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MARINE LAW, ANCHORAGE RIGHTS. We reprint from the Herald of a recent date the following synopsis of the case of Willltam MvGill against. the steambarge Os- car Townsend and barge Edward Kelly, de- cision rendered by Judge Welker United States District court, Northern District of Ohio. Rhodes & Co. and Hanna Co, claim- ants; ‘The case was of great interest to navigat- ors and others interested in vessels which are required to pass throngh the St. Clair river, and especially to steambarges which tow other vessels, and involved the question of the right of vessels to anchor without ne- cessity at nightin the channel ordinarily used by tows going up and down. It appeared on the trial that the schooner Sunrise, owned by libellant, proceeding up ia towof atug, voluntarily came to an- chor near the upper. end of the Middle Ground, and substantially in the middle of the channel, which it appeared is there about 600 or 700 feet in width. She anchored there about 10 o’clock in the forenoon of October 18th, 1881, and had opportunity throughout the day and that'same eyening to leave the place and go below the Middle Ground or up into Sarnia Bay, or close in at the docks ay Port Huron, where she would be safe from tlesvending vessels. ‘he Sunrise did neither. The steambarge Oscar ‘Townsend, having the Kelly in‘tow, entered the river from Lake Huron about 9 v’clock in the morning, and took her usual course for the Alexandria House or a little below that. Although the tull complement of officers and meu were on deck watching for lights, they did not dis- cover. the lights of the Sunrise at anchor un- til pretty close aboard, within about 400 feet of her. She made the anchor light half a point on her starboard bow, and the steam barge starboarded immediately, and went clear, but her tow, by the force of the cur- ‘rent, Which was about five miles an hour, swung ir just enough to ‘come in collision with the Sunrise and inflict great damage, for: which the libellant sued. Defendants set up that they had ample + a Perr: watch ; that on enterfng the river they were obliged to go by landmarks, and that, owing to the rapid current of four or five miles an hour, a steambarge having a tow was obliged to determine upon and take her course, and that after she had so taken her course, it was difficult, if not impossible, to change it so as to avoid any vessels or obstacles which might suddenly appear; that thie was owing to the rapidity of the current and the speed which a steambarge having a tow was obliged to keep up in order to retain control, which two things made it impossibie for a steam vessel to do what she could do in the open lake where there was no current; that is, to check or stop. And that hence a vessel ly- ing in her way, unless seen at a very consid- erable distance, could not be avoided, mak- ing it a case of exceptional navigation to which the ordinary rules in relation to steam vessels approaching sail vessels or vessefs at anchor in the lake or in still watef would not apply. It was claimed that this light on the anchored vessel was. not seen until with- in 400 feet; that the light was dim, and that in crossing the river at this pointin the usual way the lights on the shore at Sarnia pro- duce a confusion of lights which makes it impos¢ible or difficult to distinguish a ves- sel’s light from those on shore until very close, and that injaddition to this the back- ground of land and of structures at Sarnia make it impossible ina dark night to dis- tinguish the hulls or spars of vessels until very close aboard, It was further alleged by the defendants that the Sunrise was anchored unnecessari- ly in the channel, without any stress of weather or absence of towing facilities to compel it; and that she had no sufficient wach fora vessel lying in such an exposed position; that she failed to exhibit a torch, and failed to swing the vessel by changing her helm, which would have avoided the collision. But the main question contested was as to whether a vessel lying at anchor unnecessa- rily in the night time, in that channel, was not guilty of so grave a fault as to bar her recovery for damages unless she showed, with great clearness, some distinct fault on the part of the colliding vessel. ‘The ques- tion as to her duties lying in such a position, from necessity or choice, was incidentally | THE MARINE considered. ‘Lhe uial lnsted nine daysyin which time a very large number of the most experienced navigators.on the lake testified on the part of the respondents that a vessel anchored in any part of that channel is ina highly dangerous position; that no vessel should anchor. in the channel except under the clearest necessity, and. should then take the first opportunity of getting