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ert 2 THE MARINE RECORD. (err ey gence eegennrenennnn nearer Senn SESE yp epee PTI CO Ap ean TS ya ee nS MARINE LAW. CO8TS OF DAMAGES IN A COLLISION SUIT, U.S. District Court, Southern Dist.of N.Y. Jarvis D. Day vs the steam canalboat Ve- nus.—Exceptions to commissioner’s report. Edward D. McCarthy for libellant. Beebe & Wilcox for claimants. Brown, J.—The Venus having been found solely in fault for the sinking of the canal boat Midland (16 Feb. Rep. 792), the com- missioner, to whom it was referred to ascer- tain and compute the damages to the libel- lant, has reported the following items: 1, Cost of raising the boat, .. -8 26000 2. Repairs of the Midland... se see - 1,028 00 8. Amount paid Preston by the underwriters for traveling expenses while caring for the submerged propert: 4, Captatn’s furniture, etc.. 15 00 5. Gross freight, $420; less $247.28—Net .......... 273 72 6. Demurrage 73 days at €8 per day.. 584 00 7. Difference between new and old 300 00 Amounting, with interest, to + $2,895 85 Exceptions have been filed toall of the above items excepts 1,2 and.4, and also for the allowance of interest on demurrage. The testimony before the commissioner showed that the highest estimated value of the Midland at the time she was sunk by the libellant’s witnesses was $1,500. ‘The claim- ant’s witnesses, who testified from a descrip- tion of the boat, and not from perscnal ac- quaintance with her, estimated its value at from $800 to $1,000 only. ‘I'he amount re- ported by the commissioner as damages un- der items 2, 6 and ‘7, that is for the cost of repairs, demurrage, and difference between the former and present value, is $1,912, that is $412 in excess of the highest estimate of the value of the Midland just before she was sunk, exclusive of $260 cost of raising. The ordinary rule would.not admit of a recovery beyond the amount of a total loss, i. e., the full value of the vessel-at the time she wassunk. ‘Io this, however, may plainly. ‘be allowed the necessary cost of raising the boat, for the purpose of ascertaining whether she should be abandoned as a total loss or ~ yepaired, as well also as in cases where the owner is required, as in this case, to remove her as an obstruction to the canal. When in addition to thie, however, the final claim * of damage exceeds the full value of the ves- sel at thé time af the loss, the claim should be carefully scrutinized and the libellaut held bound to show special circumstances to justify any such excess, and that good faith and reasonable prudence and good judgment have been exercised in making the repairs. In the present case as in that of the Glaucus (1 Low, 366), a considerable amount is tor demurragé during the repairs of the vessel. In that case, however, special circumstances which could not be foreseen were shown to have occasioned the excessive amount of de- murrage. Restitution for the, loss. and no more, is the rule in these'cases (The Baltimore, 8 Wall, 336; The Bristol, 104 latch, 538; Swift vs Browuell, 1 Holmes, 470.) Payment of the full value of the vessel, with interest from the time of the loss, together with the * expenses of removal, where that is necessary, or for. the purpose of determining whether to abandon her or not, is full restitution; and a special and exceptional case must be made showing that the excess accrued notwith- standing the exercise of good faith, prudence and good judgment, in order to justify any claims beyond this. - In the present case the libellant was ad- vised by one of his own witnesses after rais- ing the boat to abandon her as a total loss. In proceeding to repair her, he took no pre- caution to obtain previous estimates of the cost, or to limit the period of making the repairs by any contract which might restrict the loss through demurrage. Any prudent owner proposing to repair a boat at his own cost, with charges for every day’s detention, would not neglect such precautions in a case of so doubtful expediency in repairing. I see nothing in the circumstances to excuse the libellant for neglecting this duty, and the excess should therefore be charged to his own risk and cost. The general features of the case, moreover, do not givea favorable impression of the amount of theclaim. By sinking, the boat’s seams were swollen and bulged, and on this account partly a considerable item—$300—is claimed as the difference between new and old. Whatever foundation there is for this could have been seen trom the beginning. The long period of 73 days is not satisfacto- rily accounted for ; and the extraordinary de- mand of $8 per day for this long period net and clear of all charges, risks and expenses for a boat not claimed to have been worth more than $1,500, i. e., demurrage at the rate of nearly $3,000 per year, or nearly $1,500, it during half the year she was laid up and could not be used at all, is so ‘obviously out of all proportion to the value of the boat that it cannot be entertained; and it necessarily detracts from the credit to be given to other parts of the libellant’s claim. Upon all the evidence of the libellants, and the claimants evidence as tothe value of the Midland, [ think $1.350 as much as ought to be allowed for her value as a total loss, Upon this view the sum of $562 on account of the hull should be deducted from the re- port. If the two last items reported, however, were regarded independently, about the same deduction should be made.