Norwich bulletin., 1915-06-10

1
 Roma of Montville against the
 Thames River Specialties> company
 was concluded in the superior court
 here Wednesday afternoon before | Judge Gardiner Greene and a jury,
 and the testimony for the defense was begun.
 Two widely varying accounts of just how Roma lost his leg in an elevator 1 accident at the mill in Montville over a year ago were disclosed by the plaintiffs own testimony and that of l the first witness for the defendant company. In Rona's story he claimed he was thrown to the floor of the ele- vator by its sudden jumping motion, while the first witness for the defense
 said he saw Roma riding up on the
 elevator with his legs hanging over | the side.
 MarcelIo Montesi, William Brown, James Daniels and Sadie Montesi were among the last witnesses on Tuesday, | and when court came in on Wednesday Attorney c. w. Comstock for the plaintiff called Charles H. Preston, the | architect, to the stand.
 l He testified to his knowledge of l hydraulic and steam elevators, of
 which he had installed about 40, he | said. The witness had a plan which 1 he had been asked to make of such an elevator as Roma was hurt on, but he | was not allowed to use it, as he had
 never seen the elevator and had only | made the plan from photographs and | what he had read of some of the testi- ] mony.
 Ernest E. Hamilton and Albert H. | Boue were two other witnesses. Louis | J. Dondero was sworn in as interpre-
 ter, and Antonio Roma, a relative of Loretto. gave his testimony through the interpreter.
 | Plaintiffs Testimony. l Ioi | uses crutches, as his left leg is off | above the knee, was the last witness | put on the stand before Attorney Com 1 stock closed his case. He testified
 that he had been working for the Cli- l max company for three weeks and that | on May 13, 1912, he was told by the l foreman to go from the top floor to the 1 cellar to get some paper. This was | just as the noon whistle blew. After
 eating his dinner, tried to find the i paper in the cellar, but could not find
 any, and he then went to the next floor i of the mill.
 l He said he saw the elevator moving | up slowly and when he got on the ele- 1 on to the floor of the elevator so that | his feet and legs protruded over the edge and were caught and crushed l wEen the elevator reached the floor
 above. One leg was so badly crushed
 that it had to be amputated above the | knee.
 On cross examination by Attorney
 Avery, the witness was asked about various points in his testimony on the trial of the case against the Climax l company.
 He denied that he had testified in the
 way that the attorney inquired about, l saying that the interpreter at that 1 trial misunderstood. He claimed on one point that what he said was that 1 1t was the elevator that jumped and h0 ho inn Nad O11 =o1nN fnT- Testimony for Defense. James Tyler of Westerly, a mason l for 25 years, who was employed about | the Thames River Specialties company | mill at the time of the accident to i Roma, was the first witness for the l defendant company. He said he saw | the accident to Roma, being on the ! stock room floor at the mill, between l 12.15 and 12.S0. He had a clear view 1 of the elevator and saw the elevator 1 between the floors, with Roma sitting 1 on it with his legs hanging over the l front edge, and his arms folded, and i he was looking around. As the plain tiff's head was going through the floor, 1 Roma turned, made two or three grabs I at the chain, but missed it. Roma | twisted around to get out, the witness | said, and got his right leg out, but the l other leg was caught, and when the
 elevator stopped all the witness could
 see of Roma was one foot sticking out | under the elevator. The witness said 1 there was no change of speed in the i elevator, and from the position in l which he saw Roma sitting he antici- pated seeing one of the plaintiffs feet | drop off
 Attorney Avery had MT. Tyler sit on l one end of the table in the court. room l to show the position in which he said | he saw Roma on the elevator. Stenographer on Stand.
 Superior Court Stenographer Win l field c. Graham was called to the stand
 by the defendants lawyers and was asked to turn to and read his steno- graphic notes of the previous trial
 Attorney Comstock objected, but At torney Avery claimed Roma's whole testimony in the previous trial was l entirely contradictory to the testimony
 now given by Roma under oath in this
 case.
 Judge Greene ruled against admit | ting the entire testimony on the | ground that it did not appear that the | entire testimony was contradictory but l said that the attorneys for the defend
 ant might proceed to show specific in 1 stances of contradiction in testimony l Attorney Avery had Stenographer
 Graham read several answers made by 1 Roma in the previous case as shown | by the printed record. Some of these
 showed that Roma testified that he | jumped on to the elevator and was l struck by the floor of the elevator and
 thrown on to the floor of the elevator, leaving his legs and feet sticking out, | hanging on to- the elevator. There l were also answers in which the wit
 ness said he knew neither how to stop
 nor start the elevator.
 Attorney Avery for the defendant l also claimed the entire printed testi-
 mony of Joseph Roma taken in the
 former trial is contradictory to what
 Joseph Roma had testified to in this l trial. Judge Greene made 8, ruling on
 this similar to what he had done be- fore.
 Items from the printed testimony of | the cross examination of Dr. M. E. Fox l of Montville in the former trial were also put in evidence.
 l George A. Chagnon, foreman for the | Climax company, was the following
 witness. He identified a cardboard
 sign which had been taken from the elevator, giving notice that the ele- vator was not passenger elevator
 WHAT IS HEM-ROID?