Case ID: us-ct-cl_12/html/0480-01.html
Source: Caselaw Access Project
Author: {"author": "Drake, Oh. J.,", "license": "Public Domain", "url": "https://static.case.law/"}
Date Created: 2024-08-24T03:29:51.129683

SAMPSON’S CASE.
    Charles F. Sampson et al. v. The United States.
    
      On the Proofs.
    
    
      A sehoonei• is lying in a dense fog 18 miles off Cape Cod after daylight, a light wind Mowing but not enough to give her steerage-way. Ser fog-horn is blown at short intervals. A steamship of war running three Imiots an hour collides toith her and she is sunlc. The schooner insists that the collision was due to negligence on the part of the steamer ; the steamer' that it was due to inevitable accident. Congress pass a private act giving the court jurisdiction.
    
    I. IneA'iliable accident is only when the disaster happens from natural causes, without negligence or fault on either side, and both parties have endeavored by every means in their power, with due care and caution, and with a proper display of nautical skill, to prevent the occurrence of the accident.
    
      II. It is not inevitable accident where a steam-vessel is running through a dense fog at three knots an hour, after her officers have seen, before the fog settled, a fleet of schooners ahead, and have heard fog-horns, and she collides with a schooner lying becalmed and sounding her fog-horn at short intervals.
    III. Inevitable accident cannot he deemed the cause of a collision where two schooners' api>ear at the same moment through a fog lying becalmed, the one on the port and the other on the starboard bow of a steam-vessel under steerage-way, and there is room for the steamer to he carried between them with a proper display of nautical skill.
    
