Not-so-good old days

Mainers took each other to court, 70 years ago, for many of the same reasons as are cited in today's reports. From the May 1, 1931, issue of the Norway Advertiser comes:

Superior Court Suspends, Friday Night to Re-open Sometime in June

Court adjourns Friday night to re-open sometime in June. Justice Chapman is scheduled to preside in Sagadahoc County, June 1. After this the Oxford County court will continue with six civil cases and several divorces, two being contested. However, it is possible business may be finished in season to adjourn finally Friday night.

The case of Ray P. Hall of Oxford against Walter P. Pottle of Auburn was a suit for damages sustained in a collision of automobiles on Nov. 11, 1925, at the cross-roads of the Oxford-East Oxford road and state highway No. 26. Hall’s car was demolished, and he received severe injuries. The sum named in the writ is $10,000. A verdict for the defendant was returned after the jury had been out four hours and forty-five minutes.

In the case of Amedie Morin of Mexico v. Adelbert Bilodeau of Lewiston, the jury returned a verdict for defendant. This was also a damage suit resulting from a collision of automobiles in Dixville Notch on June 5, 1930.

Four damage suits were brought against Mrs. Ann Dunbar of Castine as the result of an accident at the junction of the Skowhegan-Bangor road and the Pittsfield-Hartland road, when the car which Mrs. Dunbar was driving struck a ledge. The suits were brought by Miss Helen Collins, a niece of Mrs. Dunbar, Mrs. Frances Poland, her sister, Miss Constance Poland, another niece, all of whom were passengers in the car, and by Charles Poland, husband of Mrs. Frances Poland, for the expense and loss of companion ship. Hutchins and MacDonald, attorneys for plaintiffs, Lancaster and Beliveau for defense.

In naturalization proceedings citizenship was granted to Agnes Kerr Dickson, Robert J. W. Johnston, Johan P. West, and Walter Plascouskis, all of Rumford; Joseph West, Mexico; Owen J. Richards, Upton; Genwaro Parello, Rose Marie O’Neil and Anthony J. W. Byrne, all of Rumford.

Verdict for the plaintiff in the amount of $86.56 was returned in the case of Nora Withum of Mexico v. Mike Marshall of Bethel by an Oxford Superior Court jury, which had been out two hours and forth minutes. Motion for a new trial was immediately filed by Attorney Beliveau.

Mrs. Ruby Green of Norway fainted on the witness stand early Wednesday afternoon when testifying in the divorce proceedings of Mrs. Doris Nason of Norway, now a housekeeper in North Waterford, v. Linwood E. Nason. Mrs. Nason charges cruel and abusive treatment, stating that her husband kicked her and threw rocks at her the evening she left him. She seeks the custody of a sixteen months old daughter; the father has the other child.

Thelma Robbins Brown, daughter of H. Arthur Robbins, Norway, selectman, is suing Noval E. Brown for non-support. Mr. Robbins and Miss Melverda Robbins testified. The suit is uncontested.

Rose Annie Scothorne of Norway charges cruel and abusive treatment in her divorce suit against Clifford Scothorne. She seeks care and custody of one child.

Alex Stelmok of Rumford held on a nuisance charge, had his case continued until the November term of court.

The cases of Gladys Hall v. William N. Crosby, Fred Hall v. William Crosby and James Sennett v. John Sennett were continued until the November term.

The cases of the International Agricultural Equipment Corp. v. Kalle Pulkkinen and Scribner Brothers v. Moses B. Smith were settled out of court by agreement of counsel.

Kenneth Keene of Buckfield pleaded guilty to cheating by false pretense and his case was continued for sentence. He was given probation with orders to report to Sheriff Frothingham. Parker Bartlett of Rumford, pleading guilty to larceny of a model A Ford valued at $300 and owned by Ceylon Putnam, was sentenced to the State School of Boys at South Portland. He was later put on probation.

As is our custom, we try to exactly reproduce the grammar, spelling, punctuation and style of the original. Commas might appear where least expected and remain absent where we’d expect them if the item was written nowadays. On the other hand, consistency was not considered of utmost importance, so variations of a spelling might appear within one story. In addition, some words were abbreviated differently than today.

Where brief explanations of terms are considered necessary, they are presented in brackets [] within the quote. Otherwise, explanations appear at the beginning or at the conclusion, without quotes. Parenthesis () used in a quoted passage appeared in the original.