Wright

This action was brought by the City of Long Beach, under the “Street Opening Act of 1903”, to condemn for the public use a strip of land approximately 60 feet wide, extending from the intersection of Anaheim Street and American Avenue in Long Beach to the south line of Willow Street, where it intersects American Avenue, and used by defendant Pacific Electric Railway Company as a portion of its private right of way between the cities of Long Beach and Los Angeles. The length of such strip, including street intersections, involved in the Wright case is 5,370 feet, and in the Hall case 2,480 feet. On each side of the strip are streets now known as “American Avenue”, and the purpose of the proceeding is to widen that thoroughfare for the public use by extending said use to the land occupied by said strip. The portion of the right of way involved in the Wright case is intersected and crossed by seven streets and that in the Hall case by one street. The map in the Wright case shows seven streets entering American Avenue which do not cross the private right of way, and the Hall ease five.

The cases were consolidated for the purpose of trial. Respondents demanded a trial by the court,…