MOTOR v. HORSE.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVII, Issue 99, 27 August 1915, Page 6

MOTOR v. HORSE.

' ECHO OF A COLLISION. The circumstances attending the collision which occurred between a horse ridden by Rupert Watkius and a j motor car driven by William Cub'n.'U at I the intersection of Broadway and Feuton Street, on the night of August -I. was beard in the .Magistrate's Court this morning, before hi* Worship, W. (i. Kenriek, S.M. The action was a civil one. and the statement of claim set out: The plaintiff. Daniel Watkiu, farmer. Hui.roa, claims £42 IDs. damages and general expenses, sustained by reason of the defendant, .lames Donald, garage proprietor. Stratford, on August I. 1915, by his servant so! negligently and unskilfully driving and managing a motor car in a public highway to wit Broadway, Stratford, th.it the same was forced against a horse belonging to plaintiff and ridden by the plaintiff's son. whereby the horse was killed. ' ' Mr K- Spence appeared for plain-' tiff, and .Mr E. S. Rutherfurd for defendant. Rupert Harland Watkin, lider of the horse, said he was a farm hand residing at Huiroa. and a trooper u> the .Mounted Regiment, Stratford. He ( had attended a military parade on the, night in question. The horse belonged! to his father. At the conclusion of the meeting in the Town Hal! be bad supper, after which be went to the' Commercial, Stables and got his horse. When about five yards over the bridge (north side") he noticed a motor eari coming from Kenton Street, so he turned his horse to thejeft, The car, came round the corner at a great rate) —about twenty miles an hour—on its wrong side of the load. He thought! the driver of the car would pull on to the correct side of the road, but jusc| before the car hit the horse,the animal, turned its head to the right, the lights: were so strong. The force of the im-| pact knocked the horse down and broke the right hind leg. The car struck the horse on the left side. After 1 the horse, had fallen, it jumped up! and witness was hung up by his leg catching rin the stirrup. Witness' head was resting on the ground. The brakes, In bis opinion, were not used. Witness had been using the 'horse for military purposes and valued it at over $35. '' ' Gerald Richard Stack,' 'accountant, Ba nk.. of. New South Wate.<3; ! Stratford, said.. lie. worked until 10-15 -p.nn OP August .4 then walked over to the Post Qffjce where he stayed a minutes, .after 'which he proceeded down Broadway ( *>wafds 'Newton King's permises. He saw the car come round the corner, and heard a shout and a confused noise. He walked down Broadway for some distance, antf when coining back, he saw the horse standing outside the Empire Stables with a broken leg.

A Asked as to wh'a't speed the car was gqihg, witness said it was impossible, to estimate the' rate, but he'thought, it was'about 30 mile's an hour. ~J Williain Thomas Cubbon, mechanic at T)onald's.,garage. driver, of the c;in said he came arbti'Ad the Empire Hotel corner into Broadway, and saw two horses'and ,he pulled on to his correct side. The horse ridden by Watkin was on the wrong side of the'road, and in endeavouring to get safely past the horseman, the car struck the animal on the right hind quarter. When the collision occurred, the horse was standing with its head towards the Empire Stables. He applied his brakes, but-released them after the impact occurred. He pulled the car up on the middle of the bridge. George Boy. Coleman, farmer, and horse breeder, valued the horse at £lB. He duly left Watkin and Perrott 'who was riding on a horse alongside Watkin), a few seconds before the accident occurred. When lie returned, he saw the horse about etftbt yards from the Empire Stables. He heard a cry and the noise of a crash, and ran back, but the horse was on its feet by that time.

The .Magistrate said before he gave his decision', he would visit the spot where the accident occurred.