The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-11-09 00:00:00

COUNTY COURT.-YESTERDAY.

The Court sat at the usual hour yesterday.
REGAN v. PRITCHARD.—This was an action brought by
a woman named Regan, to recover damages from a Mrs.
Pritchard, for a bite inflicted upon her by a dog belonging
to the defendant. The statement by the plaintiff was, that
she was pursuing one of her children, and had a strap in her
hand, with the view of inflicting maternal castigation upon
the fugitive, when the child ran up a court in which was
the back door of defendant's house. Plaintiff went up the
court, and put her hand upon the latch of a door to open it,
when the dog rushed out and bit her on the hand. The
hand bled very much, and she had to g,o to the hospital next
day, and subsequently get a doctor and pay for medicine.
COURT : Have you any proof that the defendant knew the
dog was mischievous ? because if you have not, I am afraid
I can do nothing for you,
PLAINT= : I know nothing at all about the dog, except
that he bit me, and I know he would tear me to pieces if
he could.

COURT : Very well, that may be ; but persons are not re-
sponsible unless they know that dogs are mischievous, and
in the habit of biting or snapping. I cannot assist you, un-
less you bring some proof that this was a mischievous dog.
People have a right to keep. dogs if they choose, and unless
they know that they are mischievous, they are not respon-
sible. If they know that their dogs are mischievous, they
are bound not to keep them at all.
PLAINTIFF : They ought to keep their dogs tied up, and not
let them bite people.
COURT : I am of opinion, that tying up dogs does a great
deal more harm than good. I have the misfortune to differ
from some authorities upon that point, but that is my opinion,
and I have probably kept as many dogs as most persons.
Mr. HIRE, upon behalf of the defendant, stated, that the
place where plaintiff came up was not a public thoroughfare,
but an entry leading to the back door of defendant's house.
The plaintiff went up the entry, and put her hand on the
latch to open the door, when the dog ran out and bit her.
Mrs. PRITCHARD gave evidence to support the statement
of Mr. Hime, adding that the dog was subsequently killed
to satisfy the plaintiff. The court where plaintiff came up
was no thoroughfare, and the back door there led into defen-
dant's yard where the dog was kept.
COURT : When did this occur ?
DEFENDANT In August last.
COURT : Are you quite sure the dog had never been cross
before ?

Dnri.n)Alrr : Quite sure, sir.
COURT : Had you never known him to bite anybody be-
fore, or to snap at anybody ?

DEFENDANT: Never.

COURT : Well, Mrs. Regan, I cannot do anything to assist
you, unless you can bring some evidence to prove that the
defendant knew this dog was mischievous. People have a
right to keep dogs, and keep them in their yards. It is the
law of this country, and in my opinion a very just law, that
people ought to be obliged to take care of all animals which
are vicious or mischievous, but they are not obliged to keep
any particular watch over animals which they have no rea-
son to believe are so. This woman had the folly to think
that instead of letting the dog live she would have a better
chance by its being killed—a piece of folly which one might
have hoped had long since ceased to exist. I have the mis-
fortune to differ with many authorities in thinking that the
habit of tying up dogs does a great deal more mischief
than good, and only renders them vicious and savage. I
also believe it will be found, in regard to cases of hydro-
phobia, that the great majority of them occur in winter and
not in summer, and that it is a mistake, and a mere vulgar
error, to suppose that the greater number of them occur in
hot weather. I remember having been assured by a gen-
tleman of very high experience, that he had carefully exam-
ined into the question, and came to the conclusion which I
now state. But the very period of warm weather, when
people think they are doing well in restraining dogs, is the
very period they are most anxious to get out and get loose,
and I am convinced that very great injury is done by keep-
ing them in and tying them up, much more than would
happen by letting them out with proper precautions.
the case was then dismissed, and the plaintiff left the
court, giving vent to several half-audible expressions of her
contempt for legal proceedings in general.
THOMAS V. ATASSEY.—This was an action brought to
recover £3 17s. 6d. for damage done to a donkey cart of
plaintiff's, by an omnibus belonging to the defendant. Mr.
Grocott appeared for the plaintiff, ;Eliza Thomas, a green
grocer, and the defendant was Mr. Massey, a publican, to
hom the Old Swan omnibus belonged, The case for the
plaintiff was, that on Monday, the 19th of September, he
was driving his cart, containing eggs, butter, and vegetables,
along the road from Liverpool to Kensington, and that
shortly after passing the Coach and Horses public house the
omnibus ran into him, breaking the cart to pieces, overturn-
ing the plaintiff on the road, and destroying a large quantity
of his eggs and butter. It was stated, on behalf of the
plaintiff, that the road was at the time quite clear, and that
the omnibus might have passed without touching the cart.
The driver did not call out, nor did he stop. after the acci-
dent had occurred. The plaintiff stated, in reply to Mr.
Aspinall, that he was not asleep in the cart at the time, that
he was perfectly sober, and that he was driving with rains.
On the part of the defence the driver of the omnibus deposed
that he was getting out of the middle of the road to avoid a
gentleman's carriage, when he saw the donkey cart upon the
road before him, and called out to the plaintiff to get out of
tue way, Wlll.lLe lea La.cat Lat,
COURT : I will not allow this driver to set up this
sort of thing as a defence. His business was, if he
could not go on without running into the carriage
or the cart was to pull up. He had no right to drive
over the donkey cart in this way. He has no right, becausa
he gets out of the way of a gentleman's carriage, to run into
a poor man's donkey cart. Let the gentleman's carriage
take its chance like every other vehicle, and if it runs into
any other conveyance, let the gentleman be made responsible
for it; but I cannot listen to such a defence as this, that a
driver is to get out of the way to avoid a gentleman's car-
riage at the expense of a donkey cart. It is the business of
this driver to take care of the horses he is driving, and not
to run into a cart because it does not get out of his way at
once, especially a cart drawn by a donkey, which cannot
get out of the way as quickly as his horses can come along.
I am of opinion, that the defendant in this case, is already
liable for some damages. •
Evidence was then gone into as to the value of the dam-
age done to the plaintiff.
The Court finally gave a verdict for the plaintiff for
£1 ss.
NASH V. JOHN AND ANNE WALSH,— This was an action
brought by the plaintiff, a sailor, to recover £ll from John
Walsh, and Anne, his wife, who kept a boarding-house, in
Leeds-street. From the evidence of the plaintiff, another
sailor, and a police officer, it appeared, that the plaintiff,
after being paid off at the Sailors' Home, had £l6 with him
in the lodging-house kept by the defendants, and that as he
was drunk at the time, his companion put the money on the
table, when Anne Walsh took it up. She subsequently
gave him £5 of it, but would not give up the rest. The
defendants did not appear. The Court cautioned the plain-
tiff against risking the money, which he had hardly earned,
in such places in a state of intoxication, and gave a verdict
for the amount claimed, adding, that he should certainly
send the defendants to Lancaster gaol if they did not pay
the plaintiff the amount which he claimed.
The remaining cases heard during the day did not possess
any public interest.

