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= - — ~ a — TO COMMER! ESTABLISHED 1878. VOL. XV. CLEVELAND, OHIO, FEBRUARY 4, 1892. NO. 6, Maritime Law. District Court. D. Connecticut. November 23, 1891. 1, Collision—Vessel at anchor—Failure to show torch. Where a vessel at anchor in the night time can see the lights of an approaching vessel, there is no reason to suppose that her own lights, properly set and burning brightly, cannot be seen; and nence her failure to display a torch before the ap- proaching vessel collides with her is not such a fault as will entitle the colliding vessel, confessedly in fault, toa division of the damages. 2. Same—Failure to shift helm, The failure of the anchor- ed vessel which was lying ina tide-way, to put her helm hard over when the collision appeared immineat, isnot such a fault as to call for a division of the damages, where it is not shown that the swing to result from such a shifting of the helm in the tide-way would haye carried her clear of the colliding vessel. District Court, 8S. D. New York. November 20, 1891. Collision—Fog—Duty to come to stand-still on hearing whistles—Navigation near shore. The freight and passenger steam-boat J. ran into a fog so thick that vessels could not be seen more than 150 feet distant, and thereupon hauled in to- wards shore to keep in sightof the piers. The ferry-boat M. followed her usual course in thick fog. Each vessel heard the whistles of the other near at hand, and both stopped their en- gines, but the J. did not reverse at all, and the M. not until the other vessel was seen, within 150 feet, and too late to avoid collision. Held that, under the circumstances, the navigation of the boats near the shore was not a fault, but in a dense fog, and with fog-signals sounding very near, and nearly ahead, it was the duty of each to come to # standstill in the water, by reversing as soon as possible, until their respective positions were discovered. As each was in this respect chargeable with the same fault, the damages were divided, District Court 8S. D. New York. November 9, 1891. 1. Collision—Vessel at pier—Fog-signals. A vessel moored for the night, according to her custom, along-side a well known dock, and not projecting beyond the wharf into the channel, and run into by a steamer passing in a fog, is not in fault be- cause she had no lights set and sounded no signals. 2, Same—Navigation in fog—Narrow channel—Soundings, The E., going east, met a thick fog at night, and continued her navigation in anarrow and winding channel, without using the lead, until she ran into the F. E., tied up as usual at a well known pier, A fog-bell on the island, near the course of the E., was rung frequently. Held, that the E. was solely to blame for the collision, it being her duty to use the lead. District Court, D. Washington, N. D. October 30, 1891. Foreign Waters—Towage—Foreigu Tug Boats. The bound- ary between the United States and Great Britain in the Strait of Juan de Fuca is fixed by treaty on a line following the middle of the strait, the northern part of the strait being British water, the southern, American; but by the same treaty the entire strait is free and open to both countries for purposes of navi- gation. Held, that no part of the strait is ‘foreign waters,” within Rey. St. U. S. 4 4370, which excepts, from the penalty therein denounced against foreign tug boats towing United States vessels between domestic ports, cases where the towing is in whole or in part on foreign wuters, Hanford, J. This isa case of seizure to enforce a penalty imposed by section 4370, Rev. St. U.S. The facts are as follows: The Pilot is a British steam tug, engaged in the business of towing upon the Strait of Juan de Fuca and other waters of this state and British Columbia. The bark Valley Forge is an American enrolled vessel of 1,286 tons burden, engaged in coastwise trade; and, being bound on a yoy- age from San Francisco to Port Angeles, entered’ the strait without assistance, and was beating against a head- wind towards her port and destination. The Pilot found her on the north side of the strait, and within three miles of the shore of Vancouver island, near Port San _ Juan, where she hud sailed upon her port tack, and towed her across the strait to Port Angeles, pursuant to a con- tract made with her master at the time to tow the Valley bis Forge first to Port Angeles; thence to Departure bay, in ritish Columbia, to load; and thence to sea. The Valley Forge remained at Port Angeles, while her master went to the custom house at Port Townsend for the purpose of exchanging her certificate of enrollment for a register, to entitle her to clear for a foreign port, and she was after- wards towed from Port Angeles to Departure bay by a British tug, under the contract made with the master of the Pilot. Section 4370, Rey. St., is the same as the twenty- first section of the act of July 18, 1866, entitled “An act, to prevent smuggling, and for other purposes.” 14 St. at Large, 183, as amended by the act of 1867, found on page 410 of the same yolume. It reads as follows: “Sec. 437). All steam tug boats, not of the United States, found employed in towing documented vessels of the United shall be States plying from one port or place in the same to an- other, liable to a penalty of fifty cents per ton on the measure- ment of every such vessel so towed by them respectively, which sum may be recovered by way of libel or suit. This section shall not apply to any case where the towing in whole or in part is within or upon foreign waters. Originally the section contained no exceptions. The last clause was added by the amendatory act. The exact question now presented for decision is this: Does the mere fact that a vessel, in making a passage of the strait, crosses the international boundary line, legalize a towage service which would be a violation