THE M. MORAN.
845
The ship is responsible for the supply of sound and safe bags for such a purpose. The A. Heaton, 43 Fed. Rep. 592; The Julia Fowler, 49 Fed. Rep. 277; The Persian Monarch, Id. 669; The Wm. Branfoot, 48 Fed. Rep. 914, affirmed, 52 Fed. Rep. 390. The libelant was severely injured by the fall. The femur was fractured, and to some extent crushed. Shortening of the limb in can· sequence could not be avoided, notwithstanding the severe treatment applied in the endeavor to diminish the contraction, and the great suffering incident to this treatment. The result is a permanent injury and considerable crippling, disabling the libelant from following his former or any severe occupation, but not such as to interfere rna· terally with many lighter kinds of employment. I award him $2,000, with costs. . THE M. MORAN. In re PETITION OF MORAN FOR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY. (District Court, E. D. New York. December 24,1892.) NEGLIGENCE-COLLISION-LoOKOUT. A tugboat had towed a vessel to sea, and her pilot was being taken off the ship by a yawl attached to the station boat. As the yawl lay alongside the ship, the tug approached, and, owing to the failure of the wheelsman to see the position of the yawl until too late to stop his boat. tho yawl was crushed between the tug and the ship, and two of the pilots in her lost their lives. The owner of the tug filed a petition in limitation oJ: liability. Held, that the accident was due to the negligence of the master of the' tug, and her owner was liable in damages.
In Admiralt.y. In the matter of the application of Michael Moran, part owner of the steam tug M. Moran, for limitation of liability. Carpenter & Mosher, for petitioner. James Parker, for claimant. BENEDICT, District Judge. The sad occurrence which caused the death of two pilots while in their yawl boat alongside the bark Methuselah, by being crushed between that bark and the tug Moran, was the result of negligence. I find no negligence on the part of the pilots; for while it is true that, if the yawl's line had not been cast off from the bark, no injury would have been done, I do not think it was negligence on the part of the pilots to cast off their line when they did. The bark was moving. The proper thing to do, as soon as the pilot they were taking stepped into the yawl, was to cast off the line. The yawl was in plain sight of the tugboat, and the pilots had a right to suppose that the tugboat would not co;me close enough to the bark to catch the yawl as it was drifting aft alongside the bark and touching the same. Neither do I think it was negligence on the part of the pilots to attempt to climb on the rail of the tugboat when they saw the tugboat upon them. All iIi the yawl were at that time in a state of alarm because of the dangerous approach of the tug. To attempt to climb over the rail of the tug when the tug came upon the yawl was a rational thing to do under the circumstances, and
J'EDER.U.IUllPORTER ,voL
53.
'i'fi'butd'bay;e been, attended with no danger whatever had not the tug
on towards the bark, and thereby caught the pilotSt the tug's rail, between the tug aM bark, so causing their death. It seems to J1l.Eiclear that the ,cause ,of the accident was the neglect of the manait tile wheel of the tugboat to pay strict attention to what was before, him.; whereby he failed to see the position of the,yMvl until it was too late to stop his boat. Had he seen the posit,imliof the yawl when he ought to have seen it, he could have avoided, the collision, either by stopping the headway of his boat, or bysta.rboarding his helm. When, at the last moment, he saw the dangu-, he did just the wrong thing. ,Such attention on the part or thei>Hot 'of. the, tug as the occasion called for would, in my opinion, have avoided the collision. Let a decree be entered declaring th.& petitioner liable to damages in the sum of $5,000.
LOXLEY
et aL
THE OA.nL GUSTAll'. V.
'l'HE OARL GUSTAF et III No. 76-
(01r«J1t Court Of Appeall, Fifth Circuit. December 19, l892.) L COu.nlOlf7TUG8' AND
A WllS bebig'towed trom the olty ot Hobne, through Mobile river to the ba,t,and,llaVing passed the turn stake, wus followin,!; the d'tMged channel $Outheastward. At the same time a small, tug. with two rafts of logs, the, first' aline 200 feet long,' and the other astern of It"bo$aggregatlng, ab,out, 900 teet, was coming down the Blakely river Channel troJ11 the northeiJ.lgt,· The parties on the tug could see the bark for · mUe or'more, and those.on the bark could see the tug about a half mile away. The tug first reached the junction of the two channels, and turned northwestward, towards'iMobile, keeping as close as possible tothe northern edge of the channel. Signals" were exchanged to pass port to port, Rnd the bark kept as close as possible to the south bank of the leaving about SOOJeet between them. It was ebb tide, and the current swept diagonally across the channel, tlnd carried the rafts s(} far over that they came Into' ;collision with the bark, and were broken apart, sorneof the logs being lQst·. The bark was at moderate speed, and could not have stopped at any time shortly before the collision without goIng aground.. The tug was not of sutficie.at force to carry the rafts at a speed which wouJ,d prevent their drifting, and her master testified that the rafts wel'e not o:fsufliotent strength to stand a much greater rate of speed without breaking. ,Held, on a libel to recover for the lost logs, that the' bark was not,.ln fault, as, being a foreigner, her mastf'r could not be presumed to know thd peculiarities of the local navigation; nor was the fact that she was in charge of a bay pilot sufficient to charge her with such knowledge and extraordinary precautions as would have been necessary to the effects of the lnsufiiclency of libelant'. tug and the unwieldy proportions and feeble construction of the rafts. 8. a.un!;., .. If there was any fault,lt Wilson tile pa:.-t: of those in charge of the rafts, who were regularly engaged In 'the business of towing logs through thechannel, and attempted the' passage with a full knowledge of its .dangers.
Tow-':ro.1l''l'8.
on
ern District of Alabama.
Appeal frolll the .District Court of the United States for the South..