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he Marine Record. MARITIME LAW. BALVAGE—VESSEL WITHOUT NAVIGATOR— SALVOR SAVING HIS OWN LIFE IN ACT OF SALVING—HOFFSCHILD ET AL. V3. THE BRIGANTINE F, I. MERRYMAN, ETC, U. 8S. District Court, Eastera District of New York. While the brigantine Merryman was on a voyage from Bathurst to Boston, her cap- tain and mates died, leaving the crew alone on board, none of whom were capable of navigating the vessel. While being sailed by the cook und steward on a general course given them by the captain befure he died, she fell in with the bark Sealla, which was inasinking condition and without boats. Both vessels hoisted signals of dis- tress. ‘he captain and crew of the Scalla then abandoned their vessel and went on board of ‘he Merryman, which the captain of the Sealla took charge of and brovght safely to port. Libels were thereatter filed against the Merryman by the captain and crew of the Sealla for salvage. The Merry- man with her cargo was worth fifty thcusand dollars. Held, that as the Merryman was in want of a navigator, the service rendered her by the captain of the Sealla was a salvage service, and his claim was hot de- feated by the fact in salving the Merryman, he was probably saving his own life; $1,000 should therefore be allowed him as salvage ; but the services rendered the Merryman by the crew of the Scalla were not salvage ser- vices, and their libels should therefore be dismis-ed. Benedict, J This is an action by the master and crew of the German bark Friedrich Scalla, to re- cover salvage from the brigantine F.-I. Merryman, her cargo and freight. The tacts are not in dispute. On August 20, 1885, the brigantine Merryman sailed from Gambier River, Bathurst, with a cargo of hides for Boston, Massachusetts, under the command of Captain Nicherson, She had no mate, ber mate having died in July. Her crew consisted of the master, two sea- men, an African shipped in Bathurst, and the cook, and steward, a colored man. On the day after sailing the master was taken sick, and died on the Ist of September. On the same day the master died the second mate was taken sick, and on the 11th of Sep- tember he died. Before dying the captain told the cook and steward, in case the second mate should be sick, to take command of the vessel and steer between northwest, and northwest by north, and he would probably hit some port in America. When the cap- tain died the cook and steward, whose name was William Henry Furbert, tock command. | He was not navigator nor was there any person on board able to take an observation. The brigantine was steered as the captain had directed, and on the Ist day of October the sails ofa bark were discovered ahead, _ which proved to be the German bark Fried- rich Scalla. As the vessels neared each other an ensign was hoisted on the Merryman, and atout tlie same time it was discovered that the Scalla had also a signal flying. | When within hailing distance the Merryman, reported herself as thirty-two days from Batharst and in want ofa navigator. The Sealla reported herself as fifty days from Stettin, and without boats. A boat was sent to her from the Merryman when it was ascertained that the Scalla had been dis- abled on the 9th of September, and was at that time in a sinking condition; that she had lost all her boats, and the master had been desirous of abandoning her for several days. Thereupon the master, the mate and ten men comprising the crew of the Scalla lett their vessel, and went on board the Merry- man taking with them in five trips of the boat, their clothes, nautical instruments, and some provisions. The master of the Scalla then took command of the Merryman, altered her course and proceeded towards Boston. When off New York, being some- what short of water, it was thought best to goto New York Instead of Boston, and on the 7th day of October she arrived in New York, having met with no disaster or bad weather and the vessel and her cargo being in good condition. From the time the master of the Scalla took charge of the Merryman, most of the ship’s work was performed by the mate and sailors of the Sealla. T'wo of the crew of the Merryman were able to work and took turns at the wheel. The cook und steward did little or nothing, being worn out. Out of this state of facts have arisen this claim of the master, mate and seamen of the Scalla, to be paid a salvage compensa tion for their services on board the Merry- man, It cannot be doubted that a salvage ser- vice was rendered to the Merryman by the master of the Scalla. The Merryman was iin distress for want of a navigator; he sup- plied that want. His presence on board changed the condition of the Merryman from a situation of considerable peril to one of comparative safety; by means