The Express.
London, England, 1860-06-27 00:00:00

lab intellignue.

COURT OF QUEEN'S RENCK—Joss 26.
Bitting. at Nisi Prins for Loodoc.—(Before the Lewd Chief
ladies sad Special Juries.)

PATZIRON r. HAIM/8.-111Z ATLATIIC CAHcs

This was an action on a policy of insurance, which was
dated the let of July, 1857. By the terms of the policy
the plaintiff was to be protected against all risk accruing to
him as the holder of one share in the Atlantic Telegraph
Company, valued at the time at 1,1501., through the cable
suffering injury, or its successful laying down being pro-
vented by the " perils of the sea.' It was conceded that
once the cable was pronounced to be laid down and in
working order the risk of the insurers ceased ; and it was
likewise allowed that the defendant was only to be liable
for what happened after the cable was taken on board.
The defendant, whose risk only extended to 1501., the
six or seven other underwriters against whom actions had
likewise been brought consenting to be bound by the result
of this, is a member of the Coal Exchange, but is in the
habit of underwriting ; the plaintiff is a merchant residing
at Glasgow.
On behalf of the plaintiff the great object was to show
that the cable bad never been fully and successfully
and that that object had been prevented by the injuries
which the cable sustained through damage done to it after
being submerged in the sea. Several witnesses were called
to support this view of the case, amongst others Professor
Thompson, the gentleman who acted as electrician on board
the N iagara, and Mr. Seward, the secretary to the com-
pany. Professor Thompson stated that between the
11th and 21st of August, which was the period
during whieh the cable might be said to have
worked beet ; its action was very good at cer-
tain hours; however, in general its working was very
irregular. When it worked the action was free and perfect,
but the currents were very weak. The insulation was very
imperfect. Of course he was unable with certainty to account
for that, but he attributed it partly to the incrostation of
the surface wire. The total quantity of cable manufactured
was 3,290 mffm, of which 2,136 were submerged, in order
to reach from shore to shore, and about 310 lost. Gradu-
ally it might not be impossible to lift the entire cable, but
practically it was scarcely possible. The cable submerged
might therefore be said to be lost, and the original capital
entirely exhausted. The cable cost about 1031. per
Mile. During the process of laying down the cable
the strength of the currents between the two ships
fluctuated very much. On the 2nd of August—that is, three
days before the landing at Newfoundland—they cut away
60 miles of the cable on hoard the Niagara. They had die-
covered imperfections. The conducting wire had got out of
place, and had forced its way through the gotta percha and
even through the tow, so as almost to touch the cylindrical
wire covering. After that the signals were better. Before
the cable was taken on board it had been exposed for some
time at Greenwich to the heat of a very hot sun, and there
was DO doubt that in that way some of the gotta percha
had got softened, and it oozed through the tow and the
outside wire. Mr. Seward, the secretary to the company,
proved that 20,000 words peened backwards sod
forwards between the two countries during the
three weeks the cable worked. Amongst the mes-
sages transmitted was one from her IN to
the President of the United States, and the 'a
reply. There were likewise messages from the lard Mayer
of London to the Mayor of New York, and vice vowel An
expedition had been fitted out to take up the 46 miles of the
able nearest Newfouw!land. The new cable maid start
from a spot nearer to Europe by that distance. It wee
thought that that portion of the cable had sustained an
injury, but it was thought the principal injury sustained
was at the Valentia end—that is to say, about 150 miles
hour Valentin. That was the opinion of the beet autho-
rities, and it was likewise thought that when those por-
tions of the line were renewed the whole cable
would work. It was intended to try and ruin 200 miles at
the Valentin end. There was no doubt that a portion of
the gutta percha had oozed through at Greenwich, in conse-
quence of its having been melted by the heat of the sun.
The cable had not been tested under water, in consequence
of the fears of some of the directors that the strands of wire
would get rusted. However, subsequent experience proved
the desirability of a cable being submitted to such a test.
No evidence was called on behalf of the defendant, but
the contention on his part was that the plaintiff ought to be
nonsuited, or that the verdict ought to be returned for the
defendant. The transmission of 20,000 words proved that
the cable had been fully laid down ; and even if that were
not granted its complete laying down was not prevented by
the perils of the sea, but through either its original de-
fective organisation or the injury which it sustained by ex-
posure to the sun at Greenwich, and which was previous to
the time when the risk of the underwriters commenced.

The Chief Justice lemming up left it to the jury to say,
first, bad there been a suc,.m,sdul laying down of the cable
within the terms of the policy ; secondly, was the original
construction of the cable defective, or had its condition
become defective through the intervention of some super-
veniog cause, such as that which was alleged to have
operated upon it at Greenwich, or if defective had its de-
fects arisen in the course of being laid down, or since it
had been laid down i and lastly, supposing it in a defective
condition at the time it was laid down, were its defects
aggravated by exposure to the perils of the sea.
After an abeam of nearly an hour the jury found that
the cable, owing to its exposure at Greenwich, was in a de-
fective condition when placed on board, but then that its
defects were aggravated by the action of the sea water.
The Chief Justice said, then he would enter the verdict
for the plaintiff, giving the defendant leave to move to enter
it for him
The Solicitor General, Mr. Mignon, and Mr. Murray, re-
presented the plaintiff ; Mr. Bova Q.C., Mr. Lush, Q.C.,
sad Mr. Honeyman, for the defendant.
. .

It is undenitaod 'that ■ vast number of actions depend
on the fate of this.