SUPREME COURT.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 4943, 25 January 1877, Page 2

SUPREME COURT.

CIVIL SITTINGS. Wednesday, Januaey 24. POLL V. TONES. ‘ (Before his Honor the Chief Justice.) This was an action brought by a cab-driver . to recover damages, for that, owing' to the negligence and want of, care of defendant, a horse belonging to defendant escaped; his custody and ran violently uncontrolled. along a certain highway. Manners-street, and therewithout any negligence, unskilfulness, and improper conduct ! of the plaintiff the said horse came into contact with the plaintiff, and with a certain horse and carriage then being driven by him, and by reason of the said collision injured the plaintiff’s said horse. and carriage, and injured plaintiff. £SOO was the amount claimed. Defendant pleaded a denial of all plaintiff’s material allegations. . Mr. Barton for plaintiff; Mr. Travers and Mr. Stafford for defendants. ‘ Plaintiff deposed I was driving my cab on 15th July, 1875. I had two horses in it. When in Manners-street Tonks’ horse came rushing out of a lane near the Wesleyan Church. It was riderless, and the reins were hanging down. I tried to get out of its way, but my horses shied round all at once, and I fell off. I stuck to the reins for several yards, but my leg was broken and I had to let go. I had no time to escape. I was driving quietly at a - slow trot. My horses bolted away with the cab. I was taken to the hospital, and Dr. Harding set'my leg! I was unable to do anything for ten months. I have not recovered yet. Pieces of : bone are stitl coming out of my leg, I had to sell my horses and cab to pay expenses. I am a married man with a family, and have frequently applied to Tonks for compensation. Cross-examined ; Sold one of the horses to Macdonald, of Karori. Did not tell him the horse was too free and.frisky to drive in town. Subsequently to the purchase of the ; horse Macdonald said he was disappointed with the horse because it bolted ; both horses were old horses. lie-examined: I have frequently driven the horses, Dr. Harding proved the nature of the injuries plaintiff had sustained, and said he wquld never be able to use the leg again for heavy work. James Craig, wharf laborer, stated that on the day of the accident Tonks’ horse was tied to a staple attached to a post in a lane off Manners-street. It had been the practice, of defendant to leave the horse tied in that way. Sergeant Heady deposed : I saw Poll at the corner of the street coming towards Willisstreet at a steady trot. Next.l saw the pony belonging to Tonks ’ in thestreet. It was crossing the street from the lane towards the Wesleyan Church and wjls in front of the other horses. ' The cab-horses turned “quickly round and bolted, having shied at the pony. Poll fell off. , He, was pulled along by the reins, was screaming, and apparently was in great pain. I have seen the pony standing on the footpath several times, and once I was going to summon. him before, the Resident Magistrate’s Court. - John Petford, jun., gas titter, of Mannersstreet, saw the pony run up the lane into the street* and then saw Poll’s horse bolt in consequence of taking fright at seeing the pony. David Muir, cab proprietor, stated that Poll was a careful driver, and his horses were perfectly quiet. Joseph Frederick Spiers, cabman, gave similar evidence. This was the case for the plaintiff. Mr. Travers submitted there was no case for the jury, oif the grounds (1) that there was no evidence of defendant’s negligence, and (2) that the negligence of defendant (if any) was too remote a cause of the accident to render him liable. (Fowler v. Adam, 2 Tawton Rep.) His Honor held that there was evidence which should go to the jury. Mr. Travers then called A cabdriver named Ackhurst, who deposed: I was on the side of the road standing by the Royal Oak Hotel. I saw Poll going along at a medium pace. I saw the pony coming along from the lane, a good distance from the cab. Poll drove on. The horses turned before they came up to the pony. There was no con- |

tact, the pony was not near enough to come into contact with'the cab. The horses shied! at the pony. To His Honor: The pony was a piebald one. Horses are liable to be frightened by piebald horses, more so than by horses o£ another color. Henry Edward Tonks, defendant, stated : I am a cornfactor,. and am owner of a piebald pony. I have had it constantly ridden for two years. It is very quiet. On the day o£ the accident, I tied the pony up to the staple in the lane. - It is about a dozen feet from the door of the stable. I received intelligence after the accident that-the pony had got away. I left the pony with a saddle and bridle ; it had these on, when it was brought back by Craig.i I had 'passed the end of the rein through the staple, and then took a turc round the top of the staple and rebuckled it When brought back, the tongue of the bridle where it fastened to the buckle was broken. In other respects the bridle was perfect.®. Cross-examined ; Mr. Poll came to me and! asked for compensation. I refused him. ■. Jonathan Bamford, a cab-driver, and one accustomed to horses from his childhood, said we sometimes meet riderless horses in the street. It would depend upon the horsea whether they would shy at a riderless horse, A high-mettled horse would shy. In such a case a skilled and fit driver should he able to check his horses. If I were driving down the street and saw a riderless horse coming towards me, I'should think it my fault if an accident happened. This closed the case for the defence. Counsel having addressed the Court, His Honor summed up, and the jury found for the plaintiff on all issues, as follows : 1. Was defendant on 15th July possessed cS a riding horse ?—Yes, 2. Did the said horse, through the negligence of the defendant, come into collision with the plaintiff and his horse and carriage, and injure the plaintiff?—Yes. 3. Were the said injuries caused without -any-negligeace or default of the plaintiff ? '-Yes, ArK \ V ~. / 4. Is the plaintiff entitled to any, and, if any, what damages ?-—Yes ; £270.