MAGISTRATES' COURT.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 11877, 26 April 1904, Page 4

MAGISTRATES' COURT.

- i*i default cases. In the cases following the defendant* did not appear, and Mr W. R. Haselden, S.M., gave judgment against- tljem by default, with costs: —Williams, Stephens. I and Co. (Mr Johnston) v Captain Ander- ! !son, £2 14s 9d; Henry G. Clarke (Mr ■ Weston) v J. S. Hopkins, £14 7s 6d; Bowron Bros. (Mr Flesher) v George James , Beard. £66 5s 8d; Richardson and Stokes (Mr Hunt) v David Price, £2 15» 6d. A RAILWAY CASE Tlie hearing of the case, wherein Ernest jShadbolt sued the Minister of Railways j for the sum of £54 as damages for alleged depreciation on the value of 72 head of 1 cattle, caused by the alleged neglect of tbe Department, to forward them from Waikouaiti to Christchurch in accordance with an arrangement entered into between the plaintiff and the Railway Department. was continued to-day Mr Joynt appeared for the plaintiff, and Mr Stringer for tire Railway Department. Further evidence was given on behalf of the Department. James Frame, sta'tionmat-ter at Addington, stated that no complaint was made regarding the. condition of the cattle when they were delivered at- Addington. He had observed that they were empty, and that seme of them had their horns broken off. That was not uncommon .with young cattle, and even in short railway journeys the i horns were frequently broken. i Arthur Sefton, stock dealer, gave cvi- ' dence that the journey from Waikouaiti to Christchurch would, under any circumstances, depreciate the condition of the cattle so far as appearance was concerned. With the additional eighteen hours occupied on the journey, and which was comi plained of by the plaintiff, the cattle ' would take about three weeks to regain j condition. John Ban* stated that the forty-two ' hours occupied on the journey from Waikouaiti to Christchurch would cause a depreciation to the cattle equivalent to a month's subsequent grazing. The catt-'e would lose as much in the last eighteen hours as in the preceding twenty-four houes. ; , William John Blake, dealer and cattle drover, estimated the damage the cattle , had sustained at 3s per head. Struan Robertson, cattle dealer, made a similar estimate. John Gray, traffic inspector, stated that the journey from Waikouaiti to Christchurch occupied a minimum of twentyfour hours. Tlie plaintiff's cat'e were brought through as quickly as possible, and the journey could only have been shortened by putting on a special train between Timaru and Ashburton, for the only delay, after the train left Waikouaiti, occurred at Timaru. Strictly speaking, the stationmaster at Waikouaiti should not have received the cattle when he did. Mr Stringer said he did not think, in the face of the evidence, that the Department could be held not to be> liable for the damage caused by the extra time the cattle were kept in the trucks. He would admit that the Department waa responsible for that extra time. His Worship gave judgment for the plaintiff for £18.