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2 CELE MARINE RECORD. —_———— ON o-@NT™NTWT0T*+T+T.rI.-"-.’’-—’ MARINE LAW, SALVAGE, In the Vice-Admirally Court of the Bahamas, Oct. 12th, 1888. His Honor Henry William Austin, Judge and Commissary. John Solomon Kelly, the mister, and owner of the Bahama wrecking boat Three Sisters, and others in) consert- ship with him; against the British brig Peer- less, her tackle, apparel and furniture, cargo and freight,—Cause of salvage. The Canadian brig. Peerless, of about 498 tons, having on board a cargo of sugar, trom Sagua, in the island of Cuba, bound for New York, United States of Ameriva, ran aground in the vicinity of Beak’s Cay, on the litde Bahama Bank (Bahamas Isles) on the 21st of August last. When she was first discevered in that position was on the after- noon of that day by one of the crew of the Three Sisters, master John Solomon Kelly, -—awho boarded her soon after and offered his services to the captain of the Peerless. His “services were declined, the captain saying that he intended to try and get her off him- _self. She was then (says the petitioner) lying on her port side; the wind then moderate; _she was careened over, but did not strike or work heayily. Kelly then returned to his boat, the ‘Three Sisters, and came toan anchor “near by the brig, so as torender any services required later. . The next morning the brig “was still in the same position, when Kelly again boarded her and had a conversation with the captain and offered his services to get her cif, He was then asked by the cap- tain what he ‘would take to carry .out an anchor; he said £100, and then agreed for £50. Another. wrecking vessel, the Advance, having then arrived, an anchor was carried out, and the brig was then hauled up to the | anchor by her crew. No attempt after this was made to get the brig out of her. position for two hours, by which time several other wrecking vessels had arrived, when the exp tain of the brig consemed that one of the promoters, the said John Solomon Kelly, should try to get her off. Yhe next thing done by the promoters, or some of.them, was to carry out another an- chor into deeper water, and having lightened the brig by removing a small portion of her cargo (some 98. hogsheads,) which ‘were placed on board different wrecking vessels which came alongside the brig. She then floated and proceeded to a more secure anchorage, and soon after some twenty of. the salvors having boarded her, she sailed for the port of Nassau, where she arrived on the 30th of August. Some thirteen wreck- ing vessels took a part, it is said, in render- ing this assistance, and thirteen of these ves- sels brought portions of the cargo so re- moved from the brig to the port of Nassau. They are named in the petition. When.the brig reached the port ot Nassau, which she did on the 30th of August, she was placed in the hands of a consignee. The wrecking vessels with the sugar arrived previously, the salvors gave up the cargo, and it was discharged under the direction of the ‘con- signee. Mr. Johnson, who _ represented certain Underwriters in America, was re- quested by the captain of the brig to settle the salvage, and he undertook to do so. The promoters asked $8,000 for the salvage, which Mr. Johnson thought too much, but he then offered, Kelly says, £500, with wreck-inas- ter’s fee of £20. Subsequently, on the 8th of September, it is alleged by the promoters, the brig was very considerably injured by a hurricane, and that one of the wreckers’ vessels, the Enchantress, was totally des- troyed in the port of Nassau. A warrant of arrest against the said brig and cargo issued out of the Court on the 12th of September last and was recurned and filed on the 13th; and afterwards a Commission of Appraisement, issued in due form, and the Feport was filed on the 2d of October instant, when a tender was made in this Court by the owners and master of the said brig, the respondents, of .£580—£560 for the salvage with £20 for the wreck master—which tender was refused. Hence this contestation. The promotere contend that their services have been the means of saving the brig and her cargo from total loss, that the brig was rescued by them from great peri], and that she has been saved by their skill and ex- ertions, and that they are entitled to a very liberal salvage. On the other side, it is said that the services rendered were not meri- torious, bit merely work and labor that the | brig was in no peril, that the nuuiber of wrecking vessels and salvors were excessive and unnecessary, and were not engaged by the captain of the brig, but by John Solomon Kelly, and the tender of £580 made by them as areward is ample. I musi firstly, see whether the brig was in peril when the promoteis rendered their assistance, for (Re kind and degree of peril of which the property was exposed from important considerations, No salvage can be earned unless the peril was real—-rot speculative evely (Marvin’s own words.) Justice Story (American) has well said that salvage is a compensation for the rescue of property from present, pressing, impending perils, and not for the rescue of property from possible future perils (referred to by Marvin.) It is argued for the promoters that the brig was in peril, that but for their services she would have been totally lost. On the other side, it is said that she was in no peril at all, and that the salvors’ com- pensation must be merely pro opere et labore. ‘The Court was referred to the chart to see the peril. It has not convinced me that there was any real peril. ‘The better evidence in the case ‘appears to.me that no injury was done tothe vessel; that she was lying on sandbanks; that the weather was not boister- ous; that she had not worked or labored when aground (allegation, found in the petition ;) that she moved when the anchors were carried out; that she floated when eased of only a small portion of her cargo, and chat the small vessels which came along- side the brig to take in the 98 hogsheads of sugar experienced no difficulty, The weather must have been calm, The salvors, with their hands, were only some thirteen hours removing the cargo transferred to the wreck- ers. After the brig reached the port of Nassau, which she did'on the 30th August. (whither | she came at the desire of her captain to be examined)—a survey was held upon her by experienced men, and she was reported to have received only some slight injury; and it also appears that her cargo was not dam- aged. All this shows the Court. that the Vessel was not in much peril, if any, when the salvors rendered their assistance. ‘The peril was not real but speculative merely.”’