The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1860-01-26

Grafton. such actions have ceased 20 tc novel True,
tg Ga, Common Law % LaliluI, the action would Mt
Dee. for. as Larl kleutlr.lEa, =. -lii. G. smIbcu's
Rep, the death % "a Huu1r t'Ir- could not ht a.
le-el a. a cause Il action IN o. evil court. But the
law - England. iu regard rn this matter, has been
altered ly statute AMI the change Thereby iutrul ICED
has been adopted IN several q the United States. A.
an illustration q the principle upon which tins action
i founded, | may suppose the case 4 the widowed
mother Il an only son. upon whose exeTtUns she l.
dependent for her subsistence and suppose that her
son comes t. his death ~ the wronEfl! or reckless act
q some third party, thereby causing the mother 10
lose her support, shall she be left 10 pine out the even
ing of her DAYS in sorrow and, it may lie, in poverty
and want without redress Il seems 10 me that if any
one in the world has a good clam for reparatiOu il Is
such i mother. And is no; the claim Of 4 widow
for the loss Of her support analogous to that Of a
mother ="
> The first question for you to consider is. has the
plaintiff made out = case emitting her 20 a verdict Tor
damages NJ the hands Of the jury
And this involves several subordinate questions.
(Here the Judge repeated in substance the evidence
touching the occurrence which eniel in Charey's
death-) Was Chariey's death caused by the act Of
Horton, Intentionally or uniuteutioually 1t makes
no difference which. if uujus,ihable. 1t is said on the
part Of the defend mt, that he was administering de
ser~ei chastisement to the Steward. There can be but
on opinion III the court or the ~iury-boX, in regard to
the authority Of masters and officers Of ships. 1t
ought to be sustained to the full - far a the exisencies
Of the business in which they are engaged render Il
necessary. But their authority must be exercised with
prudence. and as much care - circumstances will ad-
init. They are entrusted with large authority, and the
itEpuS-olH. attending iS tAtEc4oe i COMMENSURATE
with It's extent. There Is a great difference between Is
ship at -ea and a sipp in port. If the crew or a part
Of the crew Of a ship at sea should IaItiny or refuse to
DO their duty, II might be the right and the duty or
the master and officers 10 compel obedience at all haZ-
ards. But ia the case OF a ship lying quietly in har-
Dor, if the crew should .refuse duty, the master and
officers may not enforce obedience to their orders by
force Of arms. They must seek another remedy. In
this case the Frances Palmer was = tied up" at the
wharf We're the circumstances such as to justify
Horton III infiicting Immediate punishment on Charlie Z
Vas there any danger Of mltluN : or OF lusublrllua-
lion Of others of the crew, iustigated by Charities dis
respectful! | nguage 10 his superior, and was the ship
or anything on board Of her put in peril: True, the
master was not on beard at the moment. But he was
close At hlnd-easily accessible-ready to hear COM
plants and redress grievances. And what was Char
les Oftense- He had committed no overt act of DISC
belience. HIS otfense was simply his insolent language.
Again y the circumstances were such is 10 warrant
Immediate punishment, was the punishment almiGis-
tered proper in sind and degree, and was it inflicted IN
a proper manner If the officer inflicted punishment
not justified by the circumstances of the case, or in an
improper manner or degree, he did 50 at his peril;
ana II evil consequences resulted therefrom he is
responsible.
bid Charlie lose his l., through his own fault.
or by reason Of his being intoxicated F.: 1t is argued
that when struck he was rotreating down the steps
from the impending blow, and may have lost hi
ioOthOld. Ii he was endeavoring to avoid the blow
by retreating, then the injury was not the result 9
his own negligence. And ii he was looking in an
other direction, and did moi see the blow coming Gas
the testimony would seem 20 Indicate then he had
no opportunity to avoid it. But it is said he was
drunk. (Ite.erred to the testimony touching this
part of the ca-e.) Although he had been drinking,
1t appears he was able to go about his work as usual,
and he went up and stood upon the gangway steps
without support. But If YOU think ii Is proved thar
he was so much intoxicated that he had lost the con
troll OF his muscles and his foOthOld, TO such an eX
tent that II materially contributed TO his death, yo'
ought to weigh that circumstance III mitigation {
damages.
3. If the plaintiff is entitled to recover damages,
then the question Is how much
The measure OF damages Is not the injury done to
Charlie in his person, but the injury sustained by
tie plaintiff by reason OF the death OF her husband.
The damages in this case must be assessed on the
principle OF compensation or reparatlon to the plain
tiff, and not that Of punishment TO the defendant.
In am aggravated case, where the death had been
caused Intentionally, and accompanied by circum-
Stances of cruelty or barbarity, the jury might per-
haps DC authorized to give vindictive damages as a
punishmentto the defendant and a warning 10 others.
But this is rot such n case; You will consider the
plaintiffs loss of support, and her deprivation of the
society, comfort and fellowship of her husband. Her
loss must be estimated in Il great measure by her
station in life, by his age, by his means OF
earning money, etc. But you are not to take into
consideration the anguish Of mind. be it creator
small, which the plaintiff may have suffered from
the loss of her husband. You will ascertain the
damages, ii any are awarded, in whatever way you
may oeem proper, keeping in view the basis which
l have indicated. But l may be allowed TO suggest
that one way of compromising the plaintiff for her
loss OF support, would be to award her such a sum
as would, II placed at interest, procure her an income
sufficient to provide her with the necessaries of life.
The Jury, of whom six were natives and six for
eienels, aitcr an "a. SERGE Of twenty hours, rendered
Il verdict for the plaintiff in Sl1OO.