WHERE FRIGHT IS CAUSED BY THE DEFECT. 229 



fright, if well founded, is as natural a consequence of an ob- 

 struction in a highway as a collision, and that, where the 

 objects are of a kind to cause fright, the persons placing 

 them on the highway or permitting them to remain there 

 should be held liable for the result of their actions. 



66. Character of Objects Causing Fright It has been shown 



that, where the fright results from actual contact with an ob- 

 struction or defect in the highway, the municipality is re- 

 sponsible for the consequences. We shall consider in the 

 present section what the objects are, the mere appearance 

 of which is deemed to warrant a recovery on the part of one 

 injured by the fright caused thereby to his animals. 



The question here is not merely one of probable cause and 

 effect, but rather one of negligence under all the circum- 

 stances of the case. The principles that govern such cases 

 were admirably laid down by Cooley, Ch. J., in a Michigan 

 case. He says : "The bringing of an unsightly object into 

 the common highway is no more of a wrong because of its 

 tendency to frighten horses of ordinary gentleness, than is 

 the construction of a bridge over a river a wrong because of 

 its tendency to delay vessels. The one may be a wrong under 

 some circumstances and so may the other; but it is equally 

 true that both may be proper and lawful under other circum- 

 stances. It would be difficult to pass through the streets of 

 our large towns without encountering objects moving along 

 them which are well calculated to frighten horses of ordinary 

 gentleness until they become accustomed to them, but which 

 nevertheless are used and moved about for proper and lawful 

 purposes. The steam engine for protection against fire may 

 be mentioned as one of these; and though this is usually 

 owned and moved about by pubUc authority, there can be no 

 doubt of the right of a private individual to keep and use one 

 for his own purposes, and to take it through the streets when 

 necessary. But other things which are sometimes moved 

 about on wheels along the streets are equally alarming to 



