Magistrates’ Court.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 3536, 20 June 1905, Page 2

Magistrates’ Court.

FOXTON, JUNE. iG, 1905. (Before Mr A. D. Thomson, S.M.) LENNOX V. JOHNSTON. In this case Robert • Lennox, for whom Mr Harden appeared, sued Charles Johnston, represented by Mr Arkle, for £2O value of a horse lost while in the custody ot defendant, a liv«rv stable keeper. The plaintiff deposed to having left the horse at Johnston’s stable on April 27th last. He paid 2R for stabling for the night and left the horse thera. Next morning witness went for the horse, and the stableman (Marsh) said he thought he (witness) had taken it. Marsh then said the horse had come in from the paddock that mom in?' with the coach horses. It was Jone then, and though witness looked for two hours he could not find it, and had not seen it since. He valued the horse, which really belonged to his brother, at £2O. The 2s paid the stableman was to cover keeping the horse till the morning. To Mr Arkle : This was not the first time that the horse had been taken to Johnston's stables. Witness did not make any special arrangement tor feeding or paddocking on this occasion ■i,„ horse was to be kept till tnorn- . mss had used the horse preiiig. j] ie South Island. vio'ndK-: (fort? aim » •><», Witness The hdfsg Wild dll aged 0,.„ horse had not told file sJdWciiiai! the had been in the family for over ?-o yeart. Witness’s brother kid Utld httt! six or sever! years. . Re'examined by Mr Harden: The last witness saw of the nurse was when it was handed over to the stableman.Alex Drummond stated he knew Johnston's stables, and the stableman “ Tack ” Marsh. Witness heard one morning, on coming in from the swamp, that the horse had been lost. Witness knew the horse, and would think him worth /14 or £ls in me saleyard. . f To Mr Arkle: The stableman told him the horse was in the stall that morning. The horse was over nine years old, but witness would not say

he was 20. Hugh Kinley, carter, stated he knew the horse that was lost. Mdrs'h asked him a <U\y or two after the horse Was Jeff if he had seen it. John Lyons, who said he had used the horse in March, assessed the value of the horse at {.12 tofu- It was an aged horse but he could not say how old. , Charles Lennox, brother of the plaintiff and owner of the lost animal, stated that three or four days after the horse was lost he went to the stables, when jack ” told him the horse had been in'the stable on the rooming he was lost, having evidently followed the coach horses over from the paddock. Witness would not have taken £2O for the horse. He had been offered £25 for him in Canterbury four years ago, and before putting him on the boat fa bring him here wdtness was offered £ ls. He had paid £5 or £6 to_ bring him up. Witness did not think he had ever put this particular horse in the stable. He might have told peop’e he had had the horse for 20 years.

To the Magistrate : The horse was supposed to be six years aid when witness got it, when he swapped a mare lor it that cost about £ic\. Mar-htold witness something about finding a candle in the paddock, and that some staples had been drawn. This was after the horse could not he found. Witness did not, however, take much notice of these remarks. To Mr Harden : Witness did not think the horse was advertised tor.

This was the plaintiff’s case, and Mr Arlde called—

John R. Marsh, stableman at Johnston’s stables, whomuembered 0 1 I 'l 27th April last plaintiff brought the 1 horse and paid for a feed and naddocking for the night. The horse had been in there often before, and the usual r practice was to feed and paddock the horse, hut on this occasion Lennox ; paid beforehand. Witness nut tin ■ horse in a paddock, which he locked. After the coach left next morning ; witness sent a man (Smith) to the pad ■ dock tor a spare coach horse and Lennox’s horse. These were the onbones there that night. Smith returned with the coach horse, hut said the other was not in the paddock. Witness was positive that the last t>me hsaw Lennox’s horse was when he mft: him in die paddock the night before. He had never told anyone the hors; was in the stable that morning ; ho had never seen him since. Robert Lennox on one occasion told witness the horse had been in the family fw a 1 good many years. Lennox had boasted of the age of his horse, though he had never actually stated how old he was. ’ Witness thought the lost horse would not bring a “ fiver,” at auction. Plain- - tiff came to witness next morning at about nine o’clock. Lennox, in reply to a query as t® where the horse would make for, said he might be at Lyons’ or his brother’s place in the Lady’s Mile. Search was made h" Lennox, Smith and witness, but the lior.se could not be found. Witness did not think the horse, if it had got out of the paddock itself, would have gone away; it would have com.; over to the stables. To Mr Harden: Witness went to the paddock when Smith told him Lennox's horse was gone, and fences, gate, etc., all seemed secure. Three, days later, at a post near the gat 1 ', three or four top staples were drawn, and the wires were hanging loose. The hoi-.se could not have got out unless taken out. Witness did nog remember speaking to anyone hut Robert Lennox regarding the horse 0:1 the morning of its disappearance, To Mr Arkle: Had the wires been tied down where the staples were drawn the horse could easily have been taken out. Witness remembere I mentioning to one of the Lennoxe; that he had found a piece of candle in the paddock. . To the Court; The key of the gat - j lock was in the stable room, anil I Lennox knew where if was, j At this point the Court rose, and the; I case was adjourned till the next sitting on July 13th.