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VOL. XXXIV. CLEVELAND, SEPTEMBER 27. 1906. NO. 13. CAR FERRY ASHTABULA. A recent test of the car ferry Ash- tabula on the route between Ashtabula and Port Burwell was most satisfactory. The terms of the contract were in every way complied with. The contract called for a steady working speed of 12 miles per hour, with full load, and an emer- gency speed of 15 miles. Both require- ments were fully met. At full load the draught was 14 ft. Io in. The contract was that it should not exceed 15 ft. The speed test was made in a head sea with the wind blowing hard and it is thought that under favorable conditions the car ferry can make at least a half mile bet- ter time, A ' -before Mr. Justice Phillimore in MARITIME LAW. | The following case, which we quote from London Fairplay, brings up the. in- teresting question of the right of the owners to sell a vessel after it has been abandoned to the underwriters. "A case CAR FERRY ASHTABULA. in which the owners of a vessel sold her after abandoning her to underwriters as a constructive total loss recently came the King's Bench Division. It is, I believe, unusual for owners to sell in such cir- cumstances; but if, as in this instance, the underwriters interested refused to accept the notice of abandonment, the owners, driven in self-defence to act as if uninsured, may have considered that they had no alternative but to sell. the vessel. Did they consult the 'under- writers before selling and inform them that the vessel would have to be sold unless definite instructions were forth- coming? What took place between the POTS parties before the sale is not Clearly set forth in the report I have seen, which in this and some other respects is de- fective. It would be interesting to learn the precise particulars, because on the face of it the case would seem to point to a short cut, namely, sale, where un- derwriters decline to accept abandon- ment; though I fancy that ordinarily awners would think twice before adopt- ing such a course. Much would depend