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Z The Marine Revcond. MARITIME LAW. COLLISION—SCHOONER UNDER SAIL AND SCHOONER IN TOW—ERROR IN LOCATING VESSELS BY 8OUND—CHANGE OF COURSE IN FOG—LIGHTED TORCH. District Court, H. D. Wisconsin. 1886. During a dense fog a collision occurred between the schooner M. and two other schooners in tow of the steamer O, The fog May # Oregon, 18 How. 570. In the case of The Carroll, 8 Wall. 304, it was said: ‘As the steamer did not keep out of the way, and as the collision did occur, the steamer is prima facie liable, and can only relieve her- self by showing that the accident was inevi- table, or was caused by the culpable negli- | gence of the schooner.’ Many other cases} to the same effect might be cited. The Oregon, with a tow, was on a voyage signals of both the steamer O. and the| from Milwaukee to Escanaba, and was head- schooner M. were sounded as required by statute, but the M’s horn was not heard by the O. The O.’s whistle was heard by the M., and endeavors were made to determine her bearing by locating the sound. The O. was first seen by the M. when about 50 feet distant. From the pre-umed direction of the sound, it was supposed by the M, that the O.’s course was astern of the M., and, as the latter vessel was sailing at a moderate speed, close hauled, on the starboard tack, no change of course was made until the O, was actually seen. Held, that as the steamer light’s could net be seen, sound formed the only guide turnished the M., and that an error in locating sound, under the circumstances, was not a fault; and that as the M. was sailing at a moderate speed, close hauled, on the starboard tack, the cir- cumstances were such that the master of the M. was justified in concluding that a change of course might increase the hazard. The schooner failed to show a lighted torch. It was not proved, to the satistac- tion of the court, that the torch, if shown, might not, possibly, have been seen. Held, that though it be possible that the torch, if shown, might not have been seen far enough off to have done any good, such a possibility furnished no excuse for its absence. Nothing short of an absolute certainty that it could do no good, to be established by proof on the trial, can justify an omission to obey the rule. The steamer’s speed was diminished upon the coming up of the fog. According to the testimony of her crew, she was, at the time of collision, steaming at from three to tour knots per hour. According to the testimony of the M.’s witnesses she was steaming at from seven to nine knots per hour. Held, that the occurrence of the collision, under the circumstances, was sufficient to estab- lish a prima facie case of negligence on the part of the steamer; and that the density of the fog, the locality, and the position of the tow, required an occasional stuppage, in order to listen for sounds for vessels that might possibly be approaching. Both ves- sels held to be in fault, and damages di- vided. | é cia In Admiralty. Markham & Noyes, for libelants. Harvey D. Goulder, for claimants. Dyer, J. On the nineteenth day of June, ing N. N. E. I do not think she changed | her course atter her whistle was first heard on the Mott, a3 was supposed by the master of the Mott. The testimony on the part of the claimants is positive that she did not. The course of the wind may have been such as {0 carry the sound of the whistle more to westward than northward, and thus to mis- lead those on the Mott. Her lights were in place, and burning, as were those on the vessels in tow. Her fog-whistle appears to have been diligently sounded at frequent intervals. There was no omission of duty in these respects. ‘The fog-horn of the Mott was not heard until the vessels were in sight of each other, and close together. ‘This would naturally suggest a negligent look- out, and it appears that the person serving in that capacity was a young man less than 19 jyears old.. But the master and mate were also on watch, and the testimony is direct and positive that attention was given to fog signals and that none were heard. As the wind was from the south, its tend- ency would be to carry the sound of the Mott’s horn away from the Oregon, and make it more difficult to hear on the steamer. Then, the master says the machinery of the boat made a good deal of noise, and thus it ig easy to see that the situation was not favorable for hearing sounds from an ap- proaching vessel, Withont imputing fault to those on board the Oregon on either of the grounds already mentioned, I am still of opinion that the fact of the collision cannot be reconciled with the exercise of due care on the part of the steamer. Notwithstanding the testi- mony which tends to show that her speed was checked after the fog came on, I cannot resist the belief that she was going at greater speed than was consistent with safety, and that this was the prime cause of the collid- ing vessels being brought into dangerous Oconto, laden with a cargo of lun‘ber, bound /dense