Strother

A judgment for damages was entered upon a verdict of a jury in favor of the plaintiff, a minor child, on account of personal injuries, alleged to have resulted from negligence of the defendant’s employee. The defendants appealed.

A horse-drawn delivery wagon of the appellant company in custody of its driver, a co-defendant herein, stood unattended in a city street near the respondent’s residence. The latter climbed upon the same and fell or was thrown therefrom as the horse moved forward. The evidence upon the question in controversy is meager. It appeared that said vehicle was supplied with hooks to which by rings in the reins the same were to be tightly drawn back and fastened. Also, there was a brake held by notches and as testified by the driver, “when you push it up on the side it pulls it back into the notches which hold it in place”. When stopping to make a delivery, the rein “pulls the horse’s head back and that makes the lines taut . . . and in addition to that you had to put on the brake” to prevent the horse from moving during the driver’s absence. The appellants maintain that the fact that a child may not be capable of contributory negligence does not always render a…