,TO HADJ'Il.'
225
TSE HADJlll.
Court, E. :D. New Yorh. June 98, 188L) ADMIRALTY-NEGLIGENOE-PERSONAL INJURIES.
It is not negligence to allow the between-deck besms of a vessel to remaln uncovered with a Dermanent deck, and to use them as a plsce for the temporarystorage of loose planks; and a longshoreman; who unnecessarily, and with fair notice, attempts to walk over such loose planks while executing an ord e1" of the stevedore, cannot recover against the ship for an injury occasioned
In Admiralty, , Libel in rem for personal injuries. Dismissed. This was a suit in admiralty in rem, brought in the district court. That court dismissed the libel, and the libelant appealed to this court. (1 Fed. Rep. 89.) This court found the following facts: "The Hadje was an ocean steamer, about 200 feet in length, and built With two decks. The upper or main deck was close-laid and caulked. The other deck consiste(i of transverse beams, which, at the time of the accident hereinafter mentioned, were from 7 to 10 feet apart, and of various dimensions. These beams were about 10 feet above the bottom of the hold, and 7, feet below the main deck. On these beams loose planks were sometimes laid for the purpose of separating different classes of cargo, and relieving the. lower tiers of cargo from undue pressure.. For about 'three years before December, 1877, the Hadje had been engaged in trade between Montreal and the West Indies. Early in December, 1877, she came to New York, to run upon a different route, and in preparing for that route went to a ship-yard, where extra transverse beams were fitted in her. 'fhese extra beams were of wood, and in putting them in all the loose planks in the vessel Were thrown into the lower hold. On th!,! 7th of December, 1877, therepairs being completed, the master of the Hadjeordered the planks to be taken from the hold, and. placed on the deck beams, to make room for the cargo in the hold. . Aft of the coal-bunker the planks were laid on the between-deck beams, with a view to separating the cargo carried in the between-decks from the cargo carried in the hold. Forward of the coal-bunker no cargo was to be carried in the between-decks. and the planks were, put on the beams merely to get them out of the way. Most of the planks were Quebec deals. All the Quebec deals were of a uniform length of 12feet, though there were some other planks mixed with them of different len.gths. The arrangement of the between-decks of the Hadje, from the main hatch forward, was' as shown in the accompanying diagram.
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:x: OJ
""I ...
<: ,.. ::a: 'A ):::
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r I I
-- -. n "--- ...
I
:r:
H, H, and X, X, were beams running across the vessel, each 2 feet wide. They were on the same level with the other between-deck beams. A stringer of iron, G, G, I foot 9 inches wide in parts, atill 2 feet Wide in other parts.
v.50F.no.2-15
Z2S
FEDERAL.:ltIllQl.TBft l' vol.
50.
extended around the vessel on the same level. and could be and was used to walk forward and aft upon. in the,between.pecks. The space between H. H. and K. K. was filled with coal, inclOsed between bulk-heads. The coal was about level ;Ii' .F.r were small decks, on the same levef'w1th tht>'betwellD'·decks beams. on wl\lc'h dunnage was comwas 1{) feet 8 inphes ill monly stowed. The forward hatch otthe.,main 6deet in;wl<U4., and tbeJorwiJ,rd part,\>f,tbe forward batcn nearly,on a line with thebetween-decks,beam. C. ffihemain hatch was 23 feet inWl1gthfby 12 feet and thl:\ forward end of it commenced 2 feet ftotii'tlle said .·.. ,:on beams. (except under the hatch;) E'xtending from If. H. to C. From the center orH.lI,· the of C, walJ 10, feet 9 inches. Other planks were from C. dy'er D,' ... bt t?llSe planks were Quebec' 'deals. "'rhe·· beam, O.! was 3 mches WIde. . Ftilin the 'center ofC to the eetite1" ofD waS 7 feet19 inches. D \vasa beam 9 inches' Wide. 'From the' center of D to the· tank was· 7 feet 4 lnches. . The:,after-end of the tank Wile, ,oflhe .F. F.,. Frot;l), thellen,ter of C to E. was ·. ' Th.e about 8 feetllbort of reaching E. '. '. was alQ'n'¥shvremap, ;and on the 8t6'0fbecember. 1877. was 6D;1ploi:ed'by toassi,sr in.. of the cargo of tqe ;I{e was \\iOI:flpg the direction of. a bqt oUhe vesllelwas afloat In New York. lyh1g at pier river, A,bPi1t2 o'clock in the dlifrnooj;)of th,e work in tqe lower hold, near the, main hatch, the libelant W&ll ordered by the foreman stevedore togo forwiu;d 8.l1qget "The dunnage on .the little deck. F. on tbe .. H.ewent forward frpm the mainh,atllh in the between-, ·. sta.)"tin. g f.r.o.m. th p.'Qr.tside lle\\.r.. ,tli..