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MARINE LAW. Prepared Exzpressly for the Marine Record, INSURANCE CONTINUED. In fulfillment of the plan laid down in our article in last week’s issue, we will now pro- ceed with the subject of marine insurance. It will be remembered that in that article were mentioned some of the main principles relating to the policy of insurance and the relation of the parties to the contract at the time of its formation, the contract iteelf, the meaning of the expression “perils of the sea,’? and the cases in which a vessel may deviate from the prescribed or the ordinary course of voyage without avoiding the con- tract of insurance. The next in order will be the subject of abandonment. Itis a well known fact that under certain circumstances the master or owners of a vessel may aban- don the ship to the insurance company, who will, on the payment of the amount stipu- Jated in the policy, become the owners of the wreck, and they can attempt a rescue, effect a sale, or abandon her at their option, Aban- donment, as defined in the New York code, ‘¢ig the act by which, after a constructive to- tal lose, a person insured by contract of ma- rine insusance declares to the insurer that he relinquishes to him his interest in the thing insured.” A-person insured by a con- tract of inarine insurance may abandon the thing insured -or any distinct portion thereof separately valued in the policy and collect the value thereof, as in case of total loss, when the loss is occasioned by one of the perils insured against: 7 1. If more than half thereof in value is actually lost or would have to be. expended to recover it from peril. 2. If itis injured to such an extent as to reduce its value more than half. 3. If the thing insured being a ship the centemplated voyage cannot be lawfully per- formed without incurring to the insured an expense of more than one-half the value of the thing abandoned, or without incurring arisk which a’ prudent man would not un- dertake’under the circumstances; or 4, If the thing insured being cargo of freightage, the voyage gannot be performed or another vessel procured by the master within a reasonable time without incurring a greater risk than one-half the value of the same; but freightage ‘cannot be abandoned in any case without the vessel-is also aban- doned. As noted in one of the preceeding para- graphs, where goods are separately valued they may be separately abandoned as a total loss when they are injured to any extent greater than one-half their value. This is an important point and circumstances of this kind frequently occur. And those insuring cargo will do well to look to it when insur- ing those articles especially liable to injury’ and be careful to have them separately val- ued, ag thereby they may be enabled to re- alize, when otherwise a blanket insurance would leave a lot ot iujured goods on their hands to dispose of. Insurance companies understand these things and will not sepa- arately value articles unless required to do 80. The next question for consideration is a constructive total loss. This is such a loss as will entitle the party to abandon; or, placed in another and better light, it is where the thing insured is reduced to such a state or situation that its probable detraction is highly imminent and its ultimate arrival ex- ceedingly doubttul. The right of abandon- ment does not depend upon the certainty, but upon tke probability, ot a total loss. The words one-half the value as used in the pre- ceeding rules refer to the market value. As to the basis of valuation of a ship in case of total loss the authorities are not agreed, some claiming that the value at the time of Joss is understood, others claiming that the value when repaired is the true basis. The former is the American, the latter the Eng- lish holding. On the whole, the first seems the more equitiable, although, under certain circumstances, the more difficult to deter- mine. The cost of taking a vessel from the port of injury to a port where she can be re- paired is taken into consideration as a part of the expense of repairs in estimating the fifty per cent loss. The wages and piovis- ions of the crew during the time of making the repairs must not be figured in. When the ship and cargo arein such ex- treme peril that the master deems it for the best interest of all concerned he may effect THE MARINE RECORD. asale; but this is something which is not likely to oceur in our lake tratlic, surround- ed, as the lakes are, with telegraphic com- munication. These are a few of the rules aprlying to total loss