- Of the 73 days for which demurrage is charged, 14 are entirely unaccounted for, leaving 59 days, a long period certainly for raising a boat, and doing repairs of only the value of $1,028, I am satisfied that $3 per day is ample, if not more than ample, allowance by way ot de- murrage for this long and continuous period: Grossly exaggerated claims on this account seem to be the rile.in such cases (see opin- ion in The Excelsior on damages, July, 1883, unreported.) Nothing should be. allowed for demurrage beyond the clear net value of the boat, free of all charges and expenses. ‘The claimant’s evidence state a tair rate to be $3 to $5 per day, the libellant’s witnesses say $8. If the canalboat could get employ- ment only six months in the year, which is not the fact, the demurrage would amount at the latter rate, to nearly $1,500 a year, i. e,, to her whole value or over. Such a claim appears to me to be inadmissible upon its face, for along and continuous period. It was claimed that at this particular time of the year boats were in demand and rates high, Such grounds for excessive rates, if not’ required to be especially pleaded, as in the nature of special damage should at least be closely serutinized. In this case, however, the bill of lading‘upon the very trip when the Midland was sunk, shows that, deducting the expenses stated ‘upon its face arid $25 ad- ditional river towage, the boat would have cleared on the most profitable part of her trip, viz., the down trip, only about $3 per day; and it is not clear that even this does not include the captain’s wages. At $3 per day for 59 days, the demurrage would amount to $177, or $407 dollars less than the amount teported; and for the difference between the new and old value 1 should not be satisfied upon the whole evi- dence to allow more than $150: These re- ductions together result in about the same as allowing the value of the vessel at $1,350, as atotal loss, excluding items 6and7. ‘The third item of $43.75 was an item for the ben- efit of the insurers, and so far as I can per- ceive, was in no way obligatory upon the claimant to pay. In arriving at the net frieght, i. e., the net amount which should have beeu earned by the Midland had she finished her trip, all the expenses, tolls and towing, which she must pay in order to finish her trip, must be deducted from the gross freight. ‘hese are mostly stated in the bill of lading, and re- duce the amount to $99.98, from which, as | understand the evidence, a further amount of $26, for river towage is also to be deduct- ed, which would leave $74.98. To this, how- ever, such expenses and other charges 98 had already accrued up to the time the Mid- land was sunk, and these apportioned as nearly as I can make them out, with the net fieight last stated, amount to $201.98, which should be allowed for the item instead of $273.73. I allow, therefore, the following items: Cost of raising the boat., ++. $26000 Captain’s furniture, etc. . ; 15 00 Net freight, ete.............+ . 201 98 Value of vessel when sunk, or repairs with de- murrage and $150 difference in value, COTTECLEA AB ADOVC...eseereeseseeaeeeees es 1,850 00 —Maritime Register. The distressing fact is again being reverted to that the government has only six ships with which to protect American property in nine ports. The United States really must have more ships or less property. GENERAL NEWS. The United States steamer Yantic left St. Johns ‘Vhursday for New York direct. Gar- lington and parvy are on board. The auction sale of condemned material closed at the Boston navy yard. ‘Ihe total money for the benefit of the government is $40,000. ‘There are orders already in the Postoftice Department at Washington for over 40,000,- 000 two-cent stamps. ‘I'his is an age of letter- writing. The new Guion line steamer Oregon on a trial trip made twenty knots an hour, ‘The manager for her builders promises a ship that will cross the Atlantic in five days. The revenue of the year at Ottawa on account of steamboat inspections and fees from engineers amounted to $13,884.10, of which sum $10,694.10 was for inspection fees. A vessel with four locomotives aboard is reported lost off the coast of Chili. It is be- lieved to be the missing ship Shirley which lett New York on March 7 with locomotives for the Southern R.R. She had a crew of 12 men. The United States Consul at Guatemala in trying to account for the causes of the small- ness of the trade of the United States with Guatemala as compared with that of foreign countries gives itas his opinion that our merchants do not advertise sufficiently. Judicious advertising, he says, will accomp- lish much good. He is a sensible man.-- Maritime Register. Herr Krupp, according to the special catalogue prepared for his display at the Amsterdam Colonial Exhibition, employs 20,000 workmen, consuming daily 3,000 tons of coke and coal, and produces 759 tons of iron and steel daily in the form of guns, rails, bridgework, axles, anchors, chains, ete. Over 20,000 of the famous Krupp guns have been turned out of the works. The Althabasca, the first of the iron steam- ships built on the Clyde for the Canadian Pacific Railway, for service on Lake Sup- erior, is expected to arrive at Montreal. this week. She will be put into docks and cut in two for passage through the canals. She will be taken as far as the head of the Well- and Canal in two sections, and there put together aguin and fitted. ‘The Althabasca will be followed about ten days later by the Alberta and Algoma. Freight to the amount of 194,796 tons was carried on the canals during the week ending on Saturday last.. For the corresponding period last year the tonnage was 175,512. This shows the continued prosperity of the state waterways under the free toll system. Throughout eth lists the shipments mark a healthy growth, the cargoes being of wheat lumber, coal, etone and iron ore. Of wheat alone the tonnage was 29,710. Of lumber it was 43,351, and of coal 47,094. The decision of the Secretary of the Treasury in regard to the construction of the “charcoal iron’? and “round iron’? pro- vision