The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-05-19 00:00:00

SEDUCTION

DISPUTED AGREEMENT.
BINKS v. CHEW.—The plaintiff in this case was Charles
finks, a Butcher, the defendant, an attorney, and the action
was brought to recover the sum of £5 Gs., being the amount
of costs and damages obtained by the defendant in a case
which was tried in the Court of Passage in' February last, on
behalf of Binks. It was stated by the witnesses who were
called on behalf of the plaintiff, that the defendant had agreed
to conduct the action without any charge, as he would be sat-
isfied with the costs which he might obtain ; he had also ob-
tained .±:3 6s. from the plaintiff, for carrying on the action,
which, however he had offered to pay, but the offer had been
refused by the plaintiff, who required the whole amount.
Verdict for the plaintiff for £5 6s.

RECOVERY OP A DEBT.
GILLDESSLEEVES v. QUIRK.—The plaintiff and defen-
dant in this action were acquaintances, and various sums of
money, amounting to £4 13s. 4d. had been lent by the plain-
tiff to defendant, which were now sought to be recovered.
An acknowledgement was put in, purporting to be signed by
the defendant, and also by Mary Smith, servant to the plain-
tiff, as attesting witness ; the latter, however, on being called
on to write her name, was unable to do so, and the Learned
Assessor, after administering to her a suitable caution, or-
dered the plaintiff to be non-suited.

ACTION FOR DEBT.
ROURKE v. GIRVIN.—The plaintiff was a lumper. and de-
fendant a shipowner, and the action was brought to recover
a sum of £l.l 2s. for work performed in discharging a vessel
called the Success, belonging to the defendant. After some
conversation between Mr. James and the defendant's coun-
sel, a verdict was taken by consent for the plaintiff, subject
to arbitration as to the costs. There was also a cross action,
Girvin v. Rourke, for an amount of £lO, which was disposed
of in a similar manner.

BROKER'S COMMISSION.
BARFF V. BECKETT.—The plaintiff is a broker, and de-
fendant a passenger agent. The action was brought to re-
cover a sum of XS, which had been incurred in chartering a
vessel called the Henry Wood, but which charter had been
afterwards transferred.--Verdict for the plaintiff for the
amount sought.

This terminated the business in the Court of Passage,
which adjourned at a quarter past fire.

