Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1919-10-16
Eig Verdict in Federal Court
James Blay Given Damages of
S14,687.60 Against Grand
Trunk System

After a trial lasting eight
DAYS in the Federal court IN
Windsor James Blay of New
port, Vt, who sued the Grand
Trunk Railway Of Canada for
the sum Of $4,000, for inJur-
les received at WaterVille, Que.
in August, 1918, was awarded
the sum of S14,687.50, the jury
returning the verdict on Wed
ne3day afternoon.
This was one of the longest
drawn out cases that has ever
taken place in Windsor in ma
ny years. The origin Of the
case was the death Of EX-Goy-
ernor George H Prouty which
took place at WaterVIIle, Que.
in August, 1913, Blay being the
chaufer of the governors car
at the ttu1e Of the accident: The
nan issue oi the case rested on
tie Yoi1C of whether the cross
ing bell at Wat3rvllIe, Wh-oh
is so constructed as to give the
ala1m Of an approaching train
did not QC as /. was supposed
to. The IDEA o1 the bell alarm
system vas th&t il it was IN
good 0rdnr it would give the a
lasm Of an approaching train
when tbs tran was within
thousana feet o. the crossing.
Mr. Blay testified that the bell
did not ring and that he there
fore drove his car TO the cross
ing, reaching there just IN time
to receive the impact OF a tram
whose approach could not be
seen on acc0 mt OF the thickness
Of the fog, it being shortly after
7 o'clock in the morning. The
governor was bound for Len
noxville, Que, which is four
miles from Waterville, and hav
ing 20 minutes time to get there
from the crossing before men
toned, was not in need OF be-
ing driven fast to his objective
point.
The contention OF Tie Grand
Trunk was thaG if ordinary
discretion had been exercised
there would have been no trou
bic.
Last July MES. Henrietta
Prouty, widow OF the eX-gOver-
nor, fought a suit against the
Grand Trunk system to recover
damages for the death Of her
husband, the ad damnun being
at S300,O00. MIS- Prouty, al
though having as good a case
against the company as did the
chauffer, Mr. Blay, was de@eat-
ed in her action, the trial taxi
ing place at Newport.
Soon after the trial of Mrs
Prouty's action had come to an
end, some new evidence was
found. E. A. Whitingham, al
electrician of Richmond, Que,
then appeared in the case Mr.
Nottingham was at the time of
the accident, employed by the
Grand Trunk system. He af-
terWaTd was discharged.
He came to Windsor as Blay
witness and on the stand said
that he, with others, went TO
the crossing the night after the
accident and renewed the bat
teries which caused the bells to
give the alarm of the approach
ing trains. He said that he
found the batteries in bad
shape; that is to say they we're
in a weakened condition and
probably were not strong E.
nough to do the work required
Of them. The jury evidently
believed all Of Whitingham's
story.
Another witness who helped
materially in the prosecution of
the case for the plaintiff was
Jacob Nicol, Crown Prosecutor
for the District of St. Francis,
at Sherbrooke, Que. Mr.. Nicol
explained the Canadian law on
the subject of railroad cross
ings. He said that the govern
ment of Canada prescribed a
certain standard for the install
alton of a system of alarm for
& preaching trains and that if
a 2ilway system changed the
idea of the government stand
ard and received no permission
from the Board of Railway
Commissioners to do so, such a
railway was in duty bound to
install a fagman at the cross
ings and to reduce the speed Of
trains to ten miles an hour
wn they approached these