      The Reporters' statement of the case:
    The court found the following facts: •
    I. On the 1st day of May, 1871, the claimants, Charles F. Sampson, Daniel Day, John F. Chapin, Stephen D. Andrews, Earl P. Mason, John A. Taft, administrator of Tully D. Bowen ; Colin 0. Baker, Leonard M. Blodgett, Jerothmel B. Barnaby, William M. Silloway, Alfred W. Fiske, David Gowdey, Mary E. Peck, executrix of Allen O. Peck; J. Lippitt Snow, Luther Crowell, James H. Deputy, Abby L. Dow, and Elihu Kelley were the owners of the schooner Ada A. Andrews, of 268 tons burden, then on a voyage from Philadelphia to Boston, with a crew consisting of a captain, a mate, a steward, and four men before the mast. She was laden very deep with a cargo of iron and coal, her main deck being but 4 or 5 inches above the surface of the water. It was daylight at 4 a. m. of that day where the said schooner was, which was about 18 miles from Cape Cod; and after 3.30 a. m. there was a very dense fog, through which, at the time of the collision, hereinafter described, a vessel could have been seen at the distance of about 200 yards. She had all sail set. The sea was smooth, and there was a very light wind from the north and a little westwardly of north, not enough to give her steerage-way. From 4 a. m. till the occurrence of the collision she had one man stationed on the ferecastle as a lookout, and the mate was on watch on deck also looking out. She had a fog-horn, which during that time wras blown constantly at short intervals. Before the fog' set in it had been a bright moonlight night.
    II. On that morning the United States double-engine steamship of war Ticonderoga was proceeding under steam on a voyage from New York to Boston for the purpose of going into dry-dock to change her' propeller. She was a second-class ship, of 1,019 tons, and the following were some of her dimensions : Length between perpendiculars, 235 feet; total length on upper deck, 257 feet; length from stem to the after edge of the top-gallant forecastle, 00 feet; length from top-gallant forecastle to the poop-deck, 140 feet; length from top-gallant forecastle to the forward side of the engine-room hatch, 90 feet 3 inches; length from forward edge of poop-deck to the forward side of the engine-room hatch, 43 feet 9 inches; and width of the top-gallant-forecastle deck, 15 feet abaft the stem, about 22 feet. Her captain was in bed and did not come on deck until after the collision occurred. From midnight till about 4.25 a. m. the officer of the deck was'a lieutenant; from 4.25 a. m. until after the collision the officer of the deck was a master, who, up to that time, had been on sea-service about three years and a half after he graduated at the Naval Academy, but had been actually at sea but sixteen and a half months. After 4 a. m. she had the usual number of lookouts stationed, to wit, one at each cat-head, one at each gangway, and one on the poop-deck; and about 4.15 a picked man was stationed on the top-gallant forecastle as an extra lookout; and all were cautioned by the officer of the deck to be vigilant.
    About ñfteeir minutes after the fog set in the officer of the deck reported to the captain in bed that the ship was in a fog, and that before the fog set in there had been vessels in sight at a great distance; and that there were several schooners on each bow; when the captain said, “ You will be into some of those vessels, sir,” and gave him orders to slow the engines and keep the whistle blowing. After reporting thus to the captain the officer of the deck caused the engines to be slowed, and cautioned the engineer of the necessity of running slow, and cautioned the lookouts. At 4.10 the ship was stopped to take soundings, and remained stopped till 4.25, when the engines were started ahead slow, and the ship was headed N. N. W. W. Between the time of the setting in of the fog and 4.25 a. m. the lieutenant in charge of the deck heard fog-horns; and when the master came to relieve him he reported to the master that he had seen vessels before the fog set in, and the master understood that they were, at the timé he relieved the lieutenant, 10 or 12 miles off'. Immediately on being relieved, about the hour of 4.25, the lieutenant went into the engine-room and told the engineer that fog-borns could be beard all round, or used words conveying that idea; and before that hour, and after tbe fog set in, tbe matter of fog-borns being beard was tbe subject of general discussion on tbe'deck of the Ticonderoga..
    At 4.30 a. m. a steamer’s whistle off tbe port bow of the Ticonderoga was reported by the extra lookout on tbe forecastle to tbe officer of the deck, then on tbe poop-deck, who immediately ran forward to the top-gallant forecastle; and as be reached tbe' foot of the ladder leading from tbe main deck to the top-gallant forecastle he beard a whistle at what appeared to be a longdis-tance, and gave tbe order to tbe man at the wheel, “Port a little;” and then mounted to tbe top-gallant forecastle, and went forward to a point about 15 feet abaft the stem. Immediately after going there two communications were made to him, one by tbe lieutenant whom be bad relieved, and who, after going below, had returned to tbe deck and was then on the top-gallant forecastle; and one by tbe lookout at tbe starboard cat-bead. The lieutenant heard a faint sound of a foghorn, and said to him, “ That is a fog-born, and is on tbe starboard bow. I will stand by tbe bell myself;” and then started aft as fast as be could. The lookout said to him “ I bear something on tbe starboard bow; it sounds like a fog-born.” The officer of tbe deck then stepped to tbe starboard side of the forecastle, and immediately beard a fog-horn oil tbe starboard bow, and saw a schooner appearing through tbe fog broad off tb e Ticon deroga’s starboard bo w, on tbe starboard tack, and h ending directly across tbe Ticonderoga’s track to port. Almost at tbe same instant he beard another fog-horn, and saw another schooner about half a point on tbe Ticonderoga’s port bow, on tbe port tack, and beading directly across tbe Ticonderoga’s track to starboard. Tbe two schooners were about tb.e same distance from tbe Ticonderoga, and that distance was about 200 yards. From the time that tbe extra lookout reported tbe steam-whistle as aforesaid until the officer of tbe deck descried tbe two schooners he gave no orders to stop or slow tbe engines, and in that interval of time the ship was moving ahead at the rate of three knots an hour. Immediately on discovering the schooners be gave, as rapidly as be could and be understood, the orders, “ Starboard ;” “ Hard a-starboard ;” “ Stop her $” “Back her;” “Two bells;” “Three bells;” “Back hard.” “ Stop her ” and “ Two bells ” mean the same thing; and “Back ber ” and “ Three bells ” have the same meaning. The quartermaster at the wheel answered, “ Hard a-starboard,” and the ship’s head swung slowly to port, and in about two minutes after the officer of the deck descried the two schooners the ship’s prow struck the schooner which had been seen off her port bow.
