THE CITY OJ' WOBCESTEIL
918
but equally complete, is the illustration found in the 'scaffolding which builders use, consisting of upright posts, with horizontal bars and diagonal braces, all bound together and resting upon or anchored in the ground according to the emergencies of the case. The court finds that the claim in question embodies no patentable novelty, and that for this reason the bill should be dismissed. So ordered.
THE CITY OJ' WbRCESTEB.
SCOTT v. THE CITy SAMIll t1. NORWICH
OF
WOBCESTEB. TBANSP.
& N. Y.
Co.
(District CO'Utrt, D. Connecticut. July 17, 1890.) 8.u.VAGL
A steamer valued at $237,500 was stranded on a dangerous reef on a Her cargo, worth"100,OOO, and on' which the freight was 1001, was removed during the day without danger; the day being pleasant and the water smooth. The , next, dq.y was rough, and, holes '\Vere worn in the steamer in addition to the cracks prElViotisly made. - The prospect of getting her off depended on the weather; but theceather for ,the following week wasllne, and temporary repairs weremadej apd a); $llle end of seven days slle was taken into a ,port fo:l' further repairs, and aftTwo wrecking companies; with a large outfit, consisterwards" to 8 ing of several steamers, barges, divers,'ete., were in use about two weeks. Held, that the sum of,ll,218 should be allowed the cargo, and $81,758.52 for sav-' iDg the steamer.' :
In Admiralty.
Libels for salvage.
&mMl Park and Walter C. Noyes, for libelants. ' A.lien Tenney and W. L. Putnam, for respondents. Sffi:pMAN, J. ' These are two libels for'salvage. The first named is ltn rem, nitainstthe steam-boat City of Worcester, for salvage for saving the vessel, and the second iEl in personam, against the owner of the vessel,
for salvage for saving the cargo, the service having been rendered atthe request and for tlie'benefit of the respondent. ' , /fhefacts:inthe cases are as follows: The City of Worcester; a Long Island Sound iron passenger and freight steamer, of the value of $237,500,ha:'ving 5'0 passengers on board, and a cargo worth $100,000, upon 'which the freight money $601, struck upi:\nthe south and' west parts of Bartlett's reef, near the entrance to New London harbor, about lo'dock on Sunday morning, January 12, 1890. The night was very foggy. ,No lightsbould be seen. The vessel waS g<ling very 'slowly under one bell. The tide was flood. She was a fine steamer, was built in 1881 at a cost' of8420,OOO, was and is owned by,the Norwich & New York Transportation Company, and was regularly running between Norwich, New and New York.,' She lay upon the reef from-her bow She was drawing about 13 feeftorwardtll.nd v.42F.no.15-58
and at tlpw the Wf\ter, ,was ahout 5, .d.ee.p J,l'rpW-i,h.erafter gangway W;,he1;;stern'the,ueptl;1 gr!1dqaUy, ,till: the, ;w:ater was teet T\VIOQfhe...·:five c()mpartlll¢nt$ filled with water on, Sunday. day.RlUot:lWr :(il\ed. On Sunday the iinjury consisted in.a crack about 35 feet ]ongupQJ;1: the port ,sideforWltrd, terminlilting in a hole 3 feet long nearly under one of the port boilers. The bottom of the reef is sprinkled with large boulders and rocks. On Sunday the vessel lay without a list. frif6rnlation ofthe accident was promptly sent to New London, and the libelant, Scott, whose business is that of a wrecker, and who is is constantly ready for service, was notified by the local agent of the Claimant at New London that his services /fh,e, soon after reached New London, knew of the employment of Scott, and ratified it. No contract was, mage wi,th him,eitherfpr sum. or for any sum, or for a quantunl;meruit,' or't6 'pay h'im' events. 'He entered upon the services as 8ahnanhaqd for its benefit. He started at about 4 o'clock with his steam-tug T. A. Scott, Jr., reached the vessel, about 7 o'clock, took off all the passengers, and carried ,them He tqg-bbats T. A. 8cott, Jr., and barges of,hisoWln,with the steam-tug Briggs a;tid::,l;!Mge' Dqnalq,', Gompany. ·The bill cfoT·the day's services o6thesevesselsj amounting to $218, he paid. was ,The barges Worcester. All the cargo w8s'tt'ockedintb them 'oy 7tfie'steamer's'inen, aria at ,7 o'clock was safely out of the steamer, and was delivered by the libelant at New London, whence it was sent to its Qestination., ';ThiE! work Was done tbe president without injury, accident, orr94ngfll'" of the company was justly "fr/lid that Scott'S', was insuffi<:i,ent for the work of pulling the Worcester from the reef. At his request, ,to the. tt ,WreckiQg to send at once steam pumps rboilers.to, work on tel'. 'tIn,!; resp,()Dse ,to' tl:\is: telegrams, barge anti.,powerful wrecking ;{.Jderritt, was ,sent the of Mr. Sharp, and arrived on Monday morning" Mr. Sljlarp wanted to know why the telhad beeD' signeqby; iScott instead, of by thltcompany. He was satistied upon this to tq.fHeef on. tq.ataft.ern()on. There Ilame of, Merritt' Wrecking tion 1;Aat there was ,:wjthScQtt.. Scott ,and. in cha,tge of On Monday,·jorenoon thQ ta9kle, fumiture,. mattresses, aud w,ere from tqe Worcester, and carried into New London 1;>Yr libelant. .· Cement: and sand were carried. to. the wreck, and towol'k ;cl9sing ,the holes ip the; forward fropl<theinside. ,The was. wind from which beca,ple a gale, at ,4; o'clock in the ,:\VprQMter" worried" or treplbled upon thebouldef,lil, which wore a couple who of Mer:ofaflditiopal
,aUGQt
'THE OITY OF WORCESTER.
