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~~ MARITIME LAW. BALVAGE—STEAMER—LOSS OF MOTIVE POWER —DANGEROUS POSITION—TOW AGE BY ANOTH- ER STEAMER. STEAMSHIP SAMANA CO. UY. 8. Distrist Court, New York. The steamship Erin lost the key of her pro- peller when about 50 miles north of the east end of the island of Cuba. She was thus de- prived of motive power, and though the weather was fair, and she was in the track of ships, she was in a current which sets toward the rocky coust, and was unable by her sails, to stem it. She thereupon set a signal of dis- tress, which was perceived by the steamship Samana, which thereupon came to her assist- ance and took her in tow, after the masters of the two vessels, had entered into an agreement thst the compensation for the service should be left to the agents of the vessels at New York or Boston. The Samana thereafter towed V. STEAMSHIP ERIN. Eastern District of the Eriasafely to thelatter’s port of destination, | a distance of 240 miles. The Erin and her stores were worth $26,000; the Samana was worth $50 000. The owners of the Erin offered $1,000 for the service. Held, that $4,000 was @ proper salyage award. Benevicr, J. This is an action for salvage. The circum- stances are as follows: On the 5th day of July, 1888, the steamship Erin, bound on a voyage from Baltimore to Port Antonio, Ja— maica, when abont 50 miles north of Cape Maysi, which is the eastern end of the Island of Cuba, at half past seven in the morning, lost the key of her propeller, and was thus deprived of motive power. The weather at the time was fine, sea smooth, and the wind very light from eastwardly. The current at that point sets to the 8S. S. W. at the rate of two and a half knots an hour towards the coast of Cuba, which, according to the testi- mony, is a rocky coast, offering no anchorage, and with which the captain of the Erin was unfamiliar. The steamer was schooner-rigged, able to spread but little canvas, and, owing to the light breeze and insufficient sail power, she could make no progress. A signai of dis- tress was disp'ayed, which a few hours later, was observed by the steamship Samana, also bound to Port Antonio. The Samana there- upon altered her course about a point to the westward, bore down to the Erin and hove to, close by. The captain of the Samana launched a boat and went on board the Erin, and there the following agreement was made between the two masters: “This isan agreement between the captain and representative of the British steamer Erin) of Glasgow, fallen in with disabled (with sig— nals of distress), in about latitude 21 20 N., longitude 7415 west, by British steamer Sa- ~ mana, of Liverpool, to tow said disabled steam- er Erin to Port Antonio, Jamaica. We, the spresentatives of the above mentioned steam- and their charterers agree to leave the nt to be paid for towing the above men— disabled steamer Erin to Port Antonio, the agents of the aboyementioned or geben ss etait either ter a three aa a half inch steel hawser was passed from the Erin to the Sa- mana, and at about acon the Samana proceed- ed on her course to Port Antonio, with the Erin tow. During the night a heavy sea arose, and both vessels rolled considerably, the Erin steering very badly. This continued during the next day, and about half past two in the afternoon the steel hawser parted about midway between the two vessels. The Samana then steamed around the Erin, endeavoring to pass her a line, but, owing to the heavy sea running, was unable to do so, and finally a boat was launched from the Erin, anda new 8 inch manila hawser belonging to the Sama- na was made fast on board the Erin, and the vessels once more proceeded towards Port An- tonio, where they arrived about 8 o’clock in the evening of the same day. The Erin had heen towed a distance of about 540 miles by the Samana, whereby her arrival at her desti- mation was delayed one day, Port miles from the place where the Erin was taken in tow, Guan- hundred and forty-seven milef, and Santiago, where there was a dock, was hundred eighty-seven miles away. ‘These ports were passed on the way to Port Antonio, no doubt because the master of the Samana was anxious to reach Port Anto- nio as soon as possible, where a cargo of fruit was awaiting Baracoa was sixty tanamo was one one and his arrival. No damage was sustained by the Samana in the performance of this seryice. The value of the Erin with her stores was $26,000. She was light and had no passengers. The Samana was a new ship, worth $50,000. The claimant offers the sum of $1,000; this the owners of the Samana deem insufficient compensation for the ser- vices rendered. That asalyage service was performed by the Samana cannot be denied. The Erin was helpless, at a point less than a hundred miles north-east of a dangerous coast toward which she was driving at the rate of thirty or forty miles a day. If not fallen in with by some vessel, her destruction was ex- tremely probable; but her chance of being fal- Ten in with by other vessels was great, for she was in the channel where many steamships pass. ‘This ciscumstance, while 1t goes to de- crease the peril, does not destroy it, The Erin was in a position of peril and was res- cued therefrom by the voluntary exertions of the Samana. Tt has been contended on the part of the Ihe Marine Recunil. slaimiats that the agreement signed by the | masters makes the case one of simple towage. I do not so understand the agreement. The service expected of the Samona was of course a towing service, but the towing was to be ren- | dered