— ‘Lhe words of Judge Marvin again—Subse- quently the said brig was much damaged by a hurricane, which visited these islands and the portof Nassau on the 6th September last, and the promoters allege that she had depreciated in value; that she was wopth £1,150 when she arrived in this port there had been negligence of the consi in caring for her; and delay in settlin salvage, which bad brought about this dam- age; the destruction also by the same storm of one of the wrecking vessels, the Enchan- tress, When in the port of Nassau, and it is said that these matters ought to be estimated by the Court in any award of salvage, The destruction of the brig by the: hurri- cane is a loss which must fall upon the pro- moters as wellas upon the owners of the brig, and the Court cannot see upon what principle of law and justice the destruction of the Encliantress is to be estimated. Her destruction was not caused when she was in the port of Nassau. The Court also finds that the larger num- ber of vessels and men, said to have partici- pated in assisting this brig, was unnecessary and unguthorized by the captain ot the brig. It was also contended that the condition of salvors in the Bahamas was exceptional and that the dangers and hardship they undergo are more severe than elsewhere, and that they are therefcre to be more liberally dealt with by the Court. ‘The Court does not think so. ‘I'he case of Gore vs. Bethal—an appeal to the Privy Council from the Court in 1868 here was re- ferred to, but if Jooked at it will be seen that Dr. Lushington in his judgement of that re- ported cass was not quite of the opinion of the learned Judge who decided that case. A few words a8 to the general principles upon which salvage is awarded in England and America and elsewhere, and upon which many authorities have been cited. Ail text writers agree that the rule is that the remun- eration ought to be liberal, looking not merely at the quantum of the service per- formed in the particular case, but to the in- terest of navigation and commerce, which are obviously greatly protected by encourag: | i ing exertions ot this nature; but I consider, in my humble opinion, that care should be taken by courts to guard against exorbitant demands and undue advantage being taken of vessels in distress or difficulty, ‘The policy of the law is clearly to encourage (in so far as consistant with the circumstances) by liberal rewards such services, but not to ex- cite the. salvors’s avarice, nor to lead them to devour what the ocean has spared by making too liberal awards, ‘There is danger here to be avoided, if possible, The appraised value of the brig is £120, and of the cargo £3,249. The object of the appraisement under orders of the Court to guide the judge in fixing the salvors’ remuneration with re- ference to the property, This is found in Rules and Regulations of this Court estab- lished in 1851. With these considerations, and after care- ful examination of the authorities cited on both sides, and the records, the Court has come tothe conclusion that the tender of £580, duly made in this Court, was a liberal offer of salvage for such services as were rendered by the salvors in this case, and the tender and offer of £580, according’ to its terms of £560 for salvage and £20 for wreck- master’s fee, is held and declared to be good and valid, and sufficient, and maintained with costs up tothe tender: Costs subsequent to the’ tender to be against the promoters, and a decree is ordered to go in cénformity with the conclusions of this judgment. Hon. ‘I’. M. Mathews, Q. C., for Promoters. Hon. O. D. Maleolm, Q. C., for Respond- ents. GENERAL NEWS. Itis reported that the: German govern- ment will ask the Reichstag to build tifty tor- pedo boats. ‘There are rumors of thé consolidation of two coastwise lines engaged in the southern trade. : P Two hundred thousand feet of lumber in Davies Bros.’ mill at Muskegon, Mich., the property of the: Roscommon Lumber Com- pany, burned ‘Thursday. At Penn Yan, N. Y., early Thursday morning the steamer Yates burned to the water’s edge and three boat houses were damaged. ‘Total loss 12,(00. The iron ore reveipts at Cleveland this season were 663,807 tons, against 993,048 tons last year; and the chipmeuts aggregat- ed 644,531 while in 1882 they were 678,735 tons. The Treasury Department has decided that, after January 1, 1884, certified state- ments of the tonnage measurements entered upon the registers of Belgium vessels will be received in United States ports as evi- dence of their true tonnage. Messrs. James and George Thompson, of Clyde Bank, have received orders from the Cunard Steamship Company to construct a steel twin-screw steamship. ‘The Norway Steel and Iron Worke, South Boston, are turning out steel plates of ox- cellent quality for the Government cruisers, Samples taken at random gave 66,000 pounda tensile strength per square ineh, with an elongation of 31 per cent. The Marine Insurance Association of Yar- mouth, N. 8., has resolved to issue