of his knowledge and skill the Merryman reached port and without loss to her owners. I can see no ground on which to deny hima salvage reward for the services he rendered. It is true that saving his own life, was one, and perhaps the principal motive, which induced him to leave his own sinking vesse] and join the Merryman, but it has several times been held that the existence of such a motive affords no ground for refusing sal- vage reward. (The Two Friends, 2 W. Rob. 349; the Merrimac, 1 Benedict, 201.) The contention on behalf of the claimants is, that instead of furnishing a navigator to the Merryman, the entire crew of the Scal'a, for the purpose of saving their own lives went on board the Merryman and no in- dividual was separately designated to render service. By their own arrangement they constituted an unit. Treated as such, the service rendered by the Merryman to all was more than the equivalent for the service rendered to the Merryman. eee? But surely the master ofthe Scalla was by the attendant circumstances designated to render to the Merryman precisely the services she needed namely, those ot navi- gator and master. These services he did render, and in doing so he assumed respon- sibilities if not more serious than those from which he escaped, certainly different, but which he was under no obligation to assume. It seems to me to be no answer to his claim for compensation for this service, to say that the services sendered to the Merryman by others who went on board the Merryman, were more then compensated by the saving of their lives. by means of the Merryman: Besides, the question is never a mere ques- tion of equivalent for services. rendered. When a salvage service is shown in-a court of admiralty, itis the duty of that court to see that more than an equivalent is given |‘ for the services, and this upon grounds of public policy. The rendition ot a salvage to the Merryman by the master of the Scalla) entitled him theretore to ask of this court a salvage compensation, whatever may have been the benefit received from the Merry- man, by other of the crew of the Scalla. He was nine days in command of the Merrymaun ; he met with no storm or unusual circumstances. To say the least his anpietiea were diminished rather than in- creased by tuking charge of the Merryman. The value of the Merryman and _ her cargo was some fifty thousand dollars, I think the master should be paid a thousand dollars as Lis reward. In regard to the other persons, eleven in | number, who went from the Sealla‘to the Merryiman and who under the direction ot the master of the Scalla, navigated the Merryman to New York, the case is dif- ferent in this; that while they rendered useful service, and relieved wvsmall crew, no | doubt much worn by labor and anxiety, their services in no way differed from the services they. would have performed on board their own vessel; certainly they were | no more important or arduous in character. These services were not necessary to the Merryman, for her own crew with the aid of a navigator, would have brought her in safely. Nor were these’ services requested. The services of a navigator were required and only the. services of a navigator were asked of the Sealla, The services of the others were rendered voluntarily, because, not daring to remain on their own vessel they obtained permission to come to the Merryman. These services were not those of salvors. They were not necessary to the salving of the brigantine, they were not ré- quested by the brigantine’s crew, who re- mained in possession of their vessel. ‘They were accepted because voluntarily teadered and they must be deemed to have been rendered as an equivalent for the benefit they received. There must, therefore, be a decree in favor of the libelant, Augustus Hoffsehild, for the sum of one thousand dollars and the costs of this aetion. As regards the other libelants the libel is dismissed without costs, April 5, 1886. SCIENCE OF PROPELLER WHEELS. They were talking of the Cumberland’s new wheel in a marine office, and specu- lating on her luck in breaking a second one inso shortatime. Wheels cost something at six cents a pound for eight hundred pounds. “And there is very little really known about them,’’ said one of the party, to which all agreed, “The captain of the Cumberland,’’ added one, “said that he made average speed com- ing down with his broken wheel frou, Chi- cago.” “I tell you that they put too much sur- face on their wheels,” said a shipbuilder, “and all the changing of old patterns for new ones amounts to'is to be up with the style. They don’t know anything about the business yet. A wheel with two buckets is just as good as any.” And it was the gen- eral verdict that the matter. was all an ex- periment as yet.