    As soon as the engines were fairly under way after being-started at 4.25, the engineer then in charge of the engine-room watch went on deck to examine the bell-pull communicating with the engine-room gong, which the lieutenant aforesaid had told him was not working very well. He found that the connections between the pull and the gong were rigid, and would sometimes stick a little, but there was nothing mechanically wrong in the pull; the handle stuck a little, and only required a little working to free it. While examining and attending to the pull, he worked it so as to strike sounds on the engiDe-room gong, and heard the gong, sound in response; and when he left the deck to return to the engine-room the pull was in good condition. He was in.the act of descending the ladder leading from the upper deck to the engine-room, when he heard the order “hard a starboard,” given excitedly, and instantly ran into the engine-room and took his stand at the reversing-wheel of the engines; as the order indicated to him danger ahead, particularly as he knew that the officer of the deck and others were watching closely for vessels in the fog. The ladder was 8 feet long, and the foot of it was not over 3 feet from the entrance to the engine-room, and the distance from where he was on the ladder, when he heard the order “hard a starboard,” to the reversing-wheel, was from 15 to 20 feet. When he reached the reversing-wheel he stood with his hands upon it, expecting a signal, until he heard “ three bells” struck on the gong, when he instantly reversed both engines with the one reversing-wheel in the quickest possible way, to do which did not require more than twenty seconds of time. He heard no signal before that of three bells, though while on the ladder he was not more than six feet in a direct line from the gong, and could not have helped hearing it if it had been struck. • The engines were reversed only a few moments before the collision, and when he got them reversed the engineer shoved the throttle open wide, admitting the full force of the steam to the cylinders and starting tbe engines backing rapidly, and they continued so to back until after the collision.
    III. The schooner which the Ticonderoga struck was the Ada A. Andrews. The prow of the ship struck her a square blow amidships on the starboard side, at a right angle with thekeel, and made an opening in her side about 2 feet wide and down as low under the water as, could be 'seen from her deck, and penetrated about 4 feet into the deck, striking a main-deck beam square on end- and driving it. through on the opposite side, and making a hole below deck 2 J to 8 feet inboard, and about 2 feet wide, through which the water rushed into the vessel rapidly.
    The captain of the Andrews had come on deck about ten or fifteen minutes before the collision, and when the Ticonderoga hove in sight the whole crew of the Andrews were on deck; and when they saw the Ticonderoga coming the fog-horn of the Andrews was blown, and all hands shouted as loud as they could; and her helm was put hard a-starboard, but produced no perceivable effect.
    Immediately after the collision the mate of the Andrews got a sounding-rod and sounded the pumps, and he and the steward ■went down between decks and got some bed-clothes and tried to stop the leak, but could not get at it. They then returned to the deck, and the pumps were set to work, and were worked about fifteen minutes. Meantime the boat of the Andrews was unlashed and lowered, and between twenty and twenty-five minutes after the collision, finding that she had 5 feet of water in her hold, and from 4 to 0 inches of water on her main deck, and was filling fast, the crew, not thinking it safe to stay longer on her, got into the boat with such of their personal effects as they could conveniently get hold of, shoved off from the Andrews, and pulled for the Ticonderoga, and went on board her, at a distance of about 200 yards from the Andrews. Tiie last that they saw of the Andrews was from their boat when alongside the Ticonderoga.
    IV. When the Ticonderoga struck the Andrews.she’was backing, and immediately backed clear of her, and continued backing until she had got about 350 yards from her. While back-dug, the officer of the deck hailed the Andrews and asked if they were sinking, and some one answered in the negative. He gave an order to call away the life-boat. While the men were engaged in lowering tlie boat tlie captain of the Ticonderoga came out of tlie cabin and went forward to tlie forecastle. The ship was then backing, and was clear of the Andrews, which was then a short distance off on the ship’s starboard bow. About the time that the captain came on deck, the Ticonderoga’s boat was shoved off and pulled toward the Andrews, in charge of a midshipman. When the boat was about 25 yards from the Andrews, the captain of the Andrews hailed her, and she was stopped there in order that her officer might hear more distinctly what tlie captain had to say. The captain inquired where the ships was going, and when the midshipman answered; “To Boston,” he asked if the ship could give him a tow. The boat then returned toward the Ticonderoga. Meantime the ship, in about four or five minutes after the captain came on deck, had got out of sight of the schooner; when the captain took charge of the deck,' and endeavored to bring her near to the schooner, and while he was doing so the boat returned close to the ship, and from her the midshipman reported to the captain that the captain of the schooner desired to have a tow and be taken into port, Provincetown or Boston. The captain ordered the midshipman to return to the schooner and say that the ship would give him a tow, and was coming alongside, and then to come back, and be ready to take the tow-line in his boat to the schooner, and the captain then had a tow-line got up on deck for that purpose. The boat pulled away for the schooner, and was soon lost sight of in the fog to those on the Ticonderoga. The captain succeeded in bringing the ship in a favorable position for giving the schooner the tow-line, probably about 50 feet from her, at the time that the schooner’s boat was alongside of of her, and the crew were engaged in passing their personal effects into her; and he hailed the schooner and said that he had come to her assistance to give her a tow. An answer came back, “ We are sinking.” The captain then said, “I will send the carpenter with his gang on board to repair damagesto which the reply came, “It’s of no use; we are sinking.” The Ticonderoga then moved a little away from the schooner, In a short time the Ticouderoga’s boat returned to her, and very soon after the boat of the schooner, with her crew and their effects. Both boats were run up, after which the ship started ahead to look for the Andrews, then out of sight in the fog. She came upon her and passed very close to her, and lost sight of ber again immediately. This was about G.20 a. m. The ship then stopped and waited for the fog to clear up, for the purpose of saving the Andrews if she should be found still afloat. The fog lifted at 10 a. m., showing land on the port bow and quarter; and there were visible, four or five miles inshore of the Ticonderoga, some fifty or sixty vessels, mostly coasting schooners, and two schooners outside of her, perhaps a mile off, and one not more than a quarter of a mile in to the westward, but the Andrews was nowhere to be seen ; she had filled and sunk to the bottom of the sea, and she and her cargo became a total loss. At 11 a. m. the ship steamed ahead on her voyage. At 11.40 the Highland light on Cape Cod bore from the Ticonderoga northwest by west about 18 miles distant.
    Y. The schooner which was descried by the master from the top-gallant forecastle, broad off the starboard bow of the Ticonderoga, was lost sight of in the confusion attending the collision, and was not seen again. At the time of the collision she was about two hundred yards distant from the Andrews.
    YI. The place where the collision occurred was and is a great thoroughfare of commerce. On the day of the collision the keeper of the Highland light, who kept an official record of passing vessels, saw passing there 100 schooners, 4 sloops, and 2 steamers; and each month an average of 2^,000 vessels passed there between daylight and dark.
    YII. The value of the Ada A. Andrews at the time she was lost was $18,500,
    VIII. At the time of her loss the Ada A. Andrews had on board cargo belonging to different parties, as stated below, the value of which at Philadelphia, when shipped on her, is stated in connection with each item.
    1. H. TV\ Warren & Co., Boston :
    313 bundles of Norway iron, of 100 pounds each, of the value at the rate of $97.50 per ton in gold.
    
