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Poverty Bay Standard, Volume IX, Issue 997, 10 November 1881, Page 2

We notice that Mr. Higgins, of the Mount, at Ormond, has laid claim to £lO by way of part compensation for the loss of his horse, on the Ormond road, through the boulders and other obstructions thereon. The Council, perhaps rightly, decided that to entertain Mr. Higgins’s proposal would be to set a dangerous precedent; but, nevertheless, that does not dispose of Mr. Higgins’s claim. He has his right of civil action at law ; and it only remains for him to weigh the cost as against the issue. Of course there is nothing to show how the horse came by his death, even if the presence of boulders, or other irregularities of the road, be admitted. Neither are we going to prejudge the question by arguing it at this stage ; but we should really rejoice if a lawsuit were successfully upheld against either the Cook County or Borough Council, or both, for a more wanton disregard to public safety and travelling convenience seldom offers itself to public observation than is apparent both in town and country. We are not disposed to point them out, as we have done so many times before: but we warn the ratepayer? that if their chosen advocates in these Councils do not wake up to Abe occasion, heavy damages will, soinft'Alay, be claimed, which may require the imposition of a special rate to liquidate.