— Buffalo Express. OFFICIAL NUMBERS AND SIGNAI LETTERS. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, BUREAU OF NAVIGATION, WASHINGTON, June 1, 1886 To the Editor of the Marine Recerd: Following isa list of merchant vessels of the United States te which official num bers and signal letters were assigned by the Bureau of Navigation, Treasury Department, dur ing the 2 eek ended Mav 29, 1886: OFciat Signal | ; Tonnage. | Number.| Letters, Rig. | Name of Vessel, Gross, | Net. Home Port, Fe BE AY (SE 2 gate Beles Ara Si.) eae a | SAIL VESSELS. 106.415,K D J M\Slp y_ |Atlantic, 84.51 8e.29 |New York, N.Y. 120,030}! . <2. 5.450, |Freddie Hayward, 25.28 24.02 |Tnwn Creek, Md. 100,395,K DJ N/Se. Ida H. Mathis, 507-36 | 482.47 |Somers’ Point. N. J. 96,027) Ec iiccess covets iSc |J. and P, Bradford, 14 81 14.07 | Town Creek, Mp. 14,445) ..-.. ../S¢e RO MMAD, Sih Po da a .-. +. .|San Francisco, Cal. 140:826 lees casc on iSc, Little Jennie, 9.85 9.36 |Town Creek, Md. 91/398) 28 5 Se Maggie E, Breeden, 12.45 11.23 do do QU; S45 es sv ssee gol. Maud R,, 8.12 7.71 do do O1048( Fssis, vee. |S). Mattie, 9 62 914 do do 150)309) sereeeses a2. [SC Puritan. 49.16 46.70 do do BIG, FOd| Ses 82st: |Soi Sophia Amelia K,, 47-50 45 13 |Charleston, S. C, 1451420) -eveeeeee nae [D]i Trader, | 13.09 13.09 |Portland, Oregon. STEAM VESSELS, | SISWOl Nsceess aoceast Sts Ps Bay Point. | 16.26 12.38 |Fall River, Mass, 126,350}. ISt. p. C. O. of Cincinnati, 21.81 19.89 |Cincinnati, Ohio. 135,884 #2./5t. pe Emmie, | 63.42 50.87 |Jacksonville, Fla, 85,9211K DJ LiSt.s Greenwood, 195.54; | 144.25 |San Francisco, Cal. O55 922 cae owes aes (Stays Glance, 28 47 15.00 |Buffalo, N. Y, VOUS eae sees |St. s. John A, Dash, | 13.78 6.89 | Krie, Pa, PAO; OZAl Cap searas \St. p. LenaC, 44.38 34.09 |Pensacola, Fla. QUES sO) cucu ps St. p. Marco, 36 80 36 80 |New Orleans, La, OL SAONM SIS te. a SG ce Marietta, 20.15 12 13 |Center on, N, J. 130,350] .....226-./St. s. Newburgh, |1033.57 | 741.22 |Philadelphia, Pa, 110,699) sissie tae bo plates: Reva. | 125.77 84 48 |New York, N. Y. UNRIGG’D VESSELS. | Ole Sy] accsennaee St. bt. ‘Willie Ryan. to7 60 | 102.22 |Whitehall. N. Y. JARVIS PATTEN, C'ouimisstoner ol SD aviga tion, le desanseeninmnsemmmmmmmeemesenene eT ° NAUTICAL NOLEs. J. T. Towers, late steward and purser of the propeller Persia, is now commander of the Canadian propeller Ocean. Itis said that by the end of May the Kingston & Montreal Forwarding Company will have forwarded as much grain as they did up to September last year, The schooner Maple Leaf, partially destroyed by tire at Toronto, has been thoroughly reconstructed, somewhat enlarged, and her name changed to William Golding. The schooner Emerald, while weighing ner anchor near ‘Toronto on Monday, brought up another anchor which was lost from the schooner Atlantic twenty-eight yeurs ago, : The schooner Three Brothers, which left here last night with coal for Milwaukee, will stop at Port Huron and take on a new boiler for the steambarge Kingsford, now at. Milwaukee. gett ( An examination was made of the schooner Star of Hope by a submarine diver. It was discovered that the bottom of the’ vessel was entirely gone, and there is less» probability: that she willbe rebuilt =. The two steel, boilers for the, G. T. R. steamer Huron have arrived at Point Ed- ward. They are of u new design and very powerful. ‘I'he dimensions are 10}g feet in diameter by 12 feet long. : f The steam yacht Mystic, owned by Mr. W. L. Scott of Hrie, has.been towed to Buf- falo by the tug Thompson and will be given a new boiler, new deck, etc., her repairs will cost about $5,000. ~ heat 3 The steambarge Langell and‘ consorts, Buster and Knapp, bound: down and grain | laden, grounded at the flats in Lake George on the 30th ult. They were released after lightering several thousand bushels. It is reported that vessels in the harbor at Montreal Wednesday were decorated with bunting in honor of the wedding of the President of the United States, and most of them carried the stars and strips at the fore- mast head. 3 : : A want much felt thus far this season by many who prefer water to railroad travel is a steamer to ply ‘between Detroit'and Mt. Clemens.. On. Monday next, itis said, the steamer Nellie, sufficiently commodious, will commence, making’ daily trips on this route. © Ce. ERT SBOE RRM ‘ D, Robeson has taken the contract to fit out complete the new: schooner barge now building for Captain, Forbes, at Bay City, including a steam windlass,’ and will have most of the season for working onit. The new vessel will have a carrying capacity of 100,000 bushels of grain. Mr. Harry Wade launched his new steam yacht «a few days ago at Kingston. He has not yet christened her. She is built after a model made. by Captain Pierce and floats