Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1916-09-15
Former Attorney for the Com
pany States His Views Be.
fore the Southwest
Improvement Club.

President Fred Schsmel and Sec
rotary F, w. Fitch invited Attorney
w. ]. Connell to come before the
Southwest Improvement club last
night to explain the status of the
franchise OF the Omaha & Council
Bluffs Street Railway company. The
club has been fighting perpetual"
franchises for municipal corporations
and has now turned its attention to
the street railway company.
"As most OF you know. for many
years | was attorney for the street
railway AS you also know. my
resignation as such attorney was ten
dered and accepted about the first of
the present year. | am now free
lance, and ! propose, during the
last decade of my legal career, to
represent the interests Of the public
and to battle on the side of the in
jured and the oppressed in place OF
fighting for the street railway COM
pany.
"Had the knowledge | possess re-
garding the franchise rights of the
street railway been acquired in con-
nection with my services as at
torney for the company, | would re-
frain from saying anything about
them. But. what | know regarding
these rights is entirely from or
dinances and other records and from
legal proceedings prior to the time
| entered the service of the street
railway.
In the early days Of street rail-
way litigation, represented the old
Cable company. known as the two
streaks of rust, and with John D.
Howe made successful fight against
the present company and its claim
to the exclusive use of the streets OF
Omaha. | might also correctly add
that | am the original pioneer in the
prosecution of damage suits against
the street railway. And, it is some
what interesting fact, that the first
personal injury suit | ever had against
the company, cuts quite figure in the
franchise rights of the company. I
refer to the suit of Mrs. Doolittle
against the old Omaha Horse Car
Railroad company, reported in the
Seventh Nebraska reports, at page
48l. Mrs. Doolittle was quite badly
injured by being thrown from car
as she was in the act OF alighting.
| commenced suit for her to recover
$1,000. well remember the nature
and extent of her injuries by reason
Of the account her husband gave of
them while witness on the stand.
Mr.. Doolittle was a machinist in the
Union Pacific shops. After asking
him his name and in what business
he was engaged, / asked him if he
saw his wife and made an examina-
ton Of her upon his return home from
the machine shops on the day OF her
injury, to which he replied that he
did. / then asked, what did you find
as the result of your examination
and he answered, I found she had
two ribs broken and one badly
sprung. The result was, the jury
allowed $1,000 for each Of the broken
ribs, and $1,000 for the sprung rib
thus giving her the full sum we claim
ed of $1,000, and judicially establish
ing the value of fractured ribs at
$1,000 each and sprung ribs at $1,000.
After obtaining this verdict the next
thing was to collect it. For the pur-
pose OF defeating Mrs Doolittle in
the collection of her judgment and to
avoid other liabilities, the Omaha
Horse Railway company went out of
business and turned its entire as
sets over to a new corporation known
as the Omaha Street Railway COM
pany. 1t is the franchise OF the old
Horse Railroad company that the
present company now claims to hold
and also claims that such franchise
is a perpetual franchise. To secure
and hold this franchise the new com
.pany was obliged to pay the judgment
Of Mrs. Doolittle, amounting at the
time of payment to over $4,000"
No Foundation for Claim.
Mr.. Cornell commended that "the
claim of the street railway company
that it has an exclusive right to the
streets of Omaha or that its franchise
is perpetual, is a claim utterly un-
founded in fact or in law"
He quoted from the act which was
passed by the legislature in 1867
granting to the Omaha Horse Rail-
way company fifty-year franchise.
"As will be observed" he continued,
"the term of the franchise is for fifty
years from the first day Of January,
1867, with the express provision that
at the end of fifty years, to-wit:
January l, 1917 the road and other