    288 bundles of Norway iron, of 100 pounds each, of the value at the rate of $95.50 per ton in gold.
    
    323 bundles of Norway iron, of 100 pounds each, of the value at the rate of $95 per ton in gold.
    
    2. Frederic H. Odiorne, Boston :
    288 tons of gas-coal, of the value of $1,728.
    
      3. Jotbam D. Otterson, Nashua, N. H.:
    10 tons of pig-iron, of the value of $302.50.
    4. J. P. & D. Plummer, Boston :
    450 cases of canned peaches, of the value of $3,513.25.
    IX. The freight stipulated to be paid on the said several shipments was as follows:
    On EL'W. Warren’s consignment....$123 00
    On Frederic II. Odiorne’s consignment . 561 60
    On Jotham D. Otterson’s consignment. 30 00
    On J. P. & D. Plummer’s consignment... 56 25
    Total. 770 85
    X. The said shipment to II. W. Warren & Co. was insured by the Boylston Fire and Marine Insurance Company of Boston in the sum of $5,000, which sum was paid by said company as on a total loss to the claimants, Gill & Lootz, in whose name the same was insured for whom it concerned, and to whom the said H. W. Warren & Co. indorsed over the bill of lading thereof.
    The said shipment of J. P. & D. Plummer was insured by the Union Mutual Insurance Company of Philadelphia in the sum of $2,500, which sum was paid by said company as on a total loss to W. G. Knowles, in whose name the same.was insured for account of whom it might concern.
    The interest of Stephen D. Andrews in the Ada A. Andrews, being one-sixteenth thereof, was insured by the Dennis & Har-wich Mutual Insurance Company in the sum of $1,000, which sum was paid by said company as on a total loss to said Andrews.
    The interest of E. Kelley in the Ada A. Andrews, being one-sixteenth thereof, was insured by the Wellfleet Marine Insurance Company of Wellfleet in the sum of $700, which sum was paid by said company as on a total loss to said Kelley.
    