a better place, and if nothing better could be done, should by the aid of her helm allow herself to drift down, and in close to the dock, s0 as to be substantially out of the channei; that if from real necessity a vessel was compelled to lie there at. night, she should then exercise the highest degree of care, both in notifying other vesselgof her position by putting up and carefully watch- ing and attending a good anchor light, and by promptly displaying a torch on the ap- proach of a vessel in her direction, and by keeping the regular sea watch throughout the night, instead of a mere anchor watch, which may be employed when a vessel is ly- ing at anchor ina comparatively sate place; and that the duty of this sea watch would be to keep a bright lookout, and give notice to approaching vessels by displaying a torch or otherwise, and to shift the helm whenever it would tend to avoid a-threateued collision. In short, to be ready to execute any maneu- ver which it could be seen would tend to avoid a collision or lessen its consequences, The proposition mainly pressed upon the court was the fault of the vessel unnéceasa- rily lying at anchor in the channel common- ly used, that mignt be used or demanded by vessels going up and down the river; and on this question of anchorage and the incidental questions pertaining to the duties ot vessels anchored in .dangerous places respondent's counsel cited as authority : E The Beaver, 2 Ben. 118; the Baltic 2 Ben. 452; Parsons Sand A, 573 and 574; 6 Fed Reporter 93,201; 1 Fed. Rep., 916; 3 Fed. Rep., 35; 11 Fed. Rep., 339; 1 Howard, 89; 2 Hughes, 17; 10 Bla ch, 168; 1 Cliff, 404; 3 Wall, 310; Davies, 259; 32 Main, 148; 1 Bisgel, 146; 11 Wallace, 1703 13 Wall, 475; 19 Wall, 126; 1 Brown, 345; 10 Ben. 531; 6 Fed. Rep. 906; 7 Blatch, 211; 12 Fed. Rep., 914; 9 Fed. Rep., 842: 3: Fed. Rep., 261; 13 Blatch, 509; 17 Blatch, 88. : The case was argued by William H. Con- don, Exq., of Chicago, for the libellant, and by. H. .D. Gounlder and George Willey, of Willey, Sherman & Hoyt, for the barge Os- car Townsend and the Kelley, defendants. Great interest was manifested in the trial by vessel and steamboat men, 4 ‘The court decided in favor of the defend- ante, holding the: libellant,s vessel in fault for improper anchorage and other incidental faults and that the steambarge and her tow were not responsible for having run her down, they having shown that thay had done everything within the range of careful navigation toavoid the vessel thus suddenly found improperly anchored in the channel, The findings of the court are briefly as follows: That the Sunrise was in the night-time anchored in the St. Clair river, and within the channel or roadstend usually taken at that point by vessels coming down the river at night. ‘That although anchoring in the river at night-time or day-time is not neces- sarily improper or dangerous; and although it may be customary to do so during stress of weather, yet when so doing in the night, great care must be used to make ample room and space in the channel for passing veseels and to so locate the snuchorage as to avoid possible danger. That the Sunrise. was an- chored at a dangerous place in the river, at a point where there was a strong current, and where her lights might easily have been confounded with those on the Canada shore beyond her by persons and vessels coming down the river, and difficult to distinguish from them; that the Sunrise did not have at the time a suitable and proper anchor watch, to guard her from danger from passing ves- sels coming down the river; that she did not put up and keep up in good order to the time of collision, suitable and proper anchor lights to notify passing vessels of her locality, so as to avoid collision with her, ‘That she did not comply with rule 10, R. 8,, section 4,233, which requires that all vessels when at an- chor in roadstends or fairways, shall exhibit, where it can best be seen, 2 white light so constructed as to show a clear, uniform and unbroken light visible all around the horizon, RECORD a torch light when the lights of the ‘Towus{ other new inventions, a system of *tele- send and Kelly were first made when they upproachéd*her, to enable them to.see her and avoid a collision. ‘ That immediately before the collision she failed to change her position; as she might have done by porting her wheel to starboard instead of to port, and thereby cxuse her to swing ont of the way of the ‘Townsend and Kelly, in all of which respects the Sunrise was at fault and negligent; that the ‘Town- send in coming Jown the 1iver occupied the usual channel or roadstead at the point where the Sunrige was ancbored and located ; that it had proper lights and a proper wateh in their proper places, ‘The lights of the ‘Sunrise, being