say something and
mean every word I say. 1 don't want
- 1ooolx - JScno no orn~a0n4 80 ~o--