N&W in 1912--On trail

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Bluefield Daily Telegraph
Fri., April 5, 1912

RAILROAD ADMITS HAULING GOODS WITHOUT CHARGE
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Claim, However, That Fact Was Due to Agent's Misunderstanding of Circular
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SEVEN WITNESSES HEARD IN CASSELL & ELLIOTT CASE
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Manager of S. & S. Packing Company at Northfork Testifies That He Shipped a Great Many Goods Deadhead to Bluefield Firm
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LIABLE TO $1,000 TO $20,000 FINE ON EACH INDICTMENT
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      Huntington, W. Va., April 4 (Special).-In the United States court for the southern district of West Virginia, Judge Benjamin F. Keller, presiding, the Norfolk and Western Railway Company was placed on trail here this morning on a charge of rebating, in which connection there are eight indictments against the railroad company and eight against Cassell & Elliott, contractors, for whom the government alleges the Norfolk and Western carried freight free, A conviction on any of  the indictments will carry with it a minimum fine of $1,000 and a maximum fine of $20.000.
    The indictment on which the railway company was arraigned charges that the railway carried freight for Cassell & Elliott free between Northfork and Bluefield, both West Virginia points, but between which the road passes through a section of Virginia. The railroad did not deny the facts set up in the indictment, but claimed that the act was due to a misinterpretation of a circular on the part of the agents. The circular provided that Cassell & Elliott, who had a contract to furnish food to the Norfolk and Western construction workers, should be allowed to carry freight free between construction camps. Under this circular the company agent at Northfork accepted freight free that was consigned to the Cassell & Elliott storehouse at Bluefield.
    The government introduced seven witnesses as follows: Joseph W. Coxe, comptroller of the Norfolk and Western; T. S. Davant, third vice president and traffic manager; C. E. Moore, agent at Northfork, and his assistant, Mr. Derrish; Arthur Parker and A. L. Gregory, employees of 
Cassell & Elliott, and Mr. Orndorf, manager for S. & S., by whom the shipments were made. Orndorf said he shipped a. great many goods deadhead to Cassell &. Elliott, and the employees of the firm said that they did not, know whether they received them or not, and when a receipt for them was presented they still said they did not know whether they had gotten the goods or not.
    The case will be continued tomorrow. Holt & Duncan, of Huntington, and L. H. Coake [spelling?], of Roanoke, are representing the railway and Judge Harold A. Ritz, of Bluefield, United States district attorney for the southern district of West Virginia, is representing the government.
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Gordon Hamilton

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