of section 4370 if per- formed wholly on the American side? ‘This strait is an arm of the sea, wholly within the jurisdiction of the United States and Great Britain, as part of the territory of the two countries, and is not, like the open ocean, a free highway for the ships of all nations. By treaty stipulations the boundary between the two countries is upon aline following the middle of the strait, and all that part of it north of the middle is British water, and all south of the lineis American water. But by the treaty the entire strait is free and open to both countries for purposes of navigation, so that the vessels of each are free to sail anywhere in the strait, upon either side of the line. It is my opinion that, while this treaty remains, no part of the strait can be regarded as foreign waters to either American or British vessels, (The Apollon, 9 Wheat 362;) and further, that the term “foreign waters,” as used in section 4370, means water under the exclusive dominion of a foreign government for all purposes. My conclusion is that foreign tugs are not privileged to tow American vessels bound from one American port to another on either side of the strait, and that a penalty has been incurred by the tug Pilot as charged in the libel in this case. (* Tbis decision in its applicability to the connecting waters of the Great Lakes, is worthy of the closest consideration.] Ep. eo ae THE TWENTY-ONE FOOT CHANNEL. A delegation of representatives of the Deep Waterway Convention held in Detroit in December last, was given a hearing last week before the House Committee on Rivers and Harbors and the Senate Committee on Commerce in joint session, the committees having in charge the preparation of the regular river and harbor appropriation bill. The purpose of the delegation was to urge the construction and maintenance of a twenty-one foot channel from the head of Lake Superior through the various connecting links between the Great Lakes and through the Erie Canal to the sea. George H. Ely, and Geo. Gardner, of Cleveland, 8, A. Thompson, of Duluth, General O. M. Poe, Engineer Corps, U.S. A., H. W. Seymour, of Sault Ste. Marie, Ex-State Senator George R. Sloan, of New York and several other prominent authorities on lake matters, dwelt forcibly on the several questions inyolved and proved the economy progress and prosperity which would ensue from such action. Mr. Thompson who is a thorough master of statistics stated that the total expenditures in improve-— ment of the Great Lakes had been less than $30,000,000, The saying in the last year due to lake transportation was $150,000,000 more than the cost of improvement. All that had been accomplished in the past by giving sixteen feet of water would not only be duplicated but enhanced ten-fold by the expenditure of something over $3,000,000 to secure a depth of twenty feet. He thought little need be added to secure the appropriation desired. ee ee ee Se MARINE LEGISLATION. Mr. Andrew introduced a Bill to amend the Revised Statutes of the United States so as to allow the purchase and registry of foreign-built ships by citizens of the United States for employment in the foreign carrying trade. Mr. Stephenson introduced the following Bill: “That the sum of two hundred and seventy-five thousand dol- lars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, be, and the same is hereby, appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the purpose of constructing two first-class revenue cutters for service on the Great Lakes, one for service on Lakes Michigan and Superior and one for service on Lake Ontario.” Mr. Wheeler, of Michigan, introduced a bill for the construction of a steam fog signal and pier-head light and steam fog-signal station at Ludington, Michigan. Mr. Newberry introduced a Bill for the improvment of the United States Marine Hospital at Chicago, Ills., asking that the sum of seventy-five thousand dollars be expended by the Supervising Architect in the construc- tion of a surgical operating room, a brick wall on the north and south sides of said reservation, commandant’s house, chapel, greenhouse, and for completion of ap- proaches and the roadway on the west front of said prop- erty. A bill has been introduced in the House of Represen- tatives asking that certain work reported by Major Stick- ney needed for the improvement of navigation in the Ni- agara river, and in the Harbor of Port Day, and reported to the House by General Casey on January eleventh, and referred by the Speaker to the Committee on Rivers and Harbors, be ordered, and the work be entered upon at once. See THE MARINE RECORD FOR ONE YEAR ——AND— son oun sinaaa a0 Beeson’s Inland Marine Guide....... Law of Bills of Lading Patterson’s Nautical Dictionary .- Drawing and Rough Sketching for Engineers by James Donaldson. Scott’s Coast Pilot (new edition: Simple Elements of Navigation. “Wrinkles” in Practical Navigatio Practical Seamanship...-..--. .----: United States and Canadian charts and any publication on Navigation, Shipbuilding, Engineering, etc., etc., will be supplied with Tue Marine RecorpD at proportion- ately low rates. Address THe MARINE RecoRD, Smith & Swainson, Publishers, 148 Superior St., Cleveland, Ohio- DD Oo or Tue Acting Secretary of War, upon the recommend- ation of the Chief of Engineers, has laid before the Speaker of the House of Representatives the letter from the Cleveland Vessel Owners’ Association, asking that proper steps be taken for the removal of obstructions in the lake channels and fairways. A number of loca- tions where reefs shoals and boulders now exist are pointed out and specified, and it is strongly advocated to fit out a twin screw survey steamer for the removal of ob- structions, and furnishing observations for the correction of lake charts, which are in many respects lacking in au- thentic and recent information of these waters.