of the last tariff is adverse to the claims of the manufacturers on both points. In his decision the provision for charcoal iron is held to relate only to the iron which is otherwise dutiable under the paragraph in which it igs found, and the provision for rivet, screw, nail and fence iron rods is held to govern the rate of duty on these articles, notwithstanding the apparent provision else- where, in the tariff for iron of the size and value named inthe paragraph relating to rivet, screw, naij, and fence iron rods, At the annual meeting of the Chippewa Logging Company, held at Eau Claire the old board of thirteen directors were re- elected, and the following officers were elected for the ensuing year: President and Treasurer, F, Weyerhausen. Rock Island, Ill. ; Vice President, D. K. Moon, Eau Claire, Wis. Secretary, E. W. Chinn, Eau Claire, Wis. ‘The lumbermen in this section are ex- periencing much difficulty in getting their rafts to the Mississippi in consequence of low water in the Chippewa, and from three to four days is required to make the trip. Business is lively in the yards, and the de- mand for lumber is brisker than it has been at any time during the season. The Seine (whaler,) arrived at New Bed- ford Sept. 14 trom Atlantic Ocean, and re- ported experienced two severe hurricanes on Aug. 25 and 29, in which. lost boats, spars, bulwarks, etc. In the last gale Captain Macomber resorted to the expedient of let- ting oil run overboard to quell the force of the waves, and the result was very satis- factory in affording relief from the high seas, ‘Two kegs were placed in the lee scuppers and the oil was allowed to run from faucets and no sea boarded the bark after the oil had spread iteelf on the water ; the oil flowed from 3 to 8:30 p.m. when it was stopped. During the gales the cargo shifted and an 8 bbl cask of oil was stove. ; THE FIRST STEAM WHISTLE ON TH MISSOURI. Special Corvespondence of the Marine Record. Derxort, Sept. 25. ‘The history of the first steam whisle on the Missouri river is amusing. Its intro- duction dates back to 1844. At that time the settlers onthe Missouri river were in the habit of making regular yearly visits to . St. Louisto do their trading for themselves . and friends.. ‘hey were not provided with daily intercourse with the outside world, and many who lived back from the river seldom, if ever, saw a steamboat more than once a year. It happened that during the fall of 1844 the new steamboat Lexington started up the Missouri river loaded down to the guards with freight. Among the passengers were Judge Joseph C. Ransom, Theodore Warner, of Lexington; Ben Halliday, stage proprietor; Col. Pomeroy, of Lexington; and a planter of Platt county named George Yocum. The steamer Lexington was provided With a steam whistle, the first used on the Missouri river, and as it happened, no one knew about it except Warner, who was a wag and a lover of a joke. The night after lenving St. Louig, the passengers were col- lected together piaying cards (for fun) in- the cabin, when the talk turned on steam- boat explosions, then very common. “T feel safe on this boat,”? said Warner, as he dealt the cards. “Why ?” inquired Yocum, the planter. ‘sWhy ?” echoed the rest of the company. “J will tell you why,” said the wag, care- fully studying the cards, ‘The boat is pro- vided with a new patent safety valve which notifies passengers on board when it is about to blow up. It makes a most unearthly noise, and when you hear it, it is time to get back aft, or jump’ overboard. Notwithstanding the fact that Warner told his story with the most solemn and earnest countenance, some were skeptical. Not so, however, with the planter. Next morning, when the Lexington was steaming up the long, straight stetch of river just below Washington, Mo., the passengers were at breakfast. ‘The meal had been called, and all were busily engaged in doing justice to the kind of mesls they were accustomed to serve on steambnats in those days. Sud- denly the whistle commenced to blow, the first time on the trip. The passengers looked at each other a moment, and horror and dis- © may spread itself over their faces. The first man to realize the situation and to act was Yocum, the planter, who, with hair erect and blanched face, jumped up, crying, as he pushed over cne after another of the passen- gers: “Run for your lives; the d—— thing’s going to bust. Follow me and let’s save ourselves.” Of course there was a stampede for the rear of the boat, and it was only by the ex- ertions of some of the crew that the more ex- cited were restrained from jumping into the river. J. W. H. STEAM VESSELS. General Dumont, supervising inspector of steam vessels, is annoyed at the adverse com- ment which the inspectors have received since the recent explosion on the Hudson river steamer Riverdale. In speaking of the matter he said; ‘I am frank enough to say that the accident never should have hap- pened, and while we endeavor to make our system as perfect as possible, nothing hu- man is infallible. It is all nonsense to say that our inspectors do not insnect. Take the first district for instance, which comprises New York, Philadelphia, Boeton and Port- land. Previous to the organization of my boat, three-quarters of all the losses of steam- boats were from explosions. During the last eight years only two accidents from this cause have happened—one on the Riverdale, which is now being investigated, and the other, the tug boat explosion, result of all hands falling asleep while she was anchored near a wharf in New York. Last year in this district our officers found two hurdred and sixty-four boilers which were liable to explode at any moment, and of this number thirty were condemned as useless, while the balance were repaired,”—Leader.