Perth Amboy evening news., 1924-04-22
Start Condemnation
OF DOnneu Co. Land
Witnesses Are Heard by Com.
mission Sitting Today at
the City Hall

Testimony is being taken today at
city hall in the condemnation pro-
ceedings being brought by the state
against the w. J. Donnell Lumber
Company in order to secure certain
lands of that company needed in the
construction of the approaches to the
new bridge between this city and
South Amboy.
Before taking up the Donnell case,
members of the condemnation COM
mission that settled the case with
the National Fire Proofing Company,
signed the necessary papers in which
the company sells to the state for
$65,000 the property needed by the
state in the bridge work. The state
had offered $41,742.50 to the fire.
proofing company. This offer was
refused, the company claiming the
property and damage was worth
$149.500. The settlement of $65,000
was the result of the commissions
work in the case. The firm of Con-
over and English represents both the
National Fireproofing Company and
the Donnell concern. Judge Will
Tam Newcorn, former assistant at
torney general, is representing the
state.
The condemnation commissioners
in the fireproofing company case
were Rene P. F. Won .Ninden of N :
Market, Alfred S. March of New
Brunswick, and Ira r. Grouse of
Perth Amboy. In the Donnell case
DR.. William Z. Ramsay of this city
is taking the. place of Mr.. Grouse.
the other two commissioners re-
naming.
The Donnell company refused the
offer of $29,405.S0 made by the tate
for the property. Today's hearing
for the purpose of allowing the COM
missioners to decide upon a fair
price was the result. The commits
sioners and those subpoenaed for
the hearing, inspected the condemn
ed land prior to the opening of the
case.
Clarence w. Hudson, bridge engi-
neer, who designed the new bridge
across the Raritan and is supervising
the construction of the structure, was
the first witness called.
Engineer Hudson was questioned
at length on the heighth of the fill
to be made on the Donnell property
taken by the. state. and which is
known as tract No. 1 an effort evil
IDENTIFY being made to show the COM
mission the bridge construction
would cut off the approach to tract
No. 2 of the Donnell property and
make it hard to reach. Many tech
nical questions were asked concern
ing the construction Of the bridge
approach and the use made of tun-
mel leading to and from the work.
Mr.. Hudson declared the contractor
nf ha
questions, which had to do with the
use of the tunnel by him and pub
lie vehicles.
The next witness called was Lee
Grover secretary of the State High
way Commission, who presented the
records of a recent meeting of the
commission in which provision had
been made by the commission for a
new approach to the property known
as tract No. from the main high
way.
John Hanson, local real estate
broker, who has been in business in
this city for the past twenty-five o
years, was called as the next wit
ness.
Mr.. Hanson was called upon to
testify as an expert by Judge New
corn, representing the highway COM
mission. He told of selling property
and owning property in the vicinity
of the Donnell property and of TAX
ing the trouble of looking up other
sales when asked by the state to
testify at the hearing. He told of the
sale of the Sayre & Fisher property
consisting of thirteen acres in along
the river in Woodbridge township in
1919 for the sum of 5000 an acre
and other sales in 1917 and 1920.
In each of these instances, Mr.. Han
son declared the property was with
in a mile or quarters of a mile
of the Donnell track and he held
that property so situated in Wood
bridge township is as valuable as
that in Perth Amboy.
(Continued on Page y