      Mr. Frank Goodwin for the claimants:
    A sailing-vessel has the right of way as against a steamer; and the law is uniform, as it is the business of a steamer to keep clear of a sailing-vessel, that the fact of collision establishes a 
      prima facie case against the steamer, and throws the burden of proof on to her to exonerate herself from blame, and to show fault in the sailing-vessel. (The Carroll, 8 Wall., 304; The Granite Slate, 3 Wall., 310; The Wenona, 8 Blatch, C. 0., 499; The Oregon, 18 How., 572,573; The Stetson, 4 Ben., 509; The City of New York, 1 Cliff., 81; Twibell v. The Keystone, 9 N. Y. Leg. Obs., 2S9; The Washington Irving, 1 Abbott’s Adm., 336; The City of New York, 8 Blatch. 0. O., 194; Amoskeag Man. Go-, v. The John Adams, 1 Oliif., 404.)
    The foregoing cases show that the rule applies equally when there is a fog and when the weather is clear.
    The proposition is that the burden of proof is up'on the steamer to exonerate herself from blame, and to show fault in the sailing-vessel. If she be unable to show fault in the sailing-vessel, the practical result of the entire body of authorities is that the steamer must be charged. Such is the practical result, because inevitable accident is a thing almost unheard of except as a speculative possibility'in steamer cases. Practically it may be said to have almost no existence. (Whitney v. The Empire State, 1 Ben., 57; The Vicksburg, 7.Blatch. O. C., 216; Heed v. The New Haven, 18 How. Pr. Hep., 482; The Nannie, 11 Wall., 238; Baker v. The New York, 1 Cliff., 75; Pope v. The li. B. Eorbes, 1 Cliff, 331; The Dean Richmond, 1 Chic. Leg. News, 370; The Alhambra, 2 Ben., 158; The Bridgeport, 6 Blatch. C. C., 3; Wakefield v. The Governor, 1 Cliff., 93; The Carroll, 1 Ben., 286; The Bedford, 5 Blatch. C. C., 200; The Carroll, 8 Wall., 302; The Gautier, 20 Am. L. B., 769; The City of Paris, 1 Ben., 174; 9 Wall., 634; The Syracuse, 12 Wall., 167; The James Boy, 14 Int. Bev. Bee., 22; The Alleghany, 9 Wall., 522; The Johnson, 9 Wall., 146; The Lucille, 15 Wall., 676; The Louisiana, 2 Ben., 371; Byer v. The National, etc,, Co., 3 Ben., 173; The Herman, 4 Bl. C. C., 441; O’Connor v. The Empire State, 1 Chic. Leg. News, 393; The Jlypodame, 6 Wall., 216; Leonard v. The Volunteer, 1 Chic..Leg. News, 185; The Brooklyn, 4 Blatch. C. C., 365.)
    The effort has been made to put collisions between steamers and sailing-vessels, and between steamers, on the ground of inevitable accident when the disaster happened in a fog; but never with success. It is sufficient to cite, as illustrations, The Pennsylvania, 19 Wall., 125; The Pennsylvania or Union Steamship Go. v. N. Y. and Va. Steamship Co., 24 How., 307; The 
      
