The Sun.
London, England, 1864-08-16 00:00:00

Cruelty to a Horse.

At the Enfield Potty Sessions, before E. Ford and R. C. L.
Beven, Esqs., a case of extraordinary cruelty to a horse was
tried. The position of the party charged—he being a. gen-
tleman of considerable property and holding a high position
in the neighbourhood of Southgate, where his seat (I nown
as " Grovelande") is situate—and the unusually aggr wated
nature of the case, caused au extraordinary amount of in.
terest in the neighbourhood, and the court was et .owded
daring the hearing. The following is a report of the pro-
ceedings
John Donithorne Taylor, Esq., was charged by tl le Royal
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Anim a.ls with
cruelly Musing and beating a horse on the 28th a July, in
the parish of Enfield.
Mr Ribton appeared for the prosecution, instructed by
Mr Colam, the secretary of the society. Mr P.ignall ap-
peared for the defendant.

Mr Ribton, in opening the case, said it was v feelings
of extreme regret that be appeared to prosecute a gentleman
in the defendant's position in life upon a cb arge of this
nature; but it did sometimes happen that gentlemen
allowed their passions to get the mastery cf them; and he
believed that, when the Bench had heard the v 'hole of the
evidence which would be given before them, t:ht:y would be
led to the conclusion that a serious act of crut,l ty had been
committed. On Friday, the Bth of July, Mr 'Taylor, the
defendant, was driving down Parson's•lane, with his
daughter—the pony he was driving being a very quiet ono,
and one which Miss Taylor was in the habit .)f driving.
The pony had been very frequently driven along the, road.
in question by the lady, who generally called at: Colonel
Somerset's residence; and en reaching a particcia r spot
the pony s\ erved on one aide, evidently with the i...l.'ention
of going to Colr.nel Somerset's as uslul. Mr Taylor! imme-
diately struck it with his whip; the poor animal :reared,
upon which be commenced beating it, causing the I.N ,ny to
plunge and kick until it released itself from the v. :hide.
Mr Taylor then got down, and gathering up the reins in his
left hand close to the pony's head, commenced boa sing it
about the head in the most cruel manner with the best.-end
of the whip. He continued his brutal conduct for 1 bout; a,
quarter of an hour, beating the pony and kicking it vio-
lently in the stomach, till it trembled lreni head t o foot
with agony, and, in the language of au eye-w itn«ss,
" looked as if a bucket of water had been thrown os er it."
Those present, and even Ws own daughter, retuouszvated
with the defendant, the latter exclaiming, " Oh, papa,
don't beat the beast so ; I shall never be able to delve it
again." To which he replied, "D— your eyes, you aro
as bad as the pony." Mr Ribton proceeded to state some
further particulars of the offence. The summons, he said,
was taken out under the 12th and 13th Vic., chap. 92. Ho
trusted the magistrates would administer the law with
the same impartiality as if a poor man were conoorned.
Several witnesses were then examined, who proved the fact
stated by counsel.
Mr Taylor, in defence, said the witnesses evidently did
not understand horses. He had known the pony four or
five times want to turn round, and on this occasion it wanted
to go into Colonel Somerset's. He then gave it three or
four cuts, and it reared ; he afterwards gave it several more
cuts on the side of the head, but not one on the front. He
did not consider he used unnecessary violence. He could
not say how the whip got broken, nor where the butt-end
had gone. He did not think the pony was thrashed half
enough yet—it wanted a good thrashing three or four
hours a day with a good thick ash stick I (Sensation.)
About a year ago he kept a horse six days and nights
without food mad water for punishment, and this foolish
society prosecuted him then, hut the magistrate laughed at
at them, and discharged the ease. (Laughter.)
Mr Ford (addressing the defendant) said—From the evi-
dence we are of opinion that your case does come within the
statute, and that unnecessary violence was used. But if
you think otherwise you can appeal, and the penalty will be
fiscal at 40e and the costs, to enable you to do so.

Defendant—l don't think it worth the tr6uble. I quite
concur in your decision.

DEATH IN A DIVING APPAB.ATIIS.—An inquest
was held on board her Majesty's ship St. George, at Fal-
mouth, on Saturday afternoon, on the body of Samuel
Warren, aged 24, a seaman and diver belonging to that
ship, who was suffocated on Friday afternoon while diving
in Falmouth harbour. The deceased had previously been
diver on board her Majesty's ship Cambridge. He went
down from a boat between two and three o'clock on Friday
afternoon in thirteen and a half fathoms of water, at the
spot where the St George is lying, for the purpose of re-
covering a set of boat's crutches that had been lost from the
St. George. He selected his own attendants for the occasion
from the ship's company, and arranged with them the
signals, which were to be " one pull less air," "two pulls
more air," " three pulls to come up. About half a minute
after he was down he signaled for more air, and more was
pumped down. Warren then walked about one fathom and
a half, there being about 15 fathoms and a half air pipes out,
and he put his right hand across
and the boat's crew wore about two minutes in pulling
was immediately taken off,
dwihateenlyh co° smigmneaniecdedto. Ilcoemheadupb Teenhe aboutpu Ifloinugr mupinwuteassirvue.
up. The mouthpiece of the dress was taken off before he
h him
wiass
mtaokulen intTohtehedbreomat,
and
Warren was carried ears,
on board the St. George ; his face,
nostrils, and helmet were covered with blood. He did not
speak, but gave a convulsive struggle, and died just before
he was got on board. The diving dress was a new one,
which the deceased had borrowed from the Falmouth Dock
company. It was found on examination that the air pipe
had burst at about nine fathoms from the helmet, and that
the valve for the outlet of foul air was fastened. This had
occasioned an extra pressure on the tube, and hence the ac-
cident. Means were resorted to for more than an hour to
restore the deceased, but without any apparent result. The
jury returned a verdict " That deceased was suffocated by
over-pressure of air while diving,
in Consequence of the
escape valve of the diving apparatus being set, and that no
blame attached to any one except the deceased himself."—
Western Morning News.

HOW TO HATCH YOUNG DUCE.S.—At the San'
derland county petty sessions, on Saturday, three
boys, named Robert Blacklook, John Joseph Callum, and
Edward Robson, were charged with stealing a number of
eggs from the premises of Edward Aroison, of Carley-hill,
near Southwick.
The eggs had beeu sat upon, and voLro
stolen three weeks ago, and when the officers discovered
the thieves they found out to their dismay that the stu;e
articles were no longer eggs butn,
youngdurks I The charge
could not be sustained, therefore, before the mag,istrates,
and the young poultry fanciers were discharged. It ap-
peared the eggs had been slightly " chipped" when stolen,
and the boys by putting them into an oven completed the
hatching and produced a healthy young brood. The duck-
lings were produced in court, and the case caused consider-
able amusement.—Faccastle Chronicle.
GREAT NORTHERN HOSPITAL CALEDONIANS
RoA.D—Number of patients for the week ending Aug. 13,
796, of which 250 were new eases,