made W get ancho;rsand cables laid to hold the Worcester easy on the the cable got foul of the rocks, and there was, some talk abollt the crew of the Worcester going ashore; but the wind abated, and they remained on the vessel. On following days, till Satur-day, the work of patching up the holes by the divers of ,Scott and the Merritt Company continued. Bags oCcement mixed with sand were placlld in the long break, and were braced in position·. It was partly wedged upon the outside. The other holes were patcped with planks which were clamped to the frame of the steamer The 'fater wa!'! then pumped out by the aid of 10 steam pumps. The steam-boat was pulled ofl'the reef on ,the evening of Sunday, January 19th, was towed to New London, where the temporary repairs were sti,u farther coplpleted; and she ,was taken to New York January 26th Jar permanent repairs upon the dry-dock. She went under her own steam, but was accompanied by the I.J. Merritt. The equipment of the Merritt Wr{lcking Organization, which was in use, was worth $80,000. The steamer,.!. J. :tderritt was in use 14 days, and the barge Blanche, 17 days. ,'.1;'he steamers Cyclops and Dalzell, and schooner Edgar Post, which carried some of the outfit to New London, were in use 30,37, and 48 respectively. Itrurnished 8 steam-pumps, 2 divers and their apparatus, 7 engineers, 19 wreckers, 1 carpenter, 2 firemen, 1 foreman, and 1 agent,with the usual outfit of cables, ropes, hose, and anchors. Scott's e'luipment was worth $25,000 or more. The thneof the steamers Alert, T. A. Scott, Jr., Cassie, and Chester amounted in all to 281 days. The time of three lighters waS 23 days. He furnished 4 divers andapparatus, 2ateam-pmnps, 4 engineers, 2 firemen, and from 15 to 20 wreckers. His bills for the hire of vessels, materials purchased and use<i in repairA, sails used for patches, rope and anchors lost, am(>unted to Ba.rtlett's reef is a dangeroris' place for a large steamer to be stranded upon. ,The jnjurieswhich the Worcester received cost $34,000 or M5,000 to'repair. During the rdugh weather of Monday the boulders ground two holes in her iron covering. If this weather had been tepeated during the week that she lay upon the rocks, other damage would have been caused, and the difficulty and expense of getting' her off proportionally enlarged. The reef is continually exposed to rough weather or storms in winter. It is not likely that an iron steamer would have gone to pieces, or have been broken in fragments; but the danger was that continued bad weather would have so increased the injuries that the expense of getting her ofl'would have constantly increased, while her value was constantly diminishing. Both salvors and owners were fortunate in having favorable weather, which enabled the work to go on speedily and prosperously. Capt. Scott's opinion in regard to the prospects of success in the enterprise was a summary statement of the actual situation: "The chances were aU owing to the weather. If the weather was good, we would get her off. If it was not, we wouldn't." Scott's steamer Alert struck upon the reef, and was compelled to undergo repairs for two days. The Merritt struck upon the rocks, but was got
FEDERAL"ltEPORTER;
vol. 42.
