Rector v. Southern Coal Co.

The question of law presented by this case is, what duty does the owner' of a mule owe to an employee who has charge of the mule and who goes into the stall where the mule is ?

A mule is a melancholy creature. It is a nullius filius in the animal kingdom. It has been said that a mule has neither “pride of ancestry nor hope of posterity.” Josh Billings remarked that if he had to preach the funeral of a mule he would stand at his head. Men love and pet horses, dogs, cats and lambs. These domestic animals have found their way in literature. Shakespeare said of a horse: “I will not change my horse…