128 REASONABLE CARE IN TRANSIT. 



be presumptions, throwing the onus of proof of the cause of 

 death on one side or the other. "(a) And where an owner of 

 cattle bespoke a waggon of certain dimensions, took posses- 

 sion of it, overloaded it to save his own pocket, having signed 

 conditions whereby he undertook all risk of loss in loading, 

 unloading, conveyance, or otherwise, except such as shall 

 arise from the gross negligence or default of the railway 

 company or its servants, the company were found not liable 

 in damages for injuries received by the cattle in transit. (?>) 



But raihvay companies are not responsible for accidents 

 happening in the transit Avhich are not of a kind that they 

 were bound to have foreseen, if they take all reasonable 

 precautions. Thus, Avhere a three-year-old horse which 

 was fastened in the usual way in a railway horse-box, 

 struggled through the feeding window into an adjoining 

 compartment and was thereby injured, it was held that the 

 accident was not of a kind the railway company were bound 

 to have foreseen and to have provided against, and that they 

 were not liable in damages. It Avas argued that the aperture 

 being twenty-five inches square Avas too large and the halter 

 being three feet was too long ; but on the evidence given the 

 aperture Avas found to be of the usual size, and that a horse 

 getting through it was a most improbable and unprecedented 

 occurrence.(c) 



101. Of Reasonable Care in Transit. — A railway com- 

 pany is bound to carry Avith reasonable care, (d) The standard 

 of care is that which a prudent man Avould adopt if he Avere 

 in the carrier's place, and had to deal Avith the animals under 

 the circumstances and subject to the conditions in Avhich the 

 carrier is placed and under which he is called on to act. 

 The precise degree of care varies Avith the circumstances of 



{a) Paxton v. N. B. Ry. Co., 1870, 9 M. 50. 

 (6) Rain v. G. S.- W. Ry. Co., 1869, 7 M. 439. 



(c) Ralston v. Cal. Ry. Co., 1878, 5 R. 671, see observations of Lord President 

 Inglis and Lord Deas upon tying up horses for railway transit. 



(d) B. Pr. 167, and cases there cited. 



