Pine Bluff daily graphic. (Pine Bluff, Ark.) 1893-1942, 1915-06-15
Supreme Court Upholds
Award to J. F. Guest and
Walter Jones.
NEW EDINBURGH LOSE
II. II. Commission Cannot Compel Rail-
road Owners to Operate Trains When
Such Service Is lnprOiitabIc and
Company Desires to Quit.

court lOuay aHlrnlCu the decision OF
the Jefferson circuit court awarding
damages 10 J. F. Guest and Walter
Jones against the Pine Bluff Natural
Gas company because Of injuries SUI
fcrcd through an explosion of gas.
while they We're at work in the base
ment of the Pines Hotel, at the time
of its construction.
On an appeal from the Bradley cir
emit court, which allowed r. w. Duck
worth $1,000 damages against the
Iron Mountain railroad the judgment
was affirmed. DuckWnrth Was a
resident OF McGehee and alleged that
while walking along the tracks Of the
railroad q wire on the train caught
his foot dragging him about forty feet
and crushing his leg.
Tic sai OF Lydia karnopp vs. the
Fort Smith Light & Traction com
pany was reversed and rcmanded.
Miss kornopp alleged that while
chasing a bird dog on the streets of
Fort Smith she fell in front of street
car. ono foot being mashed and caus-
ing amputation. The Sebastian cir
cult court ruled against her and She
appealed to the supreme court.
A demurrer to the indictment of
r. II. Bunch on an appeal from the
Lincoln county circuit court was re-
verscd and remanded. Bunch was
charged with making improper money
consideration to r. A. Martin, an en-
gineer on Road improvement district
No. I. Bunch was the contractor in
charge of the district to supply
nl r+c fDr bp rnoH work
Justice Hart dissentcd on the
ground that federal statutes upon
which the ruling was based did not
show that the person alleged to have
been approached was not performing
any official function and therefore
did not come under the terms of the
statute.
Railroad Need Not Operate Trains.
The supreme court affirmed the de
cree of the Pulaski chancery court in
the case of the Saline River railway
to restrain the Arkansas railroad
commission from compelling the rail-
| rpad company to operate it's line be-
tween Draughon and New Edinburgh,
i'll Cleveland county. The railroad
company was organized in 1901 and
tracks were laid from Draughon ON
the Cotton Belt to New Edinburgh, Il
distance of nine miles. The line was
! built as a lumber road to supply the
Saline River Lumber company at
Draughon. 1t later was extended to
Glenn. In the summer of 1913 the
timber along the line had been cut
and the railroad company began re-
moving its station from Draughon
The railroad operated two trains daily
until August 6. 1913, when the service
was discontinued. On December 6,
| 1913, the railroad commission order
ed the service resumed with one train
daily each way.
Chief Justice Hart in handing down
the decision said that the franchise
rights and privileges of a railroad
company are granted by the state in
consideration OF the resulting benefits
to the public and the acceptance by
the railroad imposed upon ii the duty
OF operating the road when con-
structed and of doing so in the man
nor contemplated in it's charter. The
facts showed that the cost of con-
struction and equipment OF the road
was $4,000: that it owns no property
except tracks and rolling stock, and
that track was badly in need of re-
PAIR; that it would cost at least So
600 to repair it, and that the road
had tried to sell for $4,000, but had
been unable TO do so, and that the
cost of operating daily trains would
be $50. while the daily earnings were
not more than $40.
The decision is closed by giving the
attorney general the right in action Of
quo Warranto to cause the charter of
the railroad company to be forfeited
because it had abandoned its tracks.
Decisions Rendered.
The following opinions were render
ed and proceedings had in the SUI
| prcmc court today:
BY Chief Justice McColloch:
State VS.. I. ii. Bunch, appeal from
Lincoln circuit; reversed ana re-
manded; Justice Hart dissents.
| Pine Bluff. Natural Gas company VS..
James +. Guest, from jefferson cir
cult: affirmed.
Fort Smith Light & Traction com
| pany VS.. James b. McDonoush, from
Sebastian circuit; reversed and re-
manded. Justice Kirby disscnts.
Hodges Bros. VS.. Bank of Cove,
from POLK circuit; affirmed.
BY Justice Wood:
A, NJ, Buckley VS.. J. A. Collins, by
next friend, from Pike circuit: at
| tirmed.
| BY justice Hart:
Martin Smith vs. First National
| bank of Dewitt, from Arkansas chan
| Gerry, affirmed.
Railroad commission of Arkansas
VS.. Saline River Railway company,
from Pulaski chancery; affirmed. JUS
tice Kirby dissents.
st. Louis, Iron Mountain and South
eln Railroad company VS.. Il. w. Duck
worth, from Bradley circuit; affirmed.
Justice Kirby dissents.
BY Justice Kirby:
Tom c. Adair VS.. The Quincy Stove
Manutac turing company, from Pulaski