of! in about 20 minutes. The lihel in rem was brought, by agreement of the tW() salvors, by Capt. Scott, for the benefit of himself and the Merritt Wrecking Organization; and by like agreement a singlejudgnent is to be rendered for the joint services, and the court is not to Hvide the amount between them. 'fhe claimant has paid the Merritt Wrecking Organization $10,000 upon account, and Capt. Scott $1,500 upofiaccount; , The services in saving the cargo were valuable, but were, in consequenceof the exceptionally fine weather on Sunday, without da11ger,were easily and quickly rendered. For these services the sum of $1,218 should be paid the libelant, of which $218 has been paid, leaving the SUIll of $1,000 due. ' An important element whioh enters into the determination of the amount due npon the libel in rem is the fact that' each salvor is the owner'ofa valuable plant, which is ready-for service, and eqUipped with a crew whioli is constantly under pay; The calls for salvage service are occasional. ,The necessity 6f' expenditure f<n' wages and repairs is continuous. The City of Worcester had the prompt benefiFofalarge plllnt,which wasitf1df in somedallger of injury. In 0'0a8t Wrecking Co. v. Plwmw Ins: 00;, 13 Fed. Rep. 133, Mr. Justice BLA1'ogFORD said: ' '<Not only is the service in the particular case to be 'but the com·' pEinsatio'n is ,to be looked at, as it may induce aid by <!ompetent salvors to in distress; and the equipment of. the Goast Wrecking Compaoypy;ith steamers and pumps wffleking material and skilleq men, and itsrlii\diness to act on a moment's notice, must be considered, involving, as that large investments andexpellses which go on as well whUe there is no employment." " , For in saving the 'City of Worcester the are entitl td, to$31,793.52, Of which the sum of has leaving the sum 0($20,411.52 unpaid and' due. In rern against the Cityo(Worcester, let there bea decree against the claimant forthe sum of$20,471.52 and costs of suit; and, in the libel in personam, let there' be Ii decree against the responderit for the sum 0[81,000 and costs of suit;
·'i
BY,WATER tI. A RAFT OF PILES.
917
BYWATER,
et al· .". A
PILll:S.
(Distrlct COUrt, D. Washington.
June 17,1890.)
1. 2.
SALVAGE-SUBJECT-RAFT ADRIFT.
A raft of timber found drifting with the tide on deep water in a harbor, and out of the control of the owners, is a subject of salvage.
Persons finding a raft 'SO situated, who secure it for the owners, render a valuable service, for which a claim of salvage is enforceable in admiralty. {Syllabu8 1Yy the
SAME-WHO ARE SALVORS-AcTIONS.
In Admiralty. R. S. Greene and L. T.Turncr, for libelants. J.,C.llu,ines j for claimants. HANFORD, J. The libelants in, this cause claim compensation for salvage sellvices rendered ,in arresting, towing to Ii place of and securing a raft of piles found adrift and derelict in Seattle harbor. The claimants, who are owners of the piles, deny that the property iaa subject of salvage under maritime ,law; deny that it was in'peril at the time of belng taken in charge of by the libelants; and deriy that the facts make a case within the jurisdiction of a court of admiralty. The. material' facts of the, case are that the raft in question had' been moored by its owners, the claimants in this case, at a wharf owned by them situated in the southern part of Seattle bay. That on the morning of a pleasant day in June, in some manner, it got· loose and went adrift, and between 8 and·9 o'clock in the morning was discovered by one of the libelants about one mile north of ,the wharf to which it had been moored,and something over one mile from the eastern ,shore of the bay, drifting on an ebb-tide towards the harbor entrance. There waliat the time alight breeze from the south-west, and the water was smootb. The libelant Elliott was owner of a small steam.tug called the Violet, and the other libelants were at the time connected with this vessel as master, engineer, .and deck-ha,nd, constitutjng ber entire crew, and the tug was tben employed as a general jobbing boat, doing towing and like service on Seattle bay and the neighboring waters, and eaming on an average $25 to $30 per day; the usual rates for services such as tbis boat had Capacity to render, ,when employed by the bour, being $2.50 per hour. WhIm the libelants discovered tbe raft, tbe tug was in her berth at the wharf, witb steam up, and ready to accept any offer of employment that might be made to her, and they immediately went to tbe raft, and brougbt it in, and sElcured it to a wharf opposite to whicb. it bad drifted on the .eastem shore of the bay; in doing which, between two and three hours' time was' consumed. The raft was quite valuable, wortb at least &2,200, and WlilS at .the time of being so taken charge of by the libelants out of of its owners, and in apparent imminent danger oLbeing lost, .altqough the real danger was b,ut sUghh and in'l'escuing it the libelants .thenlse}vell, ,tul.dauffered no ,hardshipa, ;.more tban '