HYATT
v.
SOUTHWORTR.
(Oa'rcuitfJourt, N. D. Ohio. February Term, 1883.} PATENTB-'REIs8UE l!n"ALID-CLAI)( TOO BROAD-LACHES.
In Equity. Arnold Green, for complainant. . M. D. <t L. L. Leggett, for defendant. DECR:im.
This cause came on to be heard on this fourteenth day of February, 1888, upon the bill of complaint, the plea of the defendant, certified copies of original patent No. 68,882, granted to Elizabeth Adelaidt) Lake, August 27, 1867, and of the reissue of the same, No. 9,888, granted September 27, 1881, to Elizabeth A. L. Hyatt, and argument; of counsel; and thereupon it is ordered, adjudged, and decreed 8S follows, to·wit : (1) That sltidreissuedletters patent No. 9,883, upon which said bill of complaint is based, is in"talid and of no effect, for these reasons: First, because said reis8uecontains! matter not embraced in the original; second, because the claims in said reissue are broader than the claims of the original; third, beeQ,use the patentee has been: guilty of laches in permitting morethlilin 14 years to lapse between the date of the original and that of the reissue; (2) That said plea be sustained l,and said bill of oomplaint be dis-' missed. (3) That the costs in this suit be assessed against the said complainant, and tha:t an execution issue therefor as in.a (lase at law·
THE' ACORN.
(District Court, W. D. Pennsylvania. May Term, 1883,) SEAMEN'S WAGES-SnIPprNG WITHOUT ARTICI,ES-VERBAl, AGREEMENT.
If the master of a vessel dispenses with shipping articles and disputes arise as to the rate of wages to be paid the mariners, the court will incline to allow their claim to the rate paid hy other like vessels leaving the same port at the same time on the like voyage. If the seamen can be held to a less rate, by reason of a verbal contract, such contract must be clearly established.
In Admiralty.
752·
FEDERAL REPORTER.
Geo. C. Wilson, for libelants. D. T. Watson, for respondent. ACHESON, J. The evidence shows, and, indeed, the answer admits, that when Duffy and Poe, two of the libelants, were shipped on the Acorn, no express agreement was entered into, and nothing was said as to the rate of compensation for their But, according to the clear weight of the evidence, on the first evening after the voyage commenced, Cavanaugh, the first mate, who had hired the hands, stated in the presence of all the libelants, in answer to an inquiry of another of the crew, that the boat would pay the deck hands the same wages as other boats going out on that rise did. It is established beyond dispute that other boats like the Acorn, on that rise, paid their deck hands the rate of wages claimed by the libelants, viz., at the rate of $45 per month. This seems to have been the prevailing rate, and clearly Duffy and Poe are entitled to be paid at that rate. rtis, however, alleged, and Cavanaugh testifies, that Conway was expressly hired at the rate of $40 a month. This the latter denies, and testifies that when he shipped nothing was said aa to the rate of compensation. It is certain that no express bargain was made with any other of the deck hands on that trip; and Cavanaugh is successfully contradicted as to what transpired, in respect to the rate of wages, between him and Roger Wiij.iams, in the presence of the other deck hands, the first evening the boat was out. Upon the whole I think the weight of evidence is on the side of Conway. Moreover, if the master of a vessels dispenses with shipping articles, and disputes arise as to the rate of wages to to be paid the mariners, the court will incline to allow their claim to payment at the rate paid by other like vessels leaving the same port at the same time on the like voyage. If the seamen can be held to a less rate by reason of a verbal contract, such contract must be clearly established. Let a decree be drawn in favor of the libelants for the amount of their respective claims, with interel:1t and costs.
SPEIDELL V. HENBIOI.
758
BPEIDELL
HENRlel
and others, Trustees, etc. *
«(JVrcuit Court, W. D. PennSJllf)(jnia. February 28, 1888.) 1. EQUITY-LIMITATION OF SUITS.
aourts of equity refuse to interfere where the suitor has allowed a consider· able lapse of time before bringing his action, from considerations of pubh',} policy and from the difficulty of doing justice, when the original transactions have become obscured by time and evidence is lost. 2. SAME-DILIGENCE AN ESSENTIAL CONDITION TO EQUITABLE RELIll:F-LACHES.
A suitor in equity is required to be " prompt, eager, and ready" in the pur. suit of his rights. Diligence is an essential condition of equitable rclicf, and laches and negligence are always discountenanced. 3. SAME-TRUSTS-OPERATION OF LAW OF LACHES.
Where a valid express trust has been created, and is recognized or treated by both parties to it as subsisting, mere delay upon the part of the cestui que tru,e may not defeat his remedy for the enforcement of his rights under the trust; but when a trustee denies the right of the ustu.i que t1'ust, and his relation to the latter in respect to the trust property becomes adverse, from that time the right of the cestui que trust to relief is subject to the operation of the law of laches. .
In Equity. John Barton, H. Markworth, and Wm. Reinecke, for complainant. George Shims, .Jr., and O. S. Fetterman, for defendants. Before McKENNAN and ACHESON, JJ. This bill is filed by Elias Speidell, a citizen of the state of Ohio, against Jacob Henrici and Jonathan Lenz, as trustees of the Harmony Society, located in Beaver county, Pennsylvania. . '.rhat the complainant's father and mother reSIded In tile kmgaom or tv Ultemberg, Germany, up to about the year 1804, were engaged in farming, were without any education, but wE!re devout Christians and members of the established Protestant church of the country. and earnest seekers after spiritual light and their own salvation. That, at the same time, one George Rapp lived in the same neighborhood and was a Illan of ellucation superior to that of the simple farming people, "of great intellectual power, clear-sighted, sharpwitted, eager for superiority, and a born leader of men," That about the year 1800 the said Happ began to preach clandestinely to many of his fellowcountrymen, including the complainant's parents, that the Lord had chosen him as their spiritualleadef; that the second advent of 'Christ and the beginning of the millenium, as tanght by the revelation of St. John, were near at hand, and that in order to be saved from eternal damnation it was necessary for them to separate from the established church of their country and to form a settlement of themselves under his and control. That by means of his preaching and personal influence over his disciples be caused· about 300
v.15,no.11-48
·A1Drmed. See 7 Sup. Ct. Rep. 610.