      Colorado, 91 ü. S. Bep., 1 Otto, 701-703; The Granite State, 3 Wall,, 310; The Mattewean, 4 Ben., 106; Lennox v. Winnisimmet Co., 1 Sprague, 100; Neto York and Virginia Steamship Co. v. Colder wood, Vd How., 241; The Bridgeport, 14 Wall., 116; The City of New York, 8 Blatoh. C. O., 194;’ The Western Metropolis, 2 Ben., 399; The Otter, 2 Aspinall’s Mar. Law Cas., 208.
    If a moving vessel runs into one that is stationary, the moving vessel will be held in fault. And this is as true if both vessels be sailing-vessels as if the moving vessel be a steamer. {The Wanata, 4 Ben., 310; The Fmelie, 2 Ben., 416; The Thornton, 2 Ben., 429; Commercial Steamboat Co. v. Dutton, 2 Cliff., 537; Cornell v. The Margaretia, 29 Leg. Int., 213; The City of Neto York, 8 Blatch. O. C., 194; The Scottish Bride, 8 Pliila., 151; TheMerrimac, 14 Wall., 199; The Bridgeport, 14 Wall.,116.)
    An examination of the current of authorities very^ clearly demonstrates that it is a governing rule of guidance to the courts, in passing upon cases of collision between steam and sailing vessels, to detect and discover somewhere'or other some slight or great defect in the management of the steamer, and that, too, even if the sailing-vessel be also found in fault. Courts lay hold of any incident or fact in collisions between steamers and sailing-vessels to charge the steamer. They are, practically speaking, invariably charged; and yet, notoriously, their officers and crew swear to the exercise of due care, proper degree of skill, and the exercise of sound judgment in working their vessel.
    
      Mr. Horace M. Hastings (with whom was the Assistant Attorney-General) for the defendants:
    Counsel asserts that the Ticonderoga ought to have stopped wdien she heard a steamer’s whistle broad off on the port bow, {vide his brief, 11 and 12,) to v'hich it is sufficient to say “ that a steamer is not bound to take measures to avoid a collision until some danger of collision is present. She is not bound to take any steps to avoid a collision until danger of a collision is apparent.” {The Free State, 91 U. S. B., 200, 205; The Scotia, 14 Wall., 170; and see the facts in the Colorado supra. No intimation there that the steamer ought to have stopped because she heard fog-horns all around, but a clear intimation that she stilL might proceed, only to be ready to effect sudden changes in the course of the propeller.).
    The only other proposition of.counsel for claimants to which we need refer is that of which he makes so much handle throughout his entire brief, viz, that a steamer must keep clear of a sailing-vessel absolutely and at all events; she must run so as to be able to stop at seeing-distance; that any speed greater than that is too great speed, whether more or less than four knots. There is no such rule — no such law — nor has he cited, nor can he cite, one case in support of the doctrine, while all our cases, and many of his own, deny it. A steamer is to keep out of the way of a sailing-vessel only when she sees her in time to do so, or it is owing to her negligence that she did not see her in time to do so. (The Morning Light, 2 Wall., 557; The Java, 14 Wall., 193; The England, 5 Notes of Cases, 171, (Addams, Dr., arguendo,) 174, 175, T76.) The Andrews was seen as soon as she was visible, and it was no fault of ours that she was not visible sooner; it was on account of the fog. This, however, is not a suit in admiralty. The court is not sitting as a high court of admiralty, exercising admiralty jurisdiction, controlled in its decision of this case by the laws and rules thereof. It is a court of common law, exercising common-law jurisdiction only, and the case is to be determined according to the common law and its rules, which, wherever they differ from the admiralty, are invoked and are to be applied here.
   Drake, Oh. J.,

delivered the.opinion of the court:

Upon the facts as found, the first question is, whether the collision which produced the loss of the Ada A. Andrews was the result of inevitable accident. In such a case, what is inevitable accident ? It is only when the disaster happens from natural causes, without negligence or fault on either side, and when both parties have endeavored, by every means in their power, with due care and caution, and with a proper display of nautical skill, to prevent the occurrence of the accident. (Union Steamship Company v. New York and Virginia Steamship Company, 24 Howard, 307.)

This definition, authoritative to us, settles the question of inevitable accident in this case. No natural cause impelled the Ticonderoga into the Andrews. We must, therefore, ascertain from the facts where the fault lay which produced the collision ; for if it was not an inevitable accident, then-there must have been fault in one or the other vessel, or in both.