under circumstances which rendered | the service salvage, and the Samana is entitled 1 AS = -o = - to a salvage reward. In support of the offer) ey QD @& TAKING THE PLACE OF made by the Erin, 1 have been referred tos |' EQ) & 3s WOODEN BLOCKS FOR calculation of the percentages that have been | i = la x = ar ALL PURPOSES. allowed by various courts in cases of salvage; © on 2S c> re iEG ate CLEVELAND, 0 service more or less similar to those rendered | ofa = O09 a s = in the present case, and it has been contended | 3 coc = 3 nA Ooo = that a similar percentage upon the value of | om i == as = 6 — the Erin would not amount to more than the = a = = o” = ot thousand dollars offered by the Erin. But no ey = S @ a OD sS inp ' fixed rule for determining the amount of sal- 'o me) he oO co) = vage awards can be based on a comparison of| Sy CO = = ao ras) Ss percentages. Where the value is large, the == O& “e5 = a” Pe o percentage may for tbat reason be less. cS . & aN ’ Where the value saved is small, the percent- | oo rs — [=] co ; : age must be higher in order to give adequate] 5 gy foTo) a2 PHipsmith, reward. In this case the assistance required|q7 = = ; was willingly and promptly furnished; it was sufficient, but it was an easy service. Most of the actual Jabor performed was performed by the crew of the Erin. The Samana did not deviate from her voyage, although it would have been to the interest of the Erin to have been taken to Baracoa or Sautiago, because there was a dry dock. Taking all the circumstances of this case into consideration, Iam of the opinion tha an award of $4,000 would be just, October 15, 1388, A GREAT SHIPBUILDER, Sir William Pearce, whose death is an- nounced, was the son ofan admiralty official, was born in 1835, and was educated asa naval architect and engineer at Chatham. His career has been coincident with the development of ocean steam navigation and iron shipbuilding. After serving as manager of the ship-building yards of Messrs. Robert Napier & Sons, of Glasgow, he entered the famous firm ot John Elder & Co. as one of the original partners when it was established in 1870, and in 1878 he became the sole partner in that firm which is now known as the Fairfield Shipbuilding Com- pany. Attimes the firm has employed up- wards of 6,000 men. Mr. Pearce was selected by the admiralty in 1861 to conduct the building in Chatham dock yard of the first iron vessel constructed in the royal yards, the Achilles, In 1878 he inauger- ated the present era of swift Atlantic liners by building the Arizona; and this was followed by the Alaska, both of which vessels he still owned, He subsequently designed and built the Oregon, Etruria, and Umbria. The two ships last named have made the quickest passage across the Atlantic on record; the Umbria haying made the eastward passage in six days, two hours and sixty five minutes, in’ November, 1888, and the Etruria the western passage in in six days, one hour and fifty minutes, in Sep- tember, 1888, Mr. Pierce also designed and built vessels which reach New Zealand “in thir- ty six days, and Australia in twenty-eight days; and with’n the past two years he opened a route to the east over exclusively Biitish territory .by means of three of his own vessels, which ail trom Vancouver, the terminus of the Canadian Pacific railway. During the Egyptian cam— paign, when the British army was in distress in the Soudan, Mr, Pearce built in twenty-one days no fewer.than twelve steam vessels, and landed them a! Suez thirty-five days after signing the coniract. J.ord Hartington, as War Minister, wrote him a special letter of thanks torhis re- markable feat, which prevented much suffering and loss of life—-Philadelphia Telegram. The largest coal dock in Ameriea will be built at once at West Superior, Minn., by the Eastern Railway Co. It will be 2,000 feet long and 800 wide, with a’ central ves- sel slip 2.000 feet long and 100 feet wide, giving 8,700 feet of dock frontage for un- loading cars. Tracks will :un all through the structure, which will havea storage ca- pacity of 1,500,000 tons of coal. OF ALL the tales of disaster at sea this win ter, not one gives such a vivid picture of the sufferings of seamen as the narrative, of the loss of the Storm Queen, belonging to the Tyne. The steamer was returning from the Black Sea with acargo of grain, and had reached the dreadid Bay of Biscay, when, as if in wrathful scorn of the name she bore, a terrific storm burst upon her, The ship was swept from stem to stern, the fires were | drowned out, and the vessel was rendered un- manageab'e, Then it was thatthe captain, Mr Jaques, a young and gallant officer, told his crew to saye thmselves. “Keep a good heart, my Jads,’’ he cried, “and you'll be saved; keep steady.” ‘hose who followed his directions were saved, but when last seen the captain was standing on the bridge true to his trust. “Work like mad, boys,” were his last words; “I shan't leave you; T’ll be the Jast man to leave.’ This is his epi- tapb, and a brave man needs no other, All old subseribers are kindly invited to re- mit arrearages, and readers not sudseribers will be made welcome to our list, Notice to Vessel Owners. teed CUSTOMERS FOR several barges, both steam and tow, and would be pleased to hear from each and every owner having vessels for sale, givin; ng name, capacity, draught of water, light and loaded, steam, condition and age of boiler, size of engine, etc. Correspondence solicited direet from owner, as I will not sane commission’ Address, J. 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