that he could not see the tow behind for Milwaukee. ‘Towards midnight the|him. As the steamer had a tow of two _gkies became overcast, and there came up a|SCchooners, there was imposed upon her the _ dense fog, accompanied by rain. The wind | "ecessity and duty of greatly increased vigil- was from the south, and was a good sailing |@nce and care since there was liability to breeze. ‘The vessel was sailing by the wind, | Collision withthe vessels in tow as well as on the starboard tack, steering S, E. by E., | With the steamer itself. In the case of ‘The and was carrying full sail. ‘The fog-horn | Favorite, 10 Biss. 536, 8. C. 9 Fed. Rep. 709, ‘was constantly sounded, and the lights were | it was held by Judge Blodgett that the fact in their places, and burning brightly. It|thata steamer has barges in tow does not ‘was mate’s watch, consisting of ‘mate, | alter the rule requiring her to keep out ot wheelsman, and lookout. At 11:30 o’clock|the way of an approaching sailing vessel, the master came on deck because the weather | 40d that in such a case the steamer should was thick and threatening. In obedience| take extra and timely precautions to avoid to his orders, the watch below were called |@ Collision. In effect, the same ruling was! to shorten sail. The whistle of a steamer | Made in.The Ciyilta, 103 U. 8. 699. The was heard, apparently at considerable dis- | Chief engineer of the Oregon suys she was tance, bearing southwest, and then a little |"Wnning between three and four miles an more westward, from the Mott. Sail was | hour, but he was not on duty, and merely taken in, the vessel keeping her course, and | looked out ot his room, where he had retired the steamer’s whistle continuing to be heard. | for the night, and made a hasty observation, No lights were seen, when suddenly the | The second engineer places the speed of the steamer, which proved to be the Oregon, | boat at three or three and a half or four loomed up in the fog, passing within about | Miles an hour, The mate of the Locke says 50 feet of the schooner’s bow. A hail was| her speed was probably five miles an hour. heard from the steamer to the effect that she | The master of the Cyclone thinks it was had a tow, and to put the wheel of the Mott three or four miles an hour and master and hard down. This was done,and she came up in the wind. Almost immediately the first schooner in tow of the Oregon, which was the Cyclune, struck the Mott, earrying away her jib-boom. Then the second schooner in the tow, which was the Locke, in a moment or two struck her a second blow, raking her fore and aft, from stem to stern post, doing serious damage. Both blows were received. by the Mott on her port side, as she was standing in the wind head- ing nearly south. The collision occurred about 15 or 20 minutes past widnight, Mil- waukee time,—perhaps a few minutes later. For the injury thus occasioned the libelants seek to recover damages, and the question is, which vessel, if either, was in fault? 1. Was the steamer chargeable with negligence? Itis insisted on the part of the claimants that, so far as she was concerned, this was an inevitable accident. In the case ofasteamer having opportunity to know that a sailing vessel is approaching, the rule is that the steumer is bound to keep out of the way. Whatever is necessary for this, itis her duty todo. The Fannie, 11 Wall. 240. Whena steamer approaches a saillng vessel, the steamer is required to exercise the necessary precaution to avoid a collision, and if this be not done, prima facie the steamer is chargeable with fault. The lookout of the Oregon say it was four miles an hour. The master, mate, ard lookout of the Mott testify, from their obserya- tions of the steamer as she passed, that she was going from seven to nine miles an hour, Thus the estimates per hour vary from three to nine miles. ‘Tle schooners in tow were sailing light. At the time of the collision the steamer was under sail as well as steam power, carrying fore and main sail. ‘The Locke was carrying fore. sail, mainsail, staysail, and two jibs. Whether the Cyclone was under sail does not appear. ‘he wind was free for the steamer and her tow. The master of the Oregon says her sails were not drawing, but why were they up, if not to add to the pro- pulsion of the boat? These are tacts which tend to. show that the speed of the Oregon and her tow was greater than is stated by the respondent’s witnesses. If, instead of of driving through a fog as dense as then prevailed, the steamer had stopped, even fora few moments, the noise of the ma- chinery having ceased, the fog horn of the Mott would probably have been heard. The master knew he was in a locality where there was liability to meet passing vessels, The violence of the blows received by the Mott furnishes further evidence of the speed of the steamer and her tow. The Cylone OFFICIAL NUMBERS AND SIGNAT. LETFERS. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, BUREAU OF To the Editor of the Marine Record: Navigation, WAsHINGTON, JJuly 19 1886 Following isa list of merchant vessels of the United Statesto which official numbers and signal letters were assizned by the Bureau of Navigation, Treasury Department, during the week ended July 17. 1886: Oficin! | Signal Tonnage. Number.| Letters. | Rig. Name of Vessel. Gross. Net. | Home Pert. { SAIL VESSELS. 106,426| 200+ san <2 |9¢ Ada Iaabella, 8 03 7.88 El'sworth, Me. 106,426).-.- .-.-. |Cat. Alida V., 6 93 6.59)/Greenvllle, N, Y. 126.36, K DL R{Sc. Cassie F. Bronson, 1124.67| 1068.44| New York, N. Y. 126: 206) 64 4 do355015l: Caroline? 10 44 9 92|Baltimere, Md, 135,890] «s-ese0- -25- |SC, Ella Mar, 13 20 12 54|St. James Mich. 120.645|---- ----..|Sd. |Flora, 5 81 5 62|Naubinway. Mich, 96,037 |< =~ iss 00s: | Cate \Jerry Brown, 7 54 7 17| Bay Port, N. Y. 91,861) «-5+ «++ 181, | Mabel 18.36 17.45 New York, N. Y. | STEAM VESSELS, 126,364] -++++0+0 +--+ |St, S, |City of Nico'let, | 167.01 124 70|Green Bay, Wis. 85.930) ---- ---- ++./St. s, Gen I. J. Wistar, 60 59 30.30| Chesapeake City, Md, 76,636|K D L Sjst. s, J. H Outhwaite, 1304 06} 1009 04}Cleveland, O. 91.852|---- ------ St. p |M: y Flower, git g.11| Nashville, Tenn, 91,853) ----------/St yt. |May W., 3-26 1.63) New York, N. Y. 81,119)---- +-----'S ss, )Wm. J McCaldin, 75.36 37.68} do do 81,120) --.---4-- St s |William H_ Stevens, 1332-59} 1025.67| Detroit, Mich, | UNkIGG’D VESSELS, AGERE isch ony Bge. \Cricket. 81.71 81.71|Keokuk, Ia. BOTT Pore Bge |Economist, 318.18 388.18|New York, N. Y. 46,354! .. ba by be John J Groves, 104.03} 99.83] Whitehall, N. Y, 46 363|..........|Bge John Ericson, | 10598! 100 69|New York, N. Y. 48,555] ....--..-.|Bge | Larry, 40 96 40 96| Davenport, Ia. 51 jet dubeitaad sc tose Bge |Mabel T., 31 35) 31.35|Quincy, Ill. JaAKVIS ParreN. Commissioner ot Navigation, LL LT SE ELITE IT OE I LT LT ST I TS CT aT carried away her jibboom, and, as [ infer from the evidence, quickly passed on out of sight in the fog. The blow of the Locke, according to the testimony, carried away bowsprit, knight heads, rails, s anchions, bulwarks, planksheer, four streaks of plank below the planksheer, the anchor stock, fore and main rigging, chain plates and lanyards, and fore, main, and mizzen topmast rigging, raking the vesshbl fore and aft. Added to all this is the fact that the col- lision with the two vessels in tow occurred in rapid succession. The mate of the Locke says he heard a noise up ahead, which was when the Oyclone struck the Mott, and then, to use his own language, “in a second or two the Mott was right under our lee bow.” He says, further, that the collision between the Mott and the Locke was within a minute or a minute and a half, after he heacd the noise on the Cyclone. ‘The length of the tow line between the Oregon and the Cyclone was 300 feet. The proofs do not show thelength ot the-line between the Cyclone and the Locke; but the blows of the two vessels in Shee. : ; " pai | tow were evidently'in, very quick succession» 1885, the schooner Richard Mott set sai! from | Proximity. ‘The master says the fog wasso| and it is fair to assume that the length of the line between the Cyclone and Locke was equal to that between the Cyclone-and the Oregon. Thus, the facts and cireumstances attending the collision point to the conelusion that such caation was not used in the matter of speed as the situation required. In so dense a fog, especially as the steamer had vessels ‘in tow stretching out 500 or 600 feet behind her, I think it would hardly be unreasonab. to say thatit was her duty to stop long enough to listen for sounds from vessels that might possibly be approaching. At any rate, she could only properly run at such speed as would enable her to stop as svon as the close proximity of a vessel was known. [Continued next week. ] - THE ELGIN. The Canadian schooner Elgin was sold by the United States marshal for $1,225 ona claim for repairs which is held by Miller Brothers. J. S. Dunham was‘ the pur- chaser. Mr. Danham will now take steps to have the Elgin enrolled as an American vessel in order to pluce her in his own fleet. The law regarding this matter says that any foreign vessel which is wrecked in Ameri- can waters and is subsequently released and repaired in an American port can be en- rolled as an American vessel when proof is given to the Secretary of the l'reasury that an amount exceeding three-fourths of her value has been expended for repairing her, Of course her sale yesterday settled the ques- tion of value, and Mr. Dunham will not have any trouble in proving that a sum ex- ceeding five times her value has been ex- pended in her repairs. In this way the old schooners Mongaugon and Two Friends be- came a part of the United States lake ma- rine. ‘heir names werechanged to Pewau- kee and Waukeshaw. GAZELLE-JOSIE COLLISION. C. E. Kremer filed a libel in the United States district court against the steamer Gazelle tor $1,100. ‘The suit is brought on behalf of Captain Angus Linklater, owner of the yacht Josie, which was ran down and wrecked by