so dim at the time, were not seen by the ‘townsend far enough away to have avoided the collision, although proper diligence was used for that purpose. When the lights were seen, being close upon the Sunrise, the master of the ‘fownsend used proper seamanship in trying to avoid the collision, and that, therefure the ‘lownsend was not guilty of negligence or carelessness in causing the injury. ‘The Kelly being the tow, was guilty of no negligence, and there- tore not liable for the injury to the Sunrise. THAT NEW CODE. General Hazen has just issued what ts termed an “official. danger, distress and storm signal code for signal service at sea- const stations, and among mariners,’’: In. the pretace the work is commended to the attention of shipmasters and crews, with the, assurance ‘by the official co-operation of the life-saving service the same signals (those appearing in this paper) will be recognized at all life-saving stations.’? Unfortunately in. this;connection the statement that there lis been a co-operation ‘with the life-saving service in the utterance of this work on sig- nals, is not true. ‘be prefatory statement concluded with the assertion that copies of this paper would be found at every lite-sav- ing station on the coasts of the United States. Inquiry io the department vested with the management of life-saving stations elicits the information that the work has been fur- nished to no station in the knowledge of offi- cials there, and, indeed, the publication had not been seen. ‘he book comprises about seventy-five pages, and about two-thirds of it is taken up with an abridgement of the in- ternational code of flag signals, such pbrases having been omitted as appeared to the com- piler as unnecessary. Here is a difficulty at once. Suppose the stations are furnished with this official code, and a vessel comes along whose captain is acquainted with the international code, and two or three mes- sages pass, until the skipper, not knowing that Generai Hazen has omitted about one- fourth of the code, makes a signal not down in the new book. Confusion must resylt, or the crew on shore must go back to the stand- ard now in use and find the translation be- fore they ean respond. _Further, there is a code of weather and storm signals, by means of which passing ships are to inquire what the indications are and receive information. The fife-saving authorities never co-operated in this, nor are their crews prepared to respond because they know nothing about it, although inari- ners are informed thatsuch is the fact. Another system, made up from three red and three white flags, laid down cannot be responded to by the life-saving crews be- cause there was 00 co-operation between the departments on the subject, and the life- saving stations have no such outfit of flage, nor do they know how to use thém. The worst feature about the new code is the system of night-signals. For ten years along the coasts of tue United States, and now .he world over, the display of a red light is understood by all mariners as a warning of danger. Last year no less than seventy-eight vessels were warned oft dan- gerous consts and reets by the display of rockets, lights or lanterns by the life-saving patrolmen. The meaning of such display ia now accepted the world over a» “stand off.’ General Hazen’s new code starts out with the display of a red lantern as a precaution- ary signal to attract atteation and open con- versation, The first thing laid down in the directions is for the crew at the station to hang out the red light simply by way of sal- utacion and to open the conversation. ‘The fact wonld be that at the display of this light the ship would veer off and show her heels in as lively a manner as possible. Not only was there no co-operation in this, but when it was proposed to iesue this code two years ago by thechief signal officer, the life-saving crew refused to countenance this innovation based upon the world-wide recognition of the fact that a red Jight, both on land and sea, meant danger, and could not be utilized in signalling in any other sense without great peril to life and property. Indeed so many objectionable features were found in the proposed new code that it was stated at the signal office the work had been aban- doned, and its utterances now is a complete surprise to the department alleged to co-op- erate in it. The book contains, in addition to frag- aed night. signals,” made up by an ar- ngement of single and compound lights, a patent aftair “which has been vigorously pushed of late years by the widow of the in- ventor., In this code the ‘‘preparatory”’ sig- nal‘ a compound light, first red and then white, and the letter *‘C,” which in the in- ternational code isa white pennant with a red dot in the venter, ig a pure red light, ‘There ia very good reason to suppose that ‘General Hazen’s new code will not be touched by the life saving service under any consideration unless a new issue of it has been made with the objectionable features expunged, and then ic is not so good as the international system now adopted through- out the world.