The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1920-07-19
MOSCOW ATTORNEYS
WIN BIG LAND CASE
BOOM e. MORGAN NOTIFIED COURT
REFUSES NEW TRIAL In CASE
THEY WON

Morgan & Boom received notification
Sunday that Judge j. w. Knowles, of
the. northwestern Oregon district
court, including Union and Wallowa
counties, had refused to grant a new
| trial In the case of e. A. Anderson VS..
The Wallowa National Bank and the
! Enterprise Mercantile e Milling Co.
This is case in which Morgan &
Boom appeared for the plaintiff and
won verdict for $4,000 in the Wal
| Iowa county court in May, last. The
| defendants had asked for new trial
on the grounds of error in the trial
of the case. Their prayer is rejected
and the verdict holds.
The case was hard fought and aw-
akened great interest. The verdict
was the largest returned in Wallowa
county in many years. The defend
ants are among the oldest business
firms of Enterprise, dating back to
1888, and were strongly entrenched
politically and financially The case
was tried before jury, which prompt
ly brought in a verdict giving the
plaintiff every cent claimed, with six
per cent interest from May 20, 1916.
The case involved the sale of 1840
acres of land belonging to E. A. An
ucISOuy WIZ WdS luuoDLSu W Lie bdUh
and the Mercantile company sums to-
falling about $4,000. He also owed
a mortgage company something like
$4,000 and other debts which the bank
and milling companies assumed and
then induced Anderson to give them
deed to the land, but gave him a
contract by which he had a right to
sell it at any time within six months
and Anderson was to have all above
the Indebtedness amounting to about
$24 ,000) and the bank and milling
agreed to deed the land to
the purchaser.
Anderson secured a buyer for the
land in the person of w. j. Morrow,
of Whitman county, Washington, who
agreed to purchase the land for $32,-
500, and arranged to close the deal on
May 80, 1916. He went from the An
6ersOn ranch to Enterprise on the eve
ming of May 30, and Anderson was to
meet him there the next day. The
evidence showed that the bank,
through its officers and agents, in
duced Morrow to refuse to close the
deal until after June /, on which date
Anderson's time limit expired, and Of
tered to sell 1t to Morrow for less
money if he would wait The deal was
not closed and Anderson sued for the
difference between his Indebtedness,
ana the price Morrow would have paid
ior the land, amounting to $8O2o.03,
with six per cent. Interest rom the
late the sale is alleged to have been
broken up He got judgment for the
ull amount
Morgan & Boom made one of the
strongest fights ever witnessed in
WallOwa county court and made many
friends by their handling of the case.
1t its close they were offered a num- !.
Der of Importance cases in Wallowa
county, including another, quite sim
lar, against same bank. j. w Nor
'ow of Albion, Wash; and J. E.
lessly of iIoscow, were witnesses for
he plaintiff. The only witness for the
,ank were its officers and employees.
The stories of the two sets of wit
lesses were flatly contradictory, but
he jury evidently believed the stories
old by the DISTINGUISHED Witnesses
or the plaintiff in preference 10 the
Interested witnesses for the defense.