the Gazelle a short time ago. The Josie went to the bottom near the gap in the basin, and, being exposed to the sea, she went to pieces during the storm which followed shortly after the collision, Mrs, Wilson,a passenger on the yacht, lost her life, This suit is more important to vesselmen than any other that has been brought in the admiralty courts in some time. It wiil set- tle a disputed question of long standing— the question of carrying colored side lights on sailing yachts. When the Josie was run down the only light aboard was a small white light. The captain of the Gazelle says he did not even see this, nor did he see the Josie’s sail until it was too late to avert the collision. The captain of the Gazelle was himself on lookout duty. While there is no law which compels vessels as small as the Josie to carry side lights, it would seem that a sailor of as long experience as Captain Linklater would have carried them anyhow as a protection to the innocent people he carried upon bis yacht.—Jnter- Ocean. THE LATEST THING.IN PAINTS. In the era of invention, and of improve- ment upon principles already formulated in mechanics and chemistry, America, which may almost be termed the home of inven- tion, has more than ‘held her own,” both in the number and importance of new ideas, which add to the comfort and happiness of maukind. The improvemeut in paints has kept pace with the spirit of the age, and it would seem that in the P. & B. paint, made, patented and sold by the Parafine Paint Company, whose head offices are at No, 310 Calitornia street, in this city, the acme of perfection had been reached, and that fur- ther improvement in this line would not be possible. The great desideratum has been to provide a material which, while acting as a covering, would at the same time be pre- servative of the material on which it is used from the natural forces of the elements, such as the corrosion of metals, the rotting and decay of woods and fibres, and, of para- mount importance, which would offer suc- cessful resistance to the ravages of fire. As said before,the P.&.B, paint fillsthese require- ments, the severe tests to which it has been put, having proved its efficacy and un- doubted superiority to any preparation or material in use. A Journal reporter on in- terviewing the Paratine Paint Company, was more than edified at what he saw. A shingle roof is exhibited, which, after re- ceiving one coat of this paint, was covered with shavings and inflammable wood and set afire in the presence of Chief Engineer Scanvell, captain of the fire patrol, Russell White, and John L. Durkee, fire marshal of the S. F. fire department. ‘The fire having consumed the surrounding wood, shavings, etc., the root was found to be almost un- injured, the fire not ‘having been able to overcome the protecting coat of paint. This fact is certified to by the gentlemen men- tioned,and is conclusive proof of the wonder- ful salamander-like properties claimed for the P. and B. paint. Of its great efficacy as a preservative of metals—iron pipes, gates, water tanks, ete—there is no question of it imparting no-taste to the water, numerous testimonials to this effect being produced from men high in commercial and govern- mental affairs, among them H. Schuasler, ‘chief engineer of the Spring Valley water worke, and Commodore Russell und Civil Engineer Wolcott, of the United States Navy. One of the most extraordinary — things about this paint, apart from its great merits alluded to, is the cheapness at which itis supplied, not exceeding in cost that of ordinary common paint. As a natural re- sult of these facts, the demand for the P. and B. paint has steadily increased, and the company’s factory, near Shell Mound Park, is kept busy in turning out its varied line of goods. Branches are established at New York, Chicago and St. Louis, where the ma- terial is meeting with the same appreciation. Our readers are strongly rscommended “to call and see for themselves,”’ at the office of the Parafine Paint Company, No, 244 South — Ny aNRE BERS Chicago, Ill.—San Francisco ournal. ° ae Se A TECHNICAL FINE. The Secretary of the Treasury has con-— ‘ curred.in the action of Collector. Seebe ger in fining the propellar Burlington, of Port Huron, $20 for violating one of the minor rules regulating the reporting of vessels. The Burlington some time ago left Chicago © for Alpena, where she took on board a cargo of cedar posts. There isno custom house at Alpena, hence her arrival or clearance could not be reported there. The captain, however, understood the law, and he put — into Cheboygan on his return trip for the purpose of reporting. It was about dark * when he reached Cheboygan, and when he — got to the custom house he found that the Deputy Collector in charge was absent— gone tosupper. ‘The captain re Burlington, and sailed for Chic that it would be necessary to prove existing emergency when the Burlit gton left Cheboygan in order to have the fine re- mitted. It was Secretary Fairchild f ? ceca ae