—ZJnter Ocean, WRECKS AND OBSTRUCTIONS. © Alderman, Doty, City Eugineer Rogers, and a. representative of the Express were recently invited by Captain Samuel Ele dridge, harbor nastier of Bufalo, to make a trip of inspection about the harbor, ‘The tug Edward Fiske, with captain, Mr. Robert Beyers, known ae the star pilot of the east- ern Jakes, was provided. ‘The tivst point visited was the scene of the wreck of the sand barge owned by Nicholas Uebelhoer, which, just a month age, on her way from Point Abino, sprang a leak and sank about 800 feet nor-nor-west of the outer-end of the lighthouse pier, ‘The exact location of the wreck was deserfed by a slight ripple on the otherwise smooth surface of the water. ‘| Soundings revenled the fact that the vessel was about three fathoms under wate and on a muddy bottom, Since the scow was wrecked a number of vessels have struck her, carrying away pieces, and in most instances injuring themselves from $200 to $500 worth, and yet it still remains a serious obstruction to navigation. ‘lows of _ vessels especially, both in coming in and going out of the har- bor, have a tendency to sag down. with the: current to the mouth of the breakwater onto the shoals. off the Erie Basin breakwater to- the great risk of lifeand property. As the city has jurisdiction over the channel frouv the mouth of the creek to the north end of the breakwater, it lies in the service of her officials to remedy this evil. City Engineer Rogers expressed his intention of blowing upsthe old hull with dynamite, and that very soon. ‘ Another wreck. that of the Falmoth, was next visited. ‘This vessel, as long ago as the winter of 1880 rat outo the outer end of the breakwater during a blinding snowstorm. She sank immediately, but in such a posi- tion that she was in-no one’s way, but grad- ually she has become broken up and within the past few weeks her bottom and center- board have drifted down into the river chan. nel, where they huve been marked by a large spile. This obstruetion is in’ the'domains over which the United States exercises ju- risdiction, aud it is understood that the Uni- ted States engineer in charge of this district has already taken steps for its removal. In steaming back into the city a course was taken inside of the lighthouse pier, Ate. | tention was here directed by the harbor mas- ter to the many lumber ratts which are an- el ored alongside of this dockage. ‘The en- tire length, exeepting about 400 feet, was taken up and the logs ptojected far out into the water, thus preventing vessels from ty- ing up to ov anchoring under the lee ot the- pier.— Buffalo Express. THE BIBLE, Ifthe Bible were a weekly journal how many communications would it receive- signed “Constant Reader.’ But thousands of people have signed their names in favor of Swayne’s pills, whivh are purely vegeta- ble, and suy they ure the best family pill in the market, as they cure more (iseases of the human system than any other, all for a quarter of a dollar. No household is com- plete without them. ‘I'hey are composed of the juices of plants, ‘They are just the pill tor female irregularities, cleansing the sys- tem of all humors and are both safe and reli- able. A WOODEN BOILER Some time ago it was announced that a machinist of this city named Joseph Sut- cliffe was engaged in the construction of a steamboat boiler from an.ordinary ale eask At the time it was mentioned the boiler not quite completed, but since then it been finished and tested, and has stood 2 pressure of 160 pounds ot steam to the square inch, The wooden boiler was built to supply a two-horse power rotary engine, and was to be placed on a sixteen-foot boat. ‘The boiler was actually made from an ale cask, and very little change has taken place in its ex- terior. On the inside of the barrel has been placed a fire-box, which extends well down into the cask; this has been fitted with tubes placed horizontally and vertically, to hold the water. In other boilers the water is outside of the tubes, The fire-box is snp- plied with fuel from the top, draught being | supplied through a tube from below. ‘This unique boiler has been fairly vested, and is pronounced a success for the purpose for which it was constructed, ‘I'he engine is a two-horse-power rotary, and was also built for Mr. Sutcliffe. This novel vessel was com- pleted Jast week, and isa twin screw propell- er, the screws being ten inches in diameter. The vessel is not only propelled but is