either actual or con- structive. ‘There is another kind of loss called partial loss, which is a degree of loss less than one-half the value of the property lost. Every loss which is not total is a par- tial loss. Few rules are necessary with re- gard to partial loss. All that is required is to estimate the amount of loss and the com- pany must make it good, either by payment or, in case of injury toa ship, by thorough repairs. Briefly reviewing the subject of marine insurance, the essentials may be summed up as follows: First, The insured must have an interest in the thing insured. Second, He must enumerate all the cir- cumstances under which the risk is to be ta- ken, and make no concealments of facts which will have any bearing on the same. Third, He must conform himself to these specifications unless‘for the reasons previ- ously enumerated. Fourth, He must pay the stipulated pre- mium. Fifth, He must give prompt notice in case of loss. m Sixth, The policy, unless it contain stipu- lations which the law will-look upon as againet public policy and thereby null and void, will be taken asthe express contract of the parties, and losses must be adjusted thereby. : Seventh, The insurer must pay . partial losses in full. Eighth, Total -losses, actual or construc- tive, render the insurer liable for full amount and entitle him tothe wreck or injured goods. - , REGISTRY OF SMALL VESSELS From the Maritime Register. The Treasury Department has recently re- fused to order the admission to registry of a vessel of about four tons measurement, We do not know how the subject was presented to the Department, but we think that.a decision in the contrary sense might be maintained on the following basis. The provision of Title XLVIII of the Re- vised Statutes, which regulate the registry of vessels, xre an embodiment of the Act of December 31st, 1792; while Title L, regula- ting the license and enrollment of vessele, is a-reproduction of the Act of February 18th, 1793. ‘The two acts, and the corresponding titles, differ in many respects, especially as to vessels of Jess than twenty tons. The latter ones omit vessels of less than five tons from licensing for the coasting trade or fisheries and by failing to prescribe any bond for them, seem to exclude them from such licensing. The former ones do not declare any minimum of tonnage asa line to be reached to entitle a vessel to registry ; and they prescribe « bond of four hundred dollars, for a vessel of burden not exceeding fifty tone. It seems that Congress intended to omit petty vessels from documenting while engaged in the coasting trade or fisheries; but not to prevent them from making a foreign voyage by excluding them from the registry provisions; nor to permit them to make such a voyage without a register. It is true that Section 3095 of the Revised Statutes, taken from Section 92 of the Act of March 2d, 1799, prohibits importa- tion by sea in vessels of less then thirty tons burden; but the section does not forbid registry, nor foreign voyage under register, to any vessel whatever her tonnage. We think that the Treasury Department might have admitted the registry, in view of the law above stated, without any straining of its provision. So, in the act ot September Ist, 1789, which was suspended by the acts of 1792 and 1793, a vessel was required to be of twenty tons in order to have an en- rollment, and of five tons to have a license; but no such qualitication was declared neces- sary for registry, the language being “any vessel built in the United States” etc., may be registered. Ineldentally a curious question comes up in this connection. Section 3096, which is a reproduction from Section 105 of the Act of 1799, permits importation on the northern and northwestern frontiers inland, in boats of any burden, and in rafts of any kind or nature. This may allow of importation on such frontiers in undocumented vessels of less than five tons; or it may have intended an extension of the license law to vessels ot less than five tons, on such frontiers, under Section 4318. If the latter, there was an oversight in not preseribing a bond for such vessels. Pretty’s Island, near Pembroke, has a sen- sition in the shape of a wild man eight feet high and covered with black hair. His home 13 said to be on the island, and two raftamen who were bold enough to go in search of him, had a narrow escape from being killed, one of them having his arm fractured by the giant. GENERAL NEWS, Italy has 7,528 sailing vessels and 923 steamers. The trading vessels are manned by 181,381 men, of whom 4,338 are captains of long courses and 