SUPREME COURT.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 11510, 17 February 1903, Page 4

SUPREME COURT.

1 — CIVIL SESSIONS. The civil sessions of the Supreme. Court opened yesterday morning, before bis Honour Mr Justice" Denni-ton. DISPUTE OVER A TROTTTNG MARE. Elizabeth Yarr claimed from Robert W. Lochhead £400, as compensation for the value of a mare called Jessie Palm, which, it was alleged, was killed whilst being grazed by the defendant on behalf of the plaintiff. Mr Kippehberger appeared for the plaintiff, and Mr Russell, with him Mr Brown, for the defendant. The statement of.cl—m showed that slwrtly before January 27th, 1902, the plaintiff delivered the "mare to the defendant, to be kept for a weekly consideration. The defendant, it was alleged, neglected to take care of tfhe animal, and placed her in a dangerous paddock. A number of trees in the paddock had been felled, and allowed to lie with their branches exposed in such a way as to be dangerous to animals. The mare was found dead on July 29th, impaled on one of the branches. "The mare at the time was in foal to Wildwood, and was of great value. The statement of defence denied the material allegation in the statement of claim, and asserted that the mare had been left in the paddock by the plaintiff after he had been requested "to remove her, and after the grazing fee had ceased to be paid; further, the injury was primarily caused by the plaintiff in removing one. of the horses orignally put in, and substituting another, thereby causing the mare to become excited, and likely to cause injury to herself. Thomas Yarr, hotelkeeper, Lincoln, husband of plaintiff, said he arranged! with Mr Lochhead for some trotters to be grazed at 2s per week each. He sent the horses along the next day, Jessie Palm being one of them. He satisfied himself as to the safety of the paddock. About May 20th he removed one horse and (substituted another, but he hod no reason to anticipate danger from tne substituted! horse. . On j July 28th, about 4 p.m., he heard that there was something wrong with the mare, and went down on the following morning about 9 a.m., and found the mare dead, in a padldocJc other than the one lie had approved of before. There was a deep wound in the mare's off side. He looked' for the cause of 'death, and found a prong projecting from a felled tree, the upper portion of which was smeared with blood, to which were adhering chestnut hairs, the colour of the mare. The blood marks were fresh. He had never been asked' to remove the animals. He valued Jessie Palm at £500, and her racing career had) not ended. She was' absolutely sound, and free from vice in every way. He considered that £500 at the .least was a fair market value for the mare. ' To Mr Russell: I| was a fact that he had never been asked to remove any of the horses from >_c paddock. On May 13th he asked Mr Lochhead to give him more grazing, but Mr Lochhead then did not ask him to take away the horees. Ho was never told that tne substituted mare was chasing Jessie Palm around the paddock. He did not tell Lochliead at any time what was the value of the horses. Mrs Yarr had bought the mare about two years before the accident, and had) given £100 for it. The mare's official records were 2min 18sec for one male, and 4min 43 2-sth sec for two miles. Apart from breeding purposes the mare was worth £500. Charles Brake, veterinary surgeon, gave evidence as to the injuries sustained by the mare. Further evidence regarding the injuries to the mare was giiven by Robert Lawry and Mr J. R. Bradley. Hugh Cassidy, coach proprietor, in the course of his evidence, 6aid he did not think tha mare was overpriced at £500, considering her condition. C. H. Piper, horse trainer, Ricc&rton, valued Jessie Palm at £500 on account of her record and her value as a brood mare. She had not a superior in New Zealand as to pace and temper. James Pettie, horse owner, Ricoarton, thought Jessie Palm was the best -mare that was ever raised in the colony. She was honestly worth £500. T. H. Davey, sporting writer, thought £400 was not too high a price to ask for the-mare. Frederick Thomas, of the " Referee" staff, valued the mare at from £350 to £400. He based that value on the prices of such horses in America, which was the home of trotting. Mrs Yarr, the plaintiff, gave evidence that- after the mare's death, she told Lochhead that he had no right to put the mare in a dangerous paddock, and had she known that he had dc:ie so, she would not have allowed it to remain for five minutes. For the defence, Robert Lochhead said that on May 13th he told Yarr it would be better if the horses in the paddock were removed. He had shifted the horses from one paddock to another in order to prevent them gettipg at his wheat. Yarr had never informed him that the horses were worth more than ordinary hacks. Six or seven years ago the willow trees on the boundary fence had been topped, but the toppings had never been a"source of danger to his horses, which had grazed in the paddock for years. When he put the horses into the paddock there was no such piece of fallen timber about as described by Yarr and other witnesses. He was not informed of the death of the mare until after the post mortem. Evidence was also given by George Ridden, William Raven, and Robert Millen, when the Court, at 6 p.m., adjourned till the evening. Thomas Frost, LawTence Wilson, and Emerson Bowes," valued the mare at £100, while Arthur Sefton said she would only be worth £80 at the time of her death. Mr Russell and Mr Kippenberger addressed the Court, after which, the case was adjourned till this morning, when his Honour will sum up-