· ll.: m.ai.n hat.C.h, :1'n d,while attemp t-. . ... ...e,. ..... .. .. ...' ing toreael) the by walking 9tl the loose stepped on the. Hnsuppprted epds Of drals, Jietween D fell with thE\ ,lo'war hold,' ,slIstaining "rhe proper and usual way of g.1oing. in. th.e ... sof the..Bad . over the stringer G. G. runmng ljJong the ,l!lde .of the vessel, and the proper and usual way of crossing frOm one side" qfthe vessel .\Va.:! the cross-beams ,H,. Il. and the. time' 'of the. accidfilnt' the.. c.Q,v,ers w:.ere off of the main *pre hatchQf ,the main deck, the was well ·. Of, the coal·punker, had not been laid for the plupo$e ,of lui-Wing' a 4IlQk.; or support, or means of.access to the forwardll!lrt althe They laid therjl.irregularly, for tue purpose them . Qf the o,t ,Wiecllrgo w,pich. was beingst.owed in the lower"fiold. ''the ibeliirit liaa, som'e 18' IIioritlls'bl:1forEl. worked on tbe Badje, at wbich time he nopfanktngln her betweenpriol:' to this accident. he had been workdecks. For 2 yeal,'s ing upon iltea!Ders'.:Ot th,line to'which the Badje belonged, three of tht'm on w'bichhe so.w<rrlted b,ving. bad,'at the he so worked on them. like tbecHadje;; and he;hadfrequently l;lid loose pl'!:nks in of 'while syowiJ;lg 'cargo there. The plafiks forwl\l'?':ofthe the of the Badje,. were not, and did not appear 1;9 be, l'eglliarly Illid. They wl:jre, to the eye. loose and irregulap;,: Tlle.donger of to walkup0ll; them was apparent. There was no occasion fot the go upon .them., They were not laid were safe places laid for to walk on, nor held out· as·places to the libelant to walk on. It .
was"
on
fol' C/' .' " .'. . ,Th()'1(l48.E:StilJ/(fl4in, and WilhclmU$, My'Ylik:rBe. for claimant.
227 ·. ' . :.BLAlrDHFORD,;Circ'uit .Judge; Having; found substimtilllly' the' iog factS; distriot court held .that it ·was not, negligence to allow be.tween..deckheams of thevess'e1 to be uncovered by a deck, or US13 such beams for the stowage of loose planks for 'iI.; temporaryptitpose, otto leave the eolis of:theloose deals unsupported at thepll'ice where the libelant feU; tqat the dealsiwere not so placed as to justify the libelhe was proceeding upon a deck; and that the ant used the deals fora purpose for which' they' were n6t intended, without necessity,and with fair notice, from the manner in which they lay, thllit they were not· intended to be so USed. .In these Tiews I concur,' and it is not necessary' fdrther to. enlargE! upon them. The must be distnissed, with costS in both courts. .. ,
to
STEBBINS et
ale
'II. FIVE MUD-Scows.
(OOtrfct Court, 8. V. New York. April 1, 1892.) 1. BALVAGE-l!lLEJnlNTS OIl-PBEiVEN'1'ION 0'1' DAMAGB TO PROPBRTY 0'1' O'1'ltBR8.
When a vei>i>el has gone adrift through is drift.tng towards other vessels, whioh' she is likely to injure'; the savlDg of her owners from liabUity to pay any suoh damage as was likely to arise, and: which the owners would be oaUed· on to pay, should be taken iJ;lto lloooount In determining the amount of a salvage award. ' . Seven hundred and fifty dollars salvage awarded a tug worth 115,000 for picking up five scows worth $30,000, which bad negligently got adrift in the Harlem river, aDd were liable, by collisions, to injure other propert1.
9.
BAME-AwARD.
In Admiralty. Libel for salvage. Wilcox, AdamsJ' & Green, for libtlant. A. A. Wray, for claimant. BROWN, District Judge. On May 26, 1891, five loaded mud-scows broke adrift from the bulk-head where they were moored, between 115th arid 116th streets, Harlem river, between 6 o'clocit and 7 P. M., and went drifting upwards with the alow current at the beginning of the flood-tide. .Some little time a:fterwards, estimated by two or three of the witnesses to be half an hour; a the Archlbald Watt, going up the river to lay up for the night, discovered the scows adrift between 117th and 118th streets, made fast to them, and towed them back to the bulk-head at 114th street, where they were tied up a little after 9 P. M. The scows were worth $6,000 each, in all 830,000; the Watt, $15,000. No special difficulty or danger attended the work, excepting that the channel of the river was very narrow; the scows were more or less kinked up, and very heavy; and the handling of them was attended with some danger to vessels going up and down the river in so narrow a channel. The small tug Curtis was going up the Harlem at the same time with the Watt; her pilot saw the scows adrift and made