From THE "Nonru-CuINA Darry News," or Marc 16, 1870
A few days ago, four ponies strayed from Jessfield and were eventually heard of in a village on the opposite side of the creek, some five miles distant. The owners offered, through their servant, $10 compensation for any damage they might have done, to recover them. The villagers refused. Official assistance was next invoked; and after some demur, a Consular Messenger and a Mixed Court Runner Were started to negotiate. These individuals only succeeded, according to their own account, after much difficulty, in persuading the villagers to accept $16; besides which $6.50 had to be paid for expenses incurred in the search, and 35 for cumshaws to the runners, after Which the ponies came back minus some Tls. 15 worth of horse-clothing With which they had escaped. Now, while we think it quite fair that a small sum should be paid by the owners, for the damage their ponies are certain to have done to the young crops, and for annoyance caused, we do think $2150 plus a loss of' Tis, 15 rather heavy, Certainly, the $18 should not have been paid til the horse clothing Was recovered. The only danger is, in all these cases, that one may attribute the squeeze to the wrong parties. It is quite likely the $5 nominally given io the runners represented really a fraction of their gain, and that they pocketed a large share of the balance, ihe villagers really getting no more than their due,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.