The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1893-12-14
CRUELTY TO A HORSE.
G. w. waldron Fined Ten Dollars and En-
ters an Appeal.

The complaint against G. W. Waldron
and Percy George for cruelty to horse
at their exhibition in the Congress Rink
on Munjoy hill last Saturday night, was
heard by Judge Gould in the Municipal
court yesterday morning. W. q. Chap
man, ESQ.,, appeared for the Society for
the Prevention of Cruelty, and Clarence
Hale, Esq, was counsel for the defend
ants.
Mr.. Lyman A. Bachelor was the first
witness. He said he was at the exhibit
tion last Saturday evening and sat in the
balcony. They were exhibiting a grey
mare. A man was on horse back at one
end of the rink. A rope was thrown
round the neck of the mare. She was all
tangled up and thrown down heavily
several times. The mare appeared wild
and much frightened. All the horses
seemed in terror of the trainers One
man had rope pulling ON the neck of
the PROSTATE mare and another got a
rope round her leg, while each pulled in
an opposite direction. The mare groaned
and cried, was bathed in sweat and ap-
peared to be in good deal of. distress.
Witness said he never saw anything like
it before. He could not stand it and
went away from the place. The mare
breathed SO loud she could be heard IN
The street. At the same time the other
horses acted much frightened. He re-
garded the operation as extremely cruel
and said there appeared to be danger OF
breaking the mares leg when she was
thrown. Mr.. Hale scross-examined Mr..
Bachelor at some length but the wit
ness only emphasized his first statements.
B. G. Miles corroboraJed Mr.. Bachelor S
testimony. He said his son, Officer
Dana Miles, was so indignant at tho ex-
hibition that he interfered and stopped it.
Officer Dana Miles was unable to be
present on account of sickness, having
been confined in the house several days,
under the care of DR.. Bray. On cross
examination Mr.. Miles was asked if he
knew the difference between the cry of
horse in pain and in rage Witness said
in the army he had often heard the cry
of wounded horse and he should judge
that the gray mare gave d cry because
she was in pain.
For the defence Charles W. Waldron
stated that he belongs in Nolan, South
Dakota, where he has ranch with
several hundred horses on it. These
horses that he has here are all his own.
He proposes to give exhibitions by break
ing them and after they are broken most
VI tuOlu w Ill U0 5Olu III PCSbOu lOE POLO
horses. This gray mare has never had
rope on her since she was six months
old. She was brought here in an open
car TG get her into the car she was
driven through chute from stock yard
the same as wild Texas steers. This
mare had never been in the hall before
Saturday night. Witness has been with
horses since he was nine years old. After
he was twenty-one he began to break
horses of his own. The way the gray
mare was used is exactly the method of
breaking horses in the West. He never
uses whip in breaking horses. When
the mare was thrown it did not hurt her,
nor lame her. The mare cried out be-
cause she was in rage, not because she
was in pain. He would do nothing to
iniure one of his horses, for they are
worth money to him.
Seven or eight other witnesses, in
Guiding Percy George, one of Mr.. Wal
dron's employees, zorro borated the state
ments of the last witness. They all said
that the usage of the mare was in the
regular line in breaking her according to
the methods employed in the West.
Judge Gould thought the exhibition
was cruel, though it may be according to
Western methods. He therefore fined
Waldron $40 and costs and discharged
Percy George. The case has been ap-
pealed.