The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1920-04-12
Conference Over Liability
for Bridge Loss Avails
Little
TOWNS TO TAKE
ACTION AT ONCE
Consulting Engineer Expected Here To-
day-New Bridge to Be Put On ard
Power Co. Will Be Asked to Pay
Bills-Temporary Pile Bridge LIKELY

Because of the failure of the officials
of the Connecticut River Power Go. to
appear, not much was accomplished Sat
urdav afternoon at the scheduled confer
ence by the company with the selectmen
of the towns of Brattleboro and Hinsdale,
y. H.. and their counsel with respect TO
the question of liability for the loss on
March % of the steel arch bridge which
spanned the river between this village
and the island and for damage to three
highways.
Affairs took a turn which to the Sc
lectmen was wholly unexpected, when
they gathered in the law Office of Harvey,
Maurice, Whitney & Fits. The select
men of the two towns and their attor-
news had expected to find Henry /. Har-
riman, director of the company, and
probably the company's chief counsel
and perhaps an engineer there, as there
had been talk to that effect, but not only
were they not there but Attorney Harvey
J said the company had not asked Tor 4
conference Hence there was little TO do
except TO ldik ONbf Il lew AutibtStS liAAOA
mally without getting anywhere
| A few days after the bridge was taken
| from its foundation and plunged into the
| river the selectmen delivered to Attor-
ney Whitney. local counsel and secretary
, OF the company. a demand that the com
pany make good the loss of the bridge
and the damage to the highways. lie
replied as secretary of the company, and
in his reply was the following para
graph;
"We do not admit any liability what
soever in these matters. We should be
very glad. however, to meet YOU and your
representatives in conference and 90 into
these matters fully. If this suggestion
meets with your approval we should be
glad to arrange with you for an early
meeting at some time and place which
would be mutually satisfactory TO those
interested"
The selectmen took this to mean that
the company would like a conference, sc
it was arranged to meet Saturday after
noon. Hinsdale was represented by Select
man Henry w Taylor, former Select
nan Orrin G. Robertson and Attorney
Stephen s. Jewett of Laconia, y. II
Brattleboro was represented by Select
| men S. A. Richmond, w Z. Stellman and
: A. D. Wyatt and Attorney A. p. Carpen
| ter. Attorneys J. \. Harvey, NJ P
Maurice and r. /. Fits of the law firm
were present, Attorney Whitney not at
tending
Attorney Harvey stated that he under
stood the impression had gone out that
the Power Co. had asked for conference
, which he said was due to misinterpreta
ton of Secretary Whitney7s letter. Tht
/ idea which it was intended the selectmei
\ should have, he said. was that if they
: wanted conference the Power Co. would
a be glad to meet them.
He reiterated the Power Co.'S position
e that it did not admit any liability, bu
K did not wish to state in detail the fact
n on which it would base its attitude. Th
), town officials stated that under thos
r conditions all that remained for th
J. towns to do was to repair the roads ant
d put on a bridge and look to the Powe
d Co for reimbursement.
e Steps were taken Saturday night il
e the selectmen's meeting looking towar
4 a new bridge. They got in touch wit
Engineer John w. Storrs of Concord, y
H.. and it is expected that Mr.. Storr
will meet them here this afternoon.
o terms can be agreed upon it is expecte
% that Mr.. Storrs viii be engaged as con
sulting engineer and viii be given charg
of the proposition of securing a neN
:. bridge
y One of the first things for the enginee
- to do will be to have the old bridge exam
= ined, probably by diver, to determin
10 its condition. The water in the rive
V. was so low yesterday that a section c
m the bridge about 30 feet long was visibl,
ia and what had been thought to be plank
,r ing was seen to be tree lodged in tn
d wreck. Indications were that the ste,
s. was badly twisted and broken, but nc
TO enough of it was visible to make sur
8. on that point. The water was draw
e-