682 30 feet distant abreast ·of. the bow to the right, the.water. was three inches
the libelant's'measuremen.tsafter the grounding; showing that at a point
less, confirm the pilot?s statement in this. respect. greater The libelant testifies that he had .l'epeatedly sent up the canal-boat at this time. Opposed to tonnage load thanwasaboal1d this is the testimony.of the consignee's son, that wbenthe. boat arrived up the creek on this trip she drew.5j feet after 30 tons bad been removed for the .purpose 'Of getting her off'. Some these fact that the canalapparent discrepancies may, perhaps,. be found in boat had been leaking before she:arrived at the bar, so much, so that in the absence of the boat's captain, two men were employed to pumpj and in coming down the two women on board were seen working the With the boat much by the head,tlle water from any leak would accumulate there and increase the draft forward. It is urged that the captain of the tug, before taking the boat in tow. ought to have examined her draft, and should not have taken her in tow if tbe water was insufficient. This wotilduridoubtedly be so if this had been a first trip, and the ,captain. ,a,nd tbe owner of the Long bad no Irithat case it would be tbe business knowledge of the of the tug-boat to inquire into her draft, before trying, to take her over the bar. But in case tp.ere had been along p!evious cOUrse of dealingj the boat had been up the .creek many timE'.s in charge of this tugj therflCluirements· were wen understoOd by all pai'tiesjand the captain had no reason to suppose the boat was loaded deeper tlian usual. or of it was'given to him. contrary tOtJ,le known Usage. No In coming to be towed in accordance with the previous custom, it was the duty of the tow to conform to the requirem'ElDts,and she was presumed to have dones,? The tug was not put upon inquiry,and had no rooso11to make inquiry or investigation concerning the canal-boat's draft. As tqe grounding arose from overloading, too much cargo, or lack of proper pumping, the,faillt was with the canal-boat; there was no negligence or fault on the part of the tug. I have examinedthe various authorities cited by the libelant's counsel, but do not find them applicable tO'facts like the present., As the tug is not an insurer, but liable for negligence only, the libel must be dismissed with cost& THE A. CARNIB.
JOHN
THE OLINDA.
THE (lHmict
JOHNA.
CARNDII.
D./jew YOr1c. February 18, 1891,) W1Tl1. PIBIl-RBSPONSIBILl'IT.
2'VGe .Al.ID
In hauling a steaIIl-ship,wlth steaIIl up. out of a basin, it is the usual practice to . have a single'tuK haul he'r'Btet'n foremost on a hawser. the vessel to check her stern. way. if too great, by' goIng I/.hea4 on bel' own engine. steam-ship Olinda Willi being so out of,the Atlantic basin when her stern struck one of the piers of the outlet, doing damage for whioh t.hillibel agaln'st th\ltuir waa>1lled It 'ap)iearect
THE JOHN A.CARltlll!l.
683
that her mastel' and a pilot were on the bridge, all10 that her screw had been going full speed astern lor.a time before the collision. On conflicting evidence, hfJl,d that the master of the steam·ship, not the' master of the tug, was in charge of the ship's engines, and Was responsible for the. sternway caused by the steamer's backing "full speed n astern, which was the proximate cause of the collision; that the navigation of the tug was in no way improper; and that tbe libel against her should be dismissed.
In Admiralty. Suit bv owner of st am-ship Olinda against the steam-tug John A. Carnie recover damages caused to the steam-ship by colliding with a pier while in tow of the tug. Libel dismissed. Wing, Shoudy« Putnam, for libelant. Carpenter « Mosher, for claimant. BROWN, District Judge; About half past 9 o'clock in the morning of November 4, 1890, the libelant's steamer Olinda, while being towed stern first out of the Atlantic basin by the steam-tug John A. Carnie, ran against the outer corner of the southern pier of the outlet, thereby breaking her propeller blades, bending her rudder and doing other damage, for which the above libel was filed. The tide was the first of the flood, running up at the rate of about a knot an hour. The Carnie had made last her hawser of froIIl 20 to 25 fathoms to the port quarter of the Olinda. The steamer was of 1,020 tons register, 250 feet long by 36 feet beam, and 17 feet deep. She was light. in water ballast, and had steam up all ready for sea. I The testimony shows that the usual practice in hauling out of the basin is to employ but a 8ingle tug when the vessel has the use of her own steam; the tug pulls the vessel out stern first, and the vessel is to check her sternway, if too great. by the forward turning of her own engine. If the steamer has not steam up, one or more additional tugs are employed, which are lashed alongside the steamer to check her way, if too great, and to counteract any sheer·of the steamer. In the latter case, the captains of the tugs along-side, according to the testimony of the claimants' captain, have charge of the navigation of the steamer; while in the former case, where there is but a single tug forward on a hawser, her duty is only to pull on the steamer, while the officers of the latter exclusively have the charge and management of her helm and engines; and he further testifies that in such cases the steamer should not increase her own sternway at all by working her engines astern, but should leave the hauling astern solely to the tug. and only work her own engines ahead to check her sternway, if necessary. In the present case the evidence shows that the steamer, assisting by some backing of her own engine. was hauled right to go straight through the outlet until she got near to the gap, when she took a sheer to the southward towards the southerly pier; that to prevent collision her engines were then put ahead full speerl, and her helm to port; but that either through too rapid stE>rnway, or delay in the forward action of her engine. there was not time to check her way sufficiently to prevent collision, though she came within a couple of feet of clearing. The tug was already angling to the northward· as was proper, and when it was seen that the vessel was likely to strike the pier, the tug pulled ahead sharply in a northerly direction away from the pier in order to haul the'.