Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 4.djvu/879

 ■WAED V.T. A M. E. 00. 865 �hands eould see the hogs in the field from the cars. The railroad hands say they knew nothing of the trespasses, ex- cept at the time the note was sent, when the guards were cleaned ont. It does not appear when this note was sent, •whether at the beginning of the trespasses or later on, but the petitioner's witness, who carried the note, says Givens, the superintendent, said that if Mrs. Ward would send some hands and have the cattle-guards cleaned ont it would stop the damage. Mrs. Ward says she "did not think it her bus- iness to repair the cattle-guards." The proof shows that six or eight hands could clean them eut in a day; some of the •witnesses say half a day, others longer. The description of the guards shows that it was no very difficult or costly opera- tion to clear them of the ûlling and keep them clear. On the whole, this proof establishes that Mrs. Wardneither kept, her animais up, kept them ont of the fields by other means, or cleared eut the cattle-guards ; but, relying on the theory that the company was liable for the damages, she permitted her own animais to destroy her crops, supposing she had per- formed her whole duty in the matter when she gave the com- pany's agent notice of the condition of the cattle-guard. It is proper to say that while the petitioner claims for damages to the crops of two years, the proof is mostly confined to the crop of one year. �The anomaly of this case is that the petitioner is seekiug to recover, from an adjoining land owner, damages done to her crops hy her own animais. The owner or keeper of ani- mais is generally liable for damages done by them when they are trespassers. Fletcher v. Rylands, L. E. 1 Exch. 263, in which the opinion by Blackburn, J., traces the earliest cases for the doctrine as far back as 20 Edw. IV. It is there said that "if the owner of 200 acres in a common moor enfeoffs B. of 50 acres, B. ought to enclose, at bis peril, to prevent damage by his cattle to the other 150 acres; for, if his cattle escape thither, they may be distrained damage feasant. So the owner of the 150 acres ought to prevent his cattle from doing damage to the 50 acres at his peril," (citing Comyn's �Dig. tit, "Droit M." 2, and Dyer, 3726;) 1 Thomp. Neg, 27; v.4,no.l0 — 55 ����