Daily camera., 1897-02-16
HENS -iTUAL DRUNkARDs.
Suit Against g l is,-.-~ Company for
Corr. - L-----

Corr. - L------
From Scotland ones u account of a
remarkable iawsL-C base a the do
ings OF ru-1,acr of he.-@, whose repre-
hensible conduct wiil be d lavelation to
their American relatives. Recently at
Oban, before Slel If aotay.ah, John
Turner, OF Laggan, claimed $225 dam
ages against local distillery CON- any
for injury done to hi poultry by the
company in allowing intoA.c~ ag mate.
rial to flow into the Lag~an burn
! This material. it was ;'-g., ccused
drunkenness among the Pursuer's i,oul-
| Try and consequently rendered them of
| little or no value to him. Pursuers
! elected that for some years past he
lad been making considerable income
! from keeping poultry, hut that since
the starting of the distilery he had
made little or nothing. His mems and
ducks would not eat. They We're, he
might say, almost always more or less
under the influence of drink except
Sundays, when the distillcry was not
working. On Sundays their condition
was pitiable in the extreme. Mondays
were their worst days, for then the
hens drank excessively, fell into the
burn frequently, and lately he had
to keep a boy to look after them on
Monday mornings. They took no food
unless they first had a walk to Laggan
burn. Their conduct was generally
very reprehensible, and the ducks were
no better than the hens It tool, the
poultry some time to discover the burn.
lie thought it was a hen tnat made the
discovery first and that she had led the
lest astray.
The account of the unique trial as it
appeared in an English newspaper is as
follows:
Cross-eXamined by Mr.. William
Smith, solicitor: Have you ever OBJ
served 'gapes' in hens?" "Yes." DO
YOU not consider that your hens are
suffering from 'gapes?'" "Yes; whis-
Ky 'gapes.'" Oaughter.) Did you
know anything about this Fort VIII |
liam hen before you bought herr"
Nothing."s
John Scott at this stage wished to
read to the bench an article by Andrew
Lang referring to a somewhat similar
case. Mr.. Smith objected, as the party |
was not called. Mr.. Scott stated he |
had summoned Mr.. Lang, but he had not |
put in an appearance. He left himself .
in his lordship's hands. The sheriff
sustained the objection.
Superintendent Moss was then asked
by Mr., Scott to place on the bench a
large cage of wickerwork containing
the Fort William hen referred to- He
asked to be allowed to recall the pur-
suer.
Mr.. Scott-This is the Fort William
hen? at is" rs it sobcr?" No
Anyone could notice that this was
correct, for it sat on the bottom of the
cage and put its long neck through the
bars, looked sideways at the ceiling,
grooming to itself in what was termed
a "maudlin style by the pursuer. This
was always noticed, he further stated,
when it was far gone" At this stage
the hen seemed to address some forci-
Bile remarks to his lordship. who or
dered It to be taken away.
Examination continueG.-"Was this
hen 'at the distillery burn this morn
ing?" anyone could see that" Oaugh
ter.) "IIoW are the other hsns to-day?"
Worse than this one" "Was this the
only one you could take to court?'
Yes" "Why?' "The rest were too
drunk so that on the whole the
Fort William hen is not the worst?'
THAT is So" ''How do you account
for that?' ''She can stand it BETTER
Cross-eXamined.-'' -''What do the hens
DO when they return from the burn?"
Sleep" "Anything else?" ''Aftcr
sleep they generally fight ''Have you
no sober hens at all?" Yes. but the
drunk ones break their eggs
For the pursuer it was contended that
he had made out he was entitled to dam
.ges. In an able speech for the de-
tense it was submitted that the conten-
lion had not been proved. The condi-
ton of the pursuer's hen might be due
o influenza.
His lordship stated that, the case be
ng a peculiar one, he would delay Civ
ng a decision that day.
The court was crowded, and the Fort
William hen was the object of much
interest outside. A thoughtful indi-
'idual presented to it fully half glass
If whisky, which it took greedily. This
'evived it considerably, and it cackled