Was it on the part of the Andrews? It is impossible, as .between a sailing-vessel and a steamer on the high seas, to impute fault to the former, when, as in this case, she had not steerage-way, and therefore was wholly powerless to avoid any impending danger from the latter; and when she used the only means she had of notifying other vessels of her whereabouts, namely, the fog-horn, which, for forty minutes before the collision, “ was blown constantly at short intervals.”

Hence it-follows that there could not have been fault on the part of both vessels, and that the fault must have been in the Ticonderoga; of which we have no doubt, and which we think cannot be doubted after an inspection of the accompanying-diagram showing the positions of the vessels at the moment she discovered the two schooners, as those positions are stated in the findings; a being the Andrews, b the unknown schooner, .and o the Ticonderoga; and the two schooners being equidistant from each other and from the Ticonderoga, and each of the distances from one to the other being 200 yards. When, therefore, the Ticonderoga sighted the schooners, one but a half a point off her port bow — which is almost dead ahead— and the other broad off her starboard bow, the course of safety, if the steamer could not be instantly stopped, was to port her helm so as to pass between the schooners, as she had abundant room to do. It might even be a question whether, if the steamer had steadily kept her course, she would not have passed ahead of the Andrews, which, though heading across the steamer’s course, was not moving ahead at all, or so little that she had not steerage-way. But whether so or not, it seems to us most clear that if the steamer’s helm had been ported a very little the collision would have been impossible, and this without any danger of striking the unknown schooner. But the deck-officer of the Ticonderoga seems not to have been equal to the emergency, and under the idea of passing astern of the Andrews gave the orders, “ Starboard, hard a starboard,” which were instantly obeyed, and resulted in the Ticonderoga’s running into the Andrews amidships. This was not “ a proper display of nautical skill,” but a fault, and it fixes the liability of the owner of the Ticonderoga. •

Were it necessary to go more extendedly into the discussion of the case, it might be questioned whether it was not negli-gencQ on the part of the steamer’s captain to lie in bed after he hcad been apprised of the existence of the fog, and that there were several schooners on each bow, and the circumstances reported to him justified his saying to the officer who made the report, “Yon will be into some of those vessels, sir.” It might also be questioned whether, under the circumstances, the Ticonderoga’s engines ought not to have been stopped altogether when -the fog came up, and kept at rest till the fog lifted, as they were before and after the collision. And it might furthermore be questioned whether, when the extra lookout reported to the master a steamer’s whistle off the port bow, and the master ran forward to the top-gallant forecastle, he should not, as he went, have signaled to stop the engines. But it is not necessary to discuss these points. The main question is as to the management of the steamer after the schooners were discovered; and that we have decided against the steamer. The liability for the loss of the Andrews rests on her.

This loss, so far as the owners of the Andrews are concerned, was, first, in her value, $18,500; and, second^, in the value of the freight that she would have earned if she had reached her port of destination, $770.85.

None of the interests of the owners were insured, except the one-sixteenth of S. 1). Andrews and the one-sixteenth of E. Kelley, the former for $1,000 and the latter for $700. Each of those interests was of the value of $1,156.25. The recovery of the owners on account of the vessel must be for her whole value, less those insurances, viz, $16,800 ; of which sum only $156.25 should go to said Andrews, and $456.25 to said Kelley, and the rest to the other owners according to their respective interests.

As to the freight, the recovery of the owners of the vessel must be for the full amount thereof, as no evidence was given as to what the expenses of the voyage would have been.

As to the uninsured cargo', Frederick H. Odiorne should recover, for the 228 tons of coal, $1,728; and Jotham D. Otterson, for the 10 tons of pig-iron, $302.50.

As to the insurers who paid losses upon the vessel and cargo, the recoveries should be as follows: The Boylston Fire and Marine Insurance Company of Boston, $5,000; the Union Mutual Insurance Company of Philadelphia, $2,500; the Dennis and Harwich Mutual Insurance Company, $1,000; and the Wellfleet Marine Insurance Company of Wellfleet, $700. The total amount of the several recoveries is $28,809.35.

Judgment for the claimants, according to their several rights, as.thus stated, will be entered.