Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1921-01-20
SUPERIOR COURT
Holmes VI! S h apiro
Case Resumed
viii ss Atsps ard Given to The
Jury sThs 3 prsday Morning -
One Mors Civ Case in Order Be-
sors Trial Of riminsi Cases Com


/. mencss
| The Nednesdd ssssioIAof the Ken
nebec superior burt was taken sup
. with the case Onward G. Holmes of
Augusta vs.. MIX Shapiro of Gar
diner which hal been opened on
Tuesday The thtire, testimony was
put in at the session and the case will
be argued and wen to the jury this
Thursday mornify. Mr.. Holmes seeks
to recover for damages to his auto
mobile caused irfan auto collision on
Water street id. Augusta, June 20
last, which he cleims was due to the
! negligence of thf driver Of Shapiro's
!, car.
AS soon as the Jury returns its YER
! dict in the caseNtoday, the case OF
Amesbury- Twom1y Co. VS.. Swain
will be in order Tor hearing. Ernest
L. Goodspeed of Gardner is counsel
for the plaintiff company and Sam
! uel Titcomb. Of augusta is attorney
for the defendantlh II this case is dis
posed of without Trial. 1t Is probable
that the trial of criminal cases will
be commenced this afternoon.
! Defense was orsned at the begin
/ ming of the days session In the case
of Holmes VS.. Shapiro, and as out
lined by. Attorney George w. Cover
: of Skowhegan claimed that while Mr..
johnson was drihng Mr.. Shapiro's
Ford truck in reverse to reach
a, Water street from the drive
way of the Edwards block, he
was looking .td his right and
! had a right to pr$sume that anyone
coming down the fstreet in an auto
i would travel wher{ he should by law.
Defense claimed that If Mr.. Holmes
had been driving dis required by city
ordinance, as nearE the right curb as
possible, the collision would never
have happened; That Mr.. johnson
! sounded his horn, land that after he
had driven thd carlonto Water street
to turn, Mr.. Holmes car ran into the
rear of the truck driven by Johnson.
/ Henry F, Hill of Augusta. civil engi-
neer, testified regarding points Of 10
cation upon sket}h which he had
made of the scene of the accident.
The grade in 1.-THE driveway was IL
per cent. Width Of street from the
curb to the outsidefo of the east rail of
| car track wasl II flo feet. On the
west side,of tho street nearly in front
of the Fuller q Holmay block there is
| no curb to the Sidewalk. He had
| stood in front |of tpe Augusta furni-
ture store and had looked toward the
Edwards building,3 he couldn't see
any eof the alleywAy beside the Ed
wards block except where it crossed
the sidewalk. ThF railroad bridge
! supports obstructed the view.
| The absence of aIcurb on the side
walk in front of the Fuller & Holway
| building is for thd benefit of the
| teams loading and unloading at that
building, he said Upon cross exami-
nation.
| Attorney Cover offered in evidence
the city ordinance relating to street
| traffic in Augusta which was objected
to by Attorney Mclean on the
ground that it was unreasonable, but
was admitted by Judge Beanc. Elk
ceptions were taken by Mr.. Mclean.
Mark Shapiro of Gardiner. the de-
PENDANT in the acton, testified that
he has a business office in the Ed
wards building in Augusta. Ernest
Johnson was the driver of his Ford
one-ton truck. Hell thought that the
fastest the truck would go up the
driveway GRADE in reverse was four
miles an hour. The mark on Mr..
Holmes car looked as, if the tailboard
of the truck had stfucksth car door
| fret IJo locor;ho1, Tho <]A,,oo.o. 80
Mr.. Holmes car as he had seen it.
Cross examined, he said that the
truck has a hood over the front seat
ana that the truck has worm drive.
Ernest l.. johnson of Augusta, who
was driver of Mr.. Shapiro's truck at
the time of the collision, testified that
he had been using the truck for the
carrying of fruit for about two years
He had intended to back into the
street and then driYe forward in
front of Fuller & Hplway's. AS he
backed the truck out he blew the
horn and looked over his right Shout
der and as the truck stopped on Wat
er street it was struck by Mr..
Holmes car, he testified. He first
saw Holmes when they struck, hay-
ing heard NO warning signal before
hand. He said the truck had stopped
and the wheels were all on the east
side of the east rail of the track when
the two cars collided. He described
the manner in which the two cars
came together. He was driving the
truck four or five miles an hour when
going up the driveway leading to the
street. The tailboard of his truck
was out just to the east rail of the
car tracks. There was nothing on
the east side Of the street to prevent
Mr.. Holmes seeing him. The autos
parked on the west side were down
to the overhead bridge. he stated.
There was no speedometer on the
truck, Mr.. johnson testified on cross
examination. He sounded the horn
before the truck crossed the side
walk. He had stopped his truck just
previous to the collision, at an angle
of about IS degrees in the street. but
did not see Holmes car until it
struck.
Joseph A. Perreault testified that
last June he was shipper for the Full
Ter & Holway Co. He heard a crash
and looking out he saw the Shapiro
car stopped and saw the Holmes car
running about on the rails Of the car
track, pass the Ford truck. Cross
examined. he said the Holmes auto
was going slowly. He said there
were no trucks backed up in front Of
the building at the time of the acct