no more policies until the expiration of the present year. The directors’ report shows a defl- ciency of $39,222.11. Japtain Eads is prepared to undertake the work of securing twenty-five feet of wa- ter on Galveston bar—no water, Lo pay. Congress will be asked for an appropriation for the work ‘and Galveston will no doubt help with the money. a Kirkham’s coffer dam has been found of the greatest advantage at the port of Halifax. Already three steamers which formerly would have had to go elsewhere, have been repaired in it. The saving in expense thus effected: must certainly make this compara- tively inexpensive method of getting at the hulls of vessels in order to make repairs, very popular among ship-owners, There is talk of bridging the Mississippi at New Orleans, where the river is 2,400 feet wide. An engineer proposes seven spans ot 300 feet each, one to be a draws The piers are to be creosoted piles, driven in clusters, and heavily capped and cased with iron, The depth of the water will be no obstacle, as the piles can be spliced, ‘The eatimated cost is to be $13,000,000, ‘ernment. two ‘the Government. Fire at Oshkosh, Wis., destroyed $75,000 worth of lumber belonging to G. W. Pratt, and about $10,000 worth of Stenhilber & Co.’s property. But for the arrival of en- gines from Racine and Fond du Lac greater damage would have resulted, ‘Three dwell- inga were consumed, and the occupants of thirty others vacated hastily. ‘Thousands of men removed a large quantity of lumber. The wood dealers who had slabs piled in the mill yards lost in the neighborhood of $30,- 0co. : j There is reason to believe that the basis of the proposed agreement between the Suez Canal Company and English ship-owners as an administration company will be 44 per cent. English, and 56.per cent. French; that England a» well as France will be the seat of administration; that all the differences will be settled by English tribunals and that all the surplus dividend will go toward a re- duction of transit dues. ‘This is stated to be the English proposal, but itis generally supposed that De Lesseps will not consent to the proposition that all surplus earnings shali go toward a reduction of tolls, but will insist that a portion shall go to the share- holders, A part of the agreement will be that the English government shall lend £8,000,000 to help the construction of this second canal. In a spasm of zealous economy the Gov- years ago, abolished the land lighthouse at Erie which had been a beacon to lake mariners for so many years. A few gallons of oil have been saved, but: many lives will be lost in consequence is the opin- ion of all the lake captains and seamen. Public meetings have been held and _ peti- tions gotten up to bring about the restora- ‘ tion of the lighthouse, but to no purpose. Human life ‘has’ been considered cheaper than oil. A special ‘from here gave the par- ticulars of a large meeting of the Board of ‘Trade for the express purpose of denouncing the miserable economy of the government. While that meeting was in progress and about the time that Hon. William A. Gal- braith, resident judge of this district, was telling of the danger to vessels rounding the peninsula without a light to guide them, his words were being verified in a realistic way. At that very time the steamer Fred Murcer, of the Lehigh Valley Company, from Buf- falo, was belated oft the identical point men- tioned by Judge Galbraith, and was going ashore. Next morning the lookout on the watch-tower of the signal bureau observed the vesse] on the beach, apparently water- logged. The tug Erie went out at 6 a.m. and has not yet returned. ‘The life saving station men are observed, through glasses, to be on the alert and ready for action. In a conversation with a number of vessel own- ers all agreed that the light is indispensable to safety, and are bitter in the denunciation of the parties who were instrumental in pro- curing its abandonment. If there are any lives lost the fatality will he at the door of A delegation of citizens waited upon Congressman Brainard and urged him to proceed to Washington with out delay and Jay. the evil before the Presi- dent.—Dispatch, Nov. 19. PRACTICAL LIFE SAVING APPLI- ANCES, Tests were made at Bay View, Wednesday afternoon, of the lines and bailers connected with Low’s life saving service for boats, by the men of the United States life saving station on Davis’ Neck, ina fifteen foot Bank dory, witha fresh north west breeze and short sharp sea, with these results: In one half minute after the boat was capsized she was righted by two men. In three and one half minutes enough water was_ bailed out for one man to get into her, who took his oars and brought her head to wind and then helped bail her. In six anda half minutes after commencing bailing the second man got in and in thirteen and one half minutes she was bailed out, a total of four- teen minutes. ‘The men were as clumsily clothed as a fisherman would be in_ his oil clothes on the Banks. Ata previous trial one man righted the capsized boat and got intoher in two and one halt minutes and bailed her out in thirteen’ minutes.—Cape Ann Advertiser, 5 NOT A ROMANTIC SUBJECT, The man who thinks he is going through this life on a bed of roses had just better give up that ridiculous idea and come right square down to worldly thinking. ‘There's no telling when he may be attacked with itching piles and be subjected to continual itching and scratching. For every pain though there’s a cure, and for itching piles the world never has seen anything to equal Swayne’s ointment. It never fails cure to itching piles. At1o’clock Sunday morning the Petoskey city dock, Beli’s dock, Rose’s dock, and Bay- view dock were swept out, and pound and gill nets in the bay were destroyed. ‘The loss individually and on public property is very large.