as saucily as a canvas back duck, Her boiler wag putin at Davidson & Doran’s and is Of an improved pattern. The owners, agents and captains of the barges lying along the Lachine canal at Montreal are petitioning the minister of marine to have the entire torce ot harbor police re-appointed, as they are being con- tinually annoyed by thieves, who carry away cargo from the wharves and assault the barge men. ‘The outer breakwater is again under dis- cussion. Vessel masters who have arrived in Chicago recently say that the big reef is becoming more formidable than ever. It can easily be made to answer the purpose tor which it was built—a shelter for storm bound craft—at a small expense. All that is needed is a good light at either end of it, a light equal in strenght to any of the pres- ent harbor lights. By doing this the big reef can be made a good thing. The log barge built at Davidson’s yard on the west side was launched at 3:30 o’clock last Wednesday afternoon. She is 275 feet in length, 51 feet beam, and 12 feet hold. Her name is Wahnapete, after a river in the Georgian Bay country, where she is to trade, bringing logs to Tawas and Saginaw rivers for ber owners, Emery Bros. ‘The Wahnapetz cost $55,000. She has on board all the machinery necessary for the loading and unloading of logs, which she will carry on deck. Her capacity will be 3,500 tons. whieh was}. Mrs. Mary Amsden, who lest one of her legs in the street car accident at the State street bridge last June, when the propeller W. J. Averill ran into and injured the bridge, recovered a verdict of $2,000 in Judge Gary’s court against the Merchants’ Navigation Company, the owners of the steamer, The steambarge Swallow, which sunk while entering Chicago harbor, is. still on hottom of the river, and according to the lookout, it seems that she may remain there fora fortnignt. Several ‘tugs combined and dragged her bow around until it rested against the north pier. The tug Me- Cormick has been engayved to pump her out, Captain Flagstead said that the Swallow was not overloaded. Others, however, who knew the vessel say her capacity is 250,000 feet while she had on board about 270,000 when she was keeled over by the squalls. THE SECOND ENGINEER TURNS UP AGAIN. ' Le Crarre, Iowa, June 4. To the Editor of the Marine Record: —_«. Trué, I have had a pretty tough time of it, but here I am, once again upon my native heath, the wild and roaring Mississippi. Thovgh I struek the hospitable shore of Port Louise dead broke, the mayor of the town, and the “city fathers” as well, turned out to bid me welcome, while the tax col- lector nipped my enthusiasm in the-bud by presenting a bill of four dollars for poll tax, which, according to the ungenerous law of Iowa must be ‘paid. So you see that I struck a job at onee, not ‘engineering, but working my poll tax out ‘on’the highway. ‘‘Down through the everglade, I, faithful worked, with pick and spade,’? sang the trusty roadmaster, as he lay, drunk, under the shade of a big white oak. The transi- tion from the splendors of Gotham to the toils of my native’ city was 50 great that [ really wished myself back in the Niagara — Falls jails # Well, Ihave only time to write a few lines, for I am on watch, having shipped on a tow boat, but I will give the boys a de- ° scription of my wanderings since January in a few days. Eg ast: ee I will say for the engineers, that Iam on’ —to use a provincialism— a two-boiler boat, she being 135 feet long, 27 feet beam, and will trim up on twenty-two inches of water. Steel boilers, double riveted, 33-inch shell, 28 feet long, with metal .26 of an inch thick, giving a tensile strength of 75,000 pounds to the square inch. Each boiler hag six flues. The engines, 15-inch bore, with 7-foot stroke of piston, turning a water wheel, 19 feet in diameter, witha 17 feet 6-inch bucket, width of bucket 24 inches, and seventeen arms ina flange. The boys can figure up the pressure the boat is. permitted to carry, and they will — find it is over two hundred, and don’t for- get, we carry it all the time; that is all she is allowed. And she goes up the river very well, even without crowding her, for we — drove her up against a “big river,” from St. Louis to Keokuk, two hundred and twelve miles, in twenty hours, and had her loaded down to thirty-six inches forward. I might add that we did not stop an engine in the run, and only. slowed down once for a few moments, passing under the foot of Goose Island, ; ne, We have got a Thompson and Houston — electric light, ran by a New York safety engine, and we get coffee at 4 o’clock in the — afternoon, brought down tothe engine room on a bran new tray, so you see, we are fixed. Carry twenty men, all told, and change watches at 11 and 3 o’clock at night. THE SEcoND ENGINEER,