2,509 ¢abotage captaine, ‘Tne Duluth Lumber Company’s mill has cut 175,000 feet per day on several occasions this season; Little, Peck & Company’s, mill has cut 95,000 per day and Graff, Murry & Robbins, 75,000 feet. A lawyer in 'renton, N.J., bas built a cedar boat, for racing and tonrisi’s purposes, modeled after the form of the catfish, or, possibly the whale, Its bow is broad, and its stern sharp and tapering. Its architect thinks it will revolutionize the science of boat-building, The London Truth says that the Con- federate bonds boomin England was got up by Dutch Jews who imposed upon the credulity ot stupid Englishmen and real- ized handsomely. We may iook out for an outbreak against Jews in London, led by the financial dudes. The Dutch Government is not to give the prize of 20,000 guilders for the discovery of x “Northeast passage’? to the intrepid Swed- ish explorer Baron Nordenskjold. It is refused because the route is rather a scientific than a commercial one, and it was tor the discovery ot the latter that the reward was offered. ‘The deepest sea-sounding éver made was in the Pacific ocean in 1874, near the entrance to Behring’s sea. ‘The depth was 4,655 fathoms, and the east was made from the United States schoolship ‘Tuscarora. The shallowest water in the middle of the At- Jantic, 751 fathoms, shows the existence of submarine mountains 10,556 feet high. The Board of Directors of the Suez Canal Company, the British members being pre- sent, unanimously approved the letter of De Lesseps of the 23d ult. to Gladstone, which in De Lesseps informed the English Prime Minister that he need not consider himeelf bound by the terms of the agreement in regard to the second Suez Canal, which he had signed. On.‘Tuesday, July 24th, a bowlder, measur- ing 43¢x5 feet und 4 feet thick, was taken from the channel at the Narrows Weller’s Bay; and at a short distance: farther on another bowlder, measured 4x6 feet and 2 feet thick was removed. At low water these obstructions were only 7 feet below the surface, rendering navigation extremely hazardous, A Charleston, S. C., church steeple finds itself suddenly in commercial demand. ‘The owners ofa few tug boats in the harbor learned that an incoming bark could be sighted from its summit while yet ‘afar off. Business prospered with them while their rivals, despite industrious cruising off the bar, could get no vessels. At last the secret of the lookout was discovered, and now the steeple is to rent to the highest bidder. The Suez Canal Company, it is stated, in- tend adopting the Pintsch system for light- ing the entrance to the canal; and with this view have ordered eight 9-foot spherical gas buoys, each to burn for two months, three fixed lights to burn two months, and three large holders for storing gas and filling the buoys, together with a small gas works to be erected at Port Said. It is proposed to extend the system to other parts of the canal. : Mr. Robert Griffiths died on the 16th of June in Bayswater, England. His name is familiarly connected in England with the great acrew propeller, his first patent being dated September, 1846. In 1853 he fitted his screw to the royal ‘yacht Fairy, and the Peninsular and Oriental Company took up invention, which occupied Mr. Griffiths’ attention to nearly the time of hig death. He gave also much attention to the manutac- ture of paraffine oil from shale, A new blasting material is thus described: Two mixtures are prepared, the first consist- ing of 36.06 parts of potassium or sodium bisulphate, 28.60 parts of potassium nitrate and 9.20 parts of glycerine, and the second one of 50 to 65 parts of achlorate and 45 to 50 parts of a body rich in carbon. The latter mixture on igniting products heat enough to convert the glycerine in the first mixture into nitro-glycerine, which at once explodes, The carbonaceous material is saturated with concentrated solutions of the bisulphate, nitrate, and chlorate, and then dried. The mass is then mixed with glycerine and made into cartridges. SKETCHING FOR MECHANICS, From the Seientifie American, While the value of a knowledge of Me- chanical draughting toa mechanic is indi. putable, there is a sort of tree hand drawia or sketching, that is also useful, ‘he faculty for its practice may be innate, and in that case but slight instruction ig necessary to enable its possessor to illustrate his thought far better than he could impart it’ verba ly. But even those whose natural tendency does not impel them to sketching ag explanation can get enough facility by practice to make themeelves understoo readily, Probably nothing is