CASE OF DESERTION.-REFUSAL OF SEAMEN'S

WAGES

On Wednesday, Mr. John Radcliffe, solicitor, of the firm
of Rogerson and Radcliffe, appeared before Mr. Rushton, on
behalf of Henry Curtis, for the purpose of substantiating a
claim made by John Curtis, a seaman, for wages alleged to be
due to him from Messrs: Challared and Co. owners of the
ship Windsor Castle, M'Clelland, master. The case of
Curtis; it was understood, would settle several other claims.
Mr. Radcliffe stated that Curtis shipped as a seaman o❑
board the Windsor Castle, bound for Bombay, and back to
Liverpool, or any port in the United Kingdom. On the
Ist of March last, about half-past eleven o'clock, the ship
Windsor Castle, which was homeward bound, with a cargo
of cotton, was run into by the Berlin, of Boston. When the
collision took place, the 'Windsor .Castle was under close
reefed top-sails and reefed foresail, the wind blowing hard
from S.S.E. with a heavy sea. She was standing in towards
the land on the starboard tack, and the Berlin out on the
larbord tack. The ship was about 100 miles off the S.W.
coast of Ireland. The bowsprit and cutwater of the Wind-
sor Castle were carried away, and the three masts in a few
minutes afterwards went overboard. No very serious damage
was done to the hull of the ship, but in consequence of her
disabled condition, she became entirely unmanageable. The
Berlin stopped by her until morning and took on board three
passengers and four of the crew who were sick After the
sick men had departed, the captain called the crew aft and
said if they were any one willing to leave the ship, they
might go. The crew said, " let the sick 'men go, we will all
stop by the ship." The captain said, " I am glad to hear
it." The men said they would stop and see if they could by
any means get her into port: The captain, mate, and crew,
thus determined to remain by the vessel, thinking the wea-
ther would moderate, though there was at this time imminent
danger, owing to all boats being staved. The weather having
got worse, they showed a flag of distress. On the day after
the Berlin bore away, the ship Hudson, of New York, hove
in sight, and the captain seeing the disabled and distressed
condition of the Windsor Castle, bore down and spoke her.
Captain Page requested Captain ll'Clellan to leave the
Windsor Castle, as there appeared to be little chance of saving
the ship, and the lives of the crew were in great jeopardy, from
the risk of her drawing on the iron-bound coast of Ireland
without the means, in case of such an event, of quitting
the vessel. She was rolling very heavily in the trough of the
sea, having no sail to steady her. Captain Page said he would
remain by the Windsor Castle till morning, as it was blowing
too hard to lower is boat then. He did remain, and though it
still continued to blow strongly, he, next morning, sent his
mate with a boat to take off the crew. Previously to thia,
repeated conversations had taken place between the captain
and the crew of the Windsor Castle, as •to the necessity of
going themselves, and leaving the ship. The captain told the
crew that the vessel was drifting in the direction of the land,
and was likely, in less than 24 hours, to be on shore. He said
it was a very dangerous part of the Irish &oast, where there
would, be very little, if any chance of any one being saved.
Whtn the mate of the Hudson came with the boat, the cap-
tain made no objection to leaving the ship himself, or allow-
inetlie crew to do so, but merely 'said he would be the last
man to leave her. He left her accordingly, in the last boat,
accompanied by the carpenter, who unscrewed the two chro-
nometers, and pnt them into the boat. This was on the
morning of the 4th of March. During the period which
elapsed between the collision and the abandonment of the
ship, she had continued to roll very heavily in the trough of
the sea, throwing every thing moveable about the decks into
the greatest disorder, and threatened to send the anchors
through the top-gallant forecastle. The captain several times
showed an unwillingness to allow the crew to set a spare sail
on the stump of the mizen-mast, to endeavour to steady her,
and they did so almost against his consent, but it had little
effect. It was quite impracticable then to take the vessel in
tow, the sea ran so high. She was unmanageable, and the
weather very threatening. She was subsequently seen and
reported by various vessels, but none of them attempted to
take her in tow. On Sunday, the 13th March, she was
boarded by a schooner, 15 miles to the west of Loophead, but
they were obliged to leave her after vainly endeavouring to
get her into the Shannon. Two steamers were then put out
to search for her, and she was ultimately towed into Kilrush
by her Majesty's cruiser Hamilton, with the loss of masts,
spars, and rudder. Mr. Radcliffe concluded by saying that
the Windsor Castle arrived in the Mersey on Thursday last,
and that freight will be payable to the extent of £3,000.
Curtis, the carpenter of the Windsor Castle, and the sail-
maker were called, who swore to the statements embodied in
the above address. They also stated that the boats of the
ship were in such a condition as to be useless.
Mr. Radcliffe cited the case of the Neptune from Haggar-
dy's Admiralty Reports, not as a case precisely in point, but
for the purpose of shewing the judgement of Lord Stowell,
which contained all the law applicable to the Windsor Castle.
Lord Stowell says :—" The contract of the mariner covers
the whole of the ship ; a part separated by a storm is not dis-.
engaged by that accident from that lien, if it be recovered as
a part of the primitive pledge mortgaged to the mariner."
In the present case, the whole of both ship and cargo was
ultimately recovery. Again adds Lord Stowell:—" When
does the authority of the master cease ? His authority does
not certainly merge in the misfortune ; nor are the seamen at
liberty, without staying a reasonable time for the recovery
of parts of the ship and cargo (if there be any prospect. in
his judgment, of such recovery), immediately to disperse
themselves over the country on whose shores they have en-
countered the mischance without some discharge from him.
No such attempt was made in the present case." Nor was
any such attempt made in the case of the Windsor Castle ;
on the contrary, the crew all declared their readiness to stay by
the ship to the last, and it was not until the captain had ex-
pressly stated there was not the slightest chance of saving
her, that the men, with his assent and along with him, left
the ship.

