It was from the grasp of the Waterford and Limerick, as I have mentioned
before, that in 1892 we (the Midland) sought, though unsuccessfully, to
snatch possession of the Ennis line. Now the Waterford and Limerick were
to lose, not only the Ennis line, but all their lines and their own
identity as well. A great struggle ensued which, from the length of time
it lasted, and the number of combatants engaged, was one of the biggest
railway fights the Committee Rooms had for many a long year witnessed.
For 106 days, from first to last, the battle raged. In it thirty-one
companies and public bodies participated, most of them being represented
by counsel. There was a famous Bar, including all the big-wigs of course,
and some lesser wigs, and numbering more than twenty in all. The
promoters were very strongly represented, but we had Littler for our
leader, who, indeed, was our standing senior counsel. Their team
consisted of Pope, Pember, Balfour Browne, Seymour Bushe, McInerny and
two juniors; our, much smaller but well selected, of Littler,
Blennerhassett and Vesy Knox; the last-named then a rising junior, but
long since a senior, and for some time past a leader, is still to the
front in the bustling, reckless, impatient world of to-day.
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