BRAZILIAN CUSTOM HOUSE FORMALITIES.—The
ship Maria, belonging to Siffken and Ironsides, returned in
ballast on her last voyage from Rio ; and on the way touched
at Pernambuco, where one of the crew bought three parrots
and a monkey. The vessel was not allowed to leave that port
till this cargo was regularly manifested ; and we have before
us a sheet of foolscap, on which the parrots and monkey are
duly entered, and their shipment, in conformity with Brazilian
law, attested by the formal signatnre of nine several officials,
and the appropriate seal.—New York Journal of Commerce.
OIL SPRING.—A new petroleum, or oil spring,
has been discovered in Western Virginia, near the forks of the
Hughes river. It was found in sinking a well for salt, In-
.tead of salt, however, the spring commenced blowing out
mineral oil, and has so continued to furnish it at intervals up
to the present date—about fourteen gallons of oil being pro-
duced every fifth day. An account which appears in the
Christian Advocate and Journal, says, that the stratum yield-
ing the oil lies parallel with the bed of the river, is generally
near five feet thick, and is reached in various places by sinking
pits thirty feet into the earth. Some pits fifteen feet square,
have yielded one hundred and thirty five barrels of oil, but all
are not alike rich. The oil is valuable for weakness in the
breast, sprains, cuts,- and bruises; it burns very well in lamps,
and may be used in dressing leather, instead of fish oil, but
makes the leather porous.
RECOVERY OF A WIFE THROUGH THE ELECTRIC
TELEGRAPH.—A few days since a telegraphic message was
received at the Stroud Station of the North Kent Railway,
to the following effect :—" Please to detain tw• ladies, one
short and the other tall, and a man very much marked with
small-pox," The parties were stated to be in a first•class
carriage. In consequence of this communication, on the
arrival of the train at Higham, the carriages were locked, and
the parties were detained on their arrival at Stroud. A
message back to London brought down a gentleman, who
claimed one of the ladies as his wife, who, it was said, had
eloped with his managing man. After some parleying. the
lady joined her husband, and the parties departed in cabs,
taking different directions.—Sentish Observer.
On Sunday, at noon, the weather having become
beautifully calm and fine, the King of the Belgians, with the
Count de Flandres and the Princess Charlotte of Belgium,
embarked at the admiralty pier, Dover, in the Belgian mail
packet Ruby, for Ostend. The Duke and Duchess de
Brabant (who had merely accompanied the king on his
journey to Dover, intending to return to Windsor Castle)
went on board with their illustrious relatives, anp the sea
being very calm, and the atmosphere fine and clear, her
Imperial Highness and her royal consort decided on making
the trip to Ostend with the king.
Lord John Russell comes to Chesham-place to-
day from Pembroke Lodge, to attend the Cabinet Council.
The noble lord, during his recent retirement at the Duke of
Argyll's romantic seat at Rosneath, is understood to have
been much occupied with preparing his new Reform Bill,
for which abundant statistics were furnished him, and which
ministers intend to introduce to parliament soon after the
commencement of the session.—Sunday