Mr. Rushton said the law was admirably laid down in the
judgement of Lord Stowell, that the seamen should cling to
the last plank of the vessel for his wages. The case of the
Neptune, which was stranded on the coast of France, did not
apply. There was no parallel between the two cases. The
seamen of the Neptune struggled to the last.
Mr. Radcliffe said the seamen of the Neptune quitted the
vessel, yet they were entitled to their wages.
Mr. Rushton said they did not desert the vessel till she
was stranded, and till they had done every thing that could
be done to save her. so long as there was any hope or likeli-
hood of doing so. In this case, a ship at sea had been abon-
dened, he (Mr. Radcliffe) said justifiably. However he (Mr.
Rushton) was not going to decide yet, as had not heard the
whole case.

',Mr. Whitley, solicitor, who appeared on the other side,
contended that the vessel had not been justifiably abandoned
and he called William Everill, an apprentice to the owners
of the Windsor Castle, who deposed that on the day after the
collision they cleared the wreck. The weather was moderate
till towards evening, and they might have repaired the boats
or done any thing they pleased. The long boat had been
cracked a short time previously, and though it had a rat-hole
in it, it might easily have been repaired. The men went aft
to the Captain, and desired to leave the strip. He did not
hear them make the request, but he heard them say they had
done so.

James Roberts, another apprentice, stated that the men
demanded to have a signal of distress put up. Heard the
captain state, but not in the presence of the men, that he
would not leave the vessel. Heard the men say that they
would go and ask the captain to let them quit the vessel.
They went aft of ther own accord, and without any orders
from the captain. The long-boat might have been repaired
by nailing a piece of lead over the tat-hole.
Mr. Cullen stated that he went to Kilrush on the arrival
of the vessel there. He found the hull perfectly tight, and
only six inches water were in the hold. The boats were all
seaworthy, and he was himself several hours on the water in
the boat that was most damaged.
Mr. Radcliffe said the vessel had earned freight, and the
men had not left her till they could not, with safety, remain
on board of her. She was now in the dock here, and was,
with her cargo, worth £20,000.
Mr. Rushton was of opinion that the men could not re-
cover their wages, for the Windsor Castle had been impro-
perly abandoned. It appeared that after the collision the
weather was moderate enough to enable them to make all
snug ; they had time to examine the boats, and 'to-have re-
paired the long-boat by nailing lead over the rat-hole as sug-
gested by the boy. This Was a most discreditable abandon-
ment of that high feeling which usually characterised British.
seamen. No attempt had been made to rig a jury-mast, or
to provide for the emergency in any way. The naval charac-
ter of our men would soon cease to be what it was if men
were allowed to recover their wages under circumstances such
as these.

The Count de Salis, having had his eyes opened to the real
objects sought to be attained by the men of the repeal move-
ment has very wisely cut the concern, and is, of course, made
to pay the penalty of a pretty reasonable share of vituperation,
oral and written'. The Count states that he is determined to
remove the license from a Popish chapel, in consequence of
repeal meetings having been held there, though a short time
ho was 4 gublicriber ts) the Ropes! Association, The
dAohlrAph4 of filo qqvgyrftwapt pyo wolifit4gooo rpryfFßßtion,

BiLLINGE V. HASLAM.--1R this case Mr. JAMES ap-
peared for the plaintiff, and Mr, VENABLES for the defend-
ant. The plaintiff, John Billinge, was a cowkeeper and
publican, residing at Edge-hill ; and the defendant, James
Ilaslem, was a fitter, working at the station of the Grand
Junction Railway, Edge-hill. The action was brought to
recover compensation for the loss which the plaintiff had sus-
tained in consequence of losing the services of his sister-in-
law, Margaret Carter, who was seduced by the defendant,
himself a married man. It appeared from the evidence of
Margaret Carter that she lived as servant with the plaintiff;
that on the 14th of April, 1842, the defendant, who with his
wife lodged in the same house, accomplished his purpose
during the temporary absence of Mr. and Mrs. Billinge and
his own wife ; and that on the 15th of January in the pre-
sent year she was delivered of a child. Witnesses were also
called who detailed expressions which the defendant had used
indicative of his intentions to seduce Margaret Carter. Mr.
'enables, for the defendant, contended that the plaintiff
could only recover for the loss of service, which could not be
much, as he could easily have got another servant. The
Learned ASSESSOR said there appeared to he little loss of
service, but the jury must consider to what damages the
plaintiff was entitled for the outrage to his feelings, as head
of the family, in having his wife's sister seduced whilst a
servant in his family. The jury returned a verdict for the
plaintiff—damages, £lO,