SIZE OF CATTLE MOBS

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 337, 24 April 1928, Page 9

SIZE OF CATTLE MOBS

OTAHUHU RESTRICTIONS C QUESTION OF CONTROL J 5 (From Our Ouyn Correspondent) . OTAHUHU, To-day. , A case o£ considerable interest to cattle dealers, agents and drovers, was * heard at the Otahuhu Police Court ‘ yeste2-day, when Kobert Sanders, H. Flay, Harold Saunders. Norman Pilk- 1 ington, Harry Perry and Alfred R. J Johnson, drovers employed by W. and R. Fletcher, Ltd., were charged with breaking the borough by-laws by driv- ; ing mobs of more than 30 head of ; loose cattle, in Great South Road, Otahuhu. Mr. E. C. Cutten, S.M., was on the Bench. Mr. Ziman appeared for the defendants, and Mr. R. W. F. Wood represented the Otahuhu Borough Council. The case against Saunders was taken first. Mr. Ziman intimated that the defence was that the by-law was unreasonable and unnecessary, and therefore invalid. Mr. Wood stated that the borough was situated between the Mount Wellington Road Board district on the north and the Manukau County on the south. The saleyards were in close proximity to the centre of the borough. There was no means of gaining access to the yards, except through the borough streets. Mobs of 800 head of cattle had been driven through the borough in charge of two or three drovers. In the opinion of the council, such large numbers needed greater supervision, as it was impossible to see what was happening in front of the mobs. The fencing of the footpaths had been considered by the council, but had been found to be impracticable. CATTLE ON FOOTPATH Daniel Fletcher, borough traffic inspector, said that he had seen Saunders driving a herd of between 90 and 100 head of loose cattle in Mangere Road, and he maintained that such a number could not be controlled properly by one man. The cattle wandered over the footpath to the danger of children. Mi'. Ziman questioned the inspector as to the necessity of the by-law', with regard to the roads adjacent to the saleyards, and the inspector said that as the animals only crossed the road at these points he did not consider the by-law necessary there. LARGE MOBS UNSAFE Arthur William Hall, Otahuhu, chairman of the Papatoetoe Town Board, and a farmer of long standing, considered it was uasa/e to drive a large mob of cattle singlehanded. Robert Black Todd, Mayor of Otahuhu, stated that the by-law was passed on acocunt of the damage done to property by cattle not under proper control. A copy of the proposed by-laws had been forwarded to the I various companies prior to being

adopted, and no objections had been lodged. OF NATIONAL IMPORTANCE For the defence, Mr. Ziman said the eases were of national importance, as it was the first instance of any restrictions being placed on droving on the roads. If the by-law was to be enforced the extra cost of getting j large mobs to the w'orks would be enormous. The magistrate remarked that possibly the borough had grown to such an extent that this was not the right place to have the works. When Mr. Ziman was explaining : that on several occasions the works ; had sent out extra men to supervise the driving of the cattle through Otahuhu, Mr. Cutten asked if the fact of them sending out more drovers was not an acknowledgment that better supervision was needed. Mr. Ziman said it was to a certain degree. TOLD TO BE CAREFUL The defendant, Sanders, stated that he was head drover for the Westfield Freezing Works. He had instructions to be careful and make room for traffic, and to protect residents’ property. Henry Flay, who was charged with driving a mob of 97 cattle through the borough, said he had no difficulty in controlling them. A number of other witnesses, including farmers and representatives of stock companies, said that one drover was capable of managing a mob of 60 to 100. Extra men were considered unnecessary. It was stated that it was not desirable to form small mobs of 30 from the larger mobs. If the by-law were enforced the wit nesses stated that the extra cost would have to be met by the owners of the cattle. NO COMPLAINTS OF DAMAGE Some of the witnesses stated that there bad been no complaints of any damage done by the cattle in Otahuhu. It was also stated that although more cattle passed over the Hamilton traffic bridge, no restrictions were im- ! posed by the Hamilton authorities. After hearing lengthy legal argument regaridng the validity of the bylaw, the magistrate reserved his decision.