more difficult to ex- plain and exhibit by words alone than me- chanical construction and mechanical move- ment. Itis not only difficult for the narrae tor, but also for the listener. The memory must hold all the points of the information in contact ready to make a completed idea at the climax. But an appeal to the eye, how- ever crudely made, presents the entire im- age at one view without any laborious action of the mind. And it is a noticeable fact that those mechanics who are of an inventive, improving, and orignating turn ot mind are most apt with pencil and paper, or chalk and slab. To them the mechanical idea has re- ceived a form in their own mind, and bya partial representation they seek to Impart their knowledge to others. The practice of sketching as illustrative of verbal statement is an excellent one for me- chanics generally to acquire. If one has not the natural impulse in this direction, a few lessons in free hand drawing will not come amiss. Some of the best of James Watt’s improvements derive their historical and’ mechanical value from his rough sketches, which told much more plainly than his equally crude English the Operations and conclusions.of his constructive mind. In the annual. meeting of mechanical engineers there is seldom a paper read that is not illus- trated by the author, at the time of reading by the blackboard and chalk, or else it had been made visible by prepared cartoons, or possibly lithographed charts. Shop work also demands the ready hand at sketching, There are many jobs which do not require the preliminary preparation of the draught . ing room, that are greatly expedited if the foreman has a facility with the enci), cray- on, or chalk. ; i ney —————. DASHING WHALEBOATMEN, io me rigs bags Post. n the house of General Silliman Fairfield had been surrounded by a body ot Tories from Long Island, and the General and his young son were borne away cap- tives. The Americans had. no prisoner of equal rank to offer in exchange and decided to procure one, ‘I'he Hon. Thomas Jones, of Fort Neck, a justice of the Supreme Court of New York, was selected, and « volunteer company of twenty-five men, commanded by Captain Hawley, set ont ’ from Newfield Harbor, (now Bridgeport) to capture him, They landed at Stony Brook on the morning of the 4th of November, and began their march to the Judge’s residence, more than thirty miles distant, arriving there at 9 o’clock on the evening of the 6th. Noman could have been more unsuspicious of dan- ger than he. There was a &ay party of young people in the house, and the dance was proceeding merrily, when Captain Haw- ley and his body of grim reta‘ners appearcd atthe door. The Judge was found in the hall, a young gentleman by the name of Howlett being forced to accompany him ag a makeweight for the General’s son. The party met. with many adventures before reaching their boats, being forced to hide in the forest by day, and narrowly escaping capture on two occasions by the light horse which were soon scouring the country in pursuit. Six laggards were taken, but the others succeeded in regaining their boats and reached. Fairfield on the 8th with their prisoners, Ry Ms rete however, until the sue n ay that thei . ena g May eir exchange was ef Quite equal to these in dash and courage were the exploits of Captain Brewster, one of the most noted leaders of the fervice. He was a native of Setauket, but a resident of Fairfield during the War, and accompanied both the expeditions of Colonel Parsons and Major Tallmadge as a volunteer. In 1781 with his whaleboats he boldly attacked a British armed vessel in the Sound, and after a sharp action brought her a prize into Fair- field. Again, on the 7th of December, 1782, trom his post at Fairfield, he discovered a number of armed boats in. the Sound, evi- dently bent on some predatory excursion, and gave chase. he forces were about equal, and a desperate encounter ensued, nearly every man on both sides being killed or wounded, but the enemy at last escaped with the loss of two of their boats, which were borne into Fairfield in triumph, Brewster himself was shot through the body a wie sari) but Pa be from the wound. ie next year, on the 9th of March he took the British armed vessel Fox i. ee action lasting but two minutes, a the loss of a man, pane wise Se The schooner Pulaski, loaded with coal from Cleveland to Brockville, ran on the stioals at the narrows, about thirty-five miles down the river on ‘Tuesda night, where she where she remained until Wednesday morne ing when she was released.— Kingston News. First bales of cotton begin to appear,