246 CATTLE SUFFOCATED IN CLOSE VAN. 



Wales Railway Comjjany : On the 11th of March, 1856, one Morgan, 

 a cattle dealer, wishing to send 33 head of cattle, the property of the 

 plaintiff, from Newport to Gloucester, wrote to the superintendent of 

 the Newport station, requesting him to have two or three cattle trucks 

 ready for the following day. When he brought the cattle to the station 

 the superintendent showed him the carriages in which the cattle Avere 

 to go, Avhich were vans closing with lids, generally used for the con- 

 veyance of salt. He made no objection to the vans, and the cattle 

 were placed in them, to be forwarded to Gloucester, the lids being 

 open when the train left Newport. The contract ticket was indorsed 

 — " A pass for a drover to ride with his stock will be given for every 

 10 beasts, 30 calves, 75 pigs, or 100 sheep. All carriage must be 

 prepaid, &c., and the stock will only be conveyed on the following 

 conditions : The comjMJiy is to he held free from all risk or resjmnsihiUiy 

 ill resj)cct of any loss or damaye arisiny on the loadiny or imloadvny, from 

 suffocation, or from heiny tramj^led on, hrulsed, or otherwise injured in 

 transit, from fire, or from any other cause ivhatsoevcr. The comjjcmy is 

 not to he held resjmisihle for carriaye or delivery within aiiy certain or 

 definite time, nor in time for any j^articular markets " The form below 

 is to be filled uj) and signed by the party desiring to send cattle." 

 " And unless this and all the following rules be complied with, the 

 cattle will not go forward." 



"March 12, 1856. 



" To Messrs. , the South Wales Railway Company. 



" In conformity to the above regulations with regard to the convey- 

 ance of cattle and live stock, I request that two trucks may be ready 

 at the Ne^A^iort station, in which I may load 33 cattle, to be conveyed 

 from Newport station to Gloucester, on the conditions above men- 

 tioned. "(Paid) £2 5 

 "(Signed) Thomas Morgan, Sender." 



The plaintiff's servant in charge of the cattle received a free pass from 

 the company. He travelled in the same carriage with the guard, and 

 did not get out to look at the cattle during the journey ; but on arriv- 

 ing at Gloucester he heard them make a noise, and found that the lid 

 of one of the vans had become closed, and that out of sixteen oxen in 

 it ten were dead or dying from suffocation, and four very much injured. 

 Some evidence was given to show that the lid could not have become 

 closed by the motion of the train, but must have been purposely shut 

 down by the servants of the railway company. Alder son B. asked the 

 jury whether they thought that the cattle were suffocated during the 

 transit ; and the jury having found that they were, his lordship directed 



