VETERINARY JURISPRUDENCE. 
309 
a little shy at first. He and Mr. Branford drove him by holding 
up their hands ; neither of them held a whip in their hands. He 
(witness) got in the conpee with the horse, and went to the Bury 
Station quite quietly. He did not recollect the first halter being 
broken, or the partition being taken down. There was a fresh rein 
put on the head collar when the horse was being put in the box. 
Instead of leading the horse into the box, the company’s men put 
the rein round an iron to draw him on, and the cord broke. The 
colt was not plunging when he put his hand on his head to prevent 
him being pitched down. He could not tell whether the horse was 
thrown down before the partition was broken or afterwards. They 
were both down at the same time. 
Thomas Turner, examined by Mr. Latham Browne, said he was 
station-master for the Midland Company at Thrapston in July, 
1867 . When Mr. Branford’s horse arrived at the station the plaintiff 
pointed out to him that the partition in the horse-box w'as broken, 
and that the bar at the top of the box was raised three quarters of 
an inch. He reported the damage to head-quarters. 
il/r. O'Malley, for the defence, said, in cases of this description 
the company must depend on the information they received from 
the persons at the station, and tlie company had no right to expect 
that that information was incorrect. He tlien addressed the jury 
for the defence and said he should prove by several witnesses that 
the box ^Yas attached to the train without the slightest violence, and 
that the injuries it received arose from the restiveness of the horse 
itself. The witnesses for the plaintiff and the witnesses for the 
defence were hopelessly at variance, and he was quite sure the jury 
would decide the question without allowing their minds to be 
biassed by any of the prejudice wdiich was so common against rail¬ 
way companies. 
The following witnesses were then called for the defence: 
Frederick inspector to the Great Eastern Hallway, said, 
on the day in question a great number of horses were loaded. He 
superintended the loading of all of tliem. They were all carefully 
loaded. The boxes were taken from the loading place to the 
passenger station by an engine. It was a distance of about a 
quarter of a mile. 
By Mr. Latham Browne—The line from the loading place to the 
passenger station was a decline. It was not usual to use an engine 
for that purpose. Two or three hundred or more horses were loaded 
that day. There was no trouble whatever. Everything was tied 
safe. 
Inspector William Balls said he was stationed at Bury St. Ed¬ 
munds at the show, and remembered the horse-box in which Mr. 
Branford’s horse was placed. The box was brought from the show- 
yard by an engine, and was taken from the siding to the train by a 
horse. The horse was taken up quietly to the train, and a man was 
coupling it up to another box, and was pulling up the second side 
chain when they heard a noise in the box. The noise was like that 
of a horse falling down. That was after the link had been put over 
