812
·nEj?onTER.
PENDLETON and others .". STEAM-BoAT REUBEN POTTER. (Special District Court, D. Rhode Island. - - . 1880.) 1. SALVAGE-AwARD-1"UND IN REGISTRY.
In Admiralty. Win. Sheffield, for libellants. KNOWLES,D. J. This is a libel suit for salvage services, in which a decree of ,condemnation, on default and contumacy, was entered, October 8,1879, under which decree the res was sold at public auction, on the twenty-fourth of October, forthe sum of $700. This sum was paid into the registry to abide the order of the court, and there it still remains, less the sum of beipg the marshal's fees,paid to of the libellants, and of him on his petition, ,with tIle all other persons claimillg,an in the said fund. No claiwant or made himself a party to the suit, but, by arrangement and agreement between the libel-, lantsltnd one Harris Pendletpn, conceded to have been sole owncyr of the steamer libelled, he was permitted to appear, tre ,allowance to the Uhellantsof and make defence aught..more than a' nominal sum incompensation for their, alleged salvage Upon the question thus presented the parties have been fully with their respective pleas, allegations, and evidence, and the court's judgment anddetermination thereupon I will pro(\eed to state. Of the facts substantiated by the evidence submitted by the parties respectively, only a few need be here stated in detail. That evidence shows satisfactorily that the libellants' claim for salvage was well founded -in fact, indisputable; their proceedings throughout having been in consonance with the requirements of law, and the dictates of sound judgment and of nautical skill. It showed, also, that, although the res might have been, as claimed, worth at least $2,100 when lying moored at Noack on the seven. teenth or eighteenth of August, she brought, at a judicial sale in October, at which both the said Harris Pendleton and the libellants were present, only the said sum of $700. And yet,
PENDLETON
v.
POTTER.
Slap,
further, it showed that, to raise the res to the surface and put her ill" condition to float in Newport harbor,. the libellants, with the knowledge and tacit, if not e:xpressed, assent of the authorized agent of the said Harris Pendleton, incurred a debt of $350 to a Captain Waters, a \uecker and diver of Newport, for which he holds them to be solely his debtors, they acknowledging their liability. ' Now, that the libellants are entitled to recover this sum expended in caring for the res while in their charge and custodyas salvors, must be conceded, while it follows that, after allowing this to be an indisputable claim against the fund, there still remains but $234.28 unappropriated, out of which to pay costs yet untaxed, estiJ;nated at $56.70, and if anything, shall be adjudged due the salvors in addition to the said sum of $350. ' In view of these and of oth'er facts in proof, I am of 9pinion that the libellants are entitled to an award of $125 for their salvage services, in addition to the said sum of $350 pended in the raising and repairing the res. A less" sum n9t be a reasonable com i a larger, considering; of how little value the vessel 't'o be' after' a necessary outlay of $350 upon her, would be out' ofrea:son. That the i libelltLnts may say that, could they haV:e 'fbteseen ipey would have passed byQn the asdidthe ' left the crippied and bo'at,to;the' mercy: Lereti, of the wind and waves, isnotimprobabl'e; and equally probable it is that the owner, Harris Pendleton, may say that bethad it been for him had she gone to pieces with the dredge' to which he prudently or imprudently made her fast at Noack on the eighteenth of August. But to querulous utterances like these, from whichsoever party, it seems sufficient to reply, that in the judgment of the court any other result would be unaccordant with sound precedents, and with the teachings'of all approved text-writers on admiralty law and practice.
a
FEDERAL REPORTER.
JANNEY
and others
'D.
THE TUDOR COMPANY.
Wist'net Oourt, D. MtU,achusetts. - - , 1880.) 1. NEGI,IGENCE-SHRINKAGE OF CUTCR-STOWAGE'AND HorSTING.-2,502 bags of cutch were received on board a vessel at Calcutta, during the months of January and February, for shipment to Boston, and bills of lading were delivered for the same, containing lhe ullual exception of the perils of the sea, and the memorandum, .. weights and contents unknown." The cutch, when received, had become somewhat soft. ened by a voyage, from Singapore, of 1,500 miles, and was therefore rebagged at Calcutta. It was stowed in the customary manner on the bottom of the ship's hold, but piled in tiers somewhat higher than usual. The ship sailed from Calcutta in March, and reached Boston in July. Every precaution was taken during the voyage to diminish the heat of the hold by ventilation, and, upon reaching Boston, the bags were hoisted out of the hold and delivered on the wharf, in the usual manner, by means of slings. Held, under the circumstances of the case, that a shrinkage of about 5 per cent. of the weight of the eutch was owing to the inherent nature and quality of the article itself, and not to any negligence of the owners of the ship.
John O. Dodge it Sons, proctors for libellants. Dana it Harding, for respondents. NELSON, D. J. This is a libel in personam, against the owners of the ship Iceberg, to recover for loss and damage of 2,502 bags of cutch, on a voyage from Calcutta to Boston. It appeared at the hearing that the cutch was received on board the Iceberg at Calcutta, in the months of January and February, 1878, in good order and condition, and bills of lading were delivered for the same, containing the usual exception of the perils of the sea, and the memorandum, "weights and contents unknown." The ship sailed from Calcutta early in March, and arrived in Boston in the following July. In the course of the voyage, in consequence of the heat of the lower hold, where it was stowed, the cutch had softened, had leaked out of the bags, and run together, and had become mingled with. the fragments of the bags and the dunnage, and had suffered a shrinkage of about 5 per cent. of its weight as received at Calcutta. In addition to the loss of weight, the libellants