The Portland daily press., 1869-10-26
tbs larcs n,mbar o. coasters ana fiships yes

OJ0er VeSSeI III Tie llUtudulS Ddu DOb ulSoO'.,
ed her. The value of the property at risk 10
effectng the salvage was not very large, Do.n
vessels probably not being worth much II auy
over $4,000. The risk to life and properly ~
the service was very slight, and ta e iaD short
towage was quite moderate and Due ion oan;site
period no particular skill was either rega
or manifested, and under all the c nnrn heng q
of the case l am of opinion tnae ToS; ia a rea
moiery of the gross amount OF DE- So foy the cor
v,oas enSarad 70 the owners IF this property.
in saving it, for it should ever 9e ionirioeIeo
by the court, if not by the savers mat Tn
property, although wrecte saiv S is W ltS
sonahIe and proper compensation, to be award
ed ont of the property itself, for the benefit
conferred upon the owner by bringing it to a
place of safety and restoring it to him. The
imprisonment of this amount among the re-
spected parties is not witho t difficulty.
The claim of the Winfield Scott has been
transferred, for the sum of $3.50, to Chase &
ais, aud as all parties, both salvers and pur-
cnasefs, py the purchase, have demonstrated
tnat tney considered that amount a fair remun
GRAFTON Tor the services rendered by that yes
gel, am inclined to adopt their conclusions.
anu .oI 10 increase the amount. The wreck at
tne Time OF this purchase was at Wood Island
U Ho in place of safety, and the sal
Vers were we'll aware of The services they had
rendered, and what they should receive in sat
ls'actlon therefor The purchasers OF this
ciaim, one of whom was then acting as agent
ior the owners of the vessel, certainly should
not ask for anything beyond an indemnity and
return to them of the amount thus advanced
IN defraying the charges and claims on the
property of the principal, whose interests this
agent was bound to guard and protect, for the
law will not permit an agent to specu'ase Oh
the msfortunes of his principal, or to bold any
profits incidentally obtained in the execution
of bis duty, From the evidence before me l
have no reason to suppose that Capt. Chase
had any such motive or purpose, but giving
inn fall fnph his OF tnV hn
chased this claim in order to control the wreck
for the owners benefit, and that he was ipfiu-
enced solely by what he believed to be for their
advantage, and had no Intention personally to
gain any profit or advantage thereby, most
prauseworthy aud honorable motives, which
should actuate any honest agent whilst in the
discharge of the duties of his agency can
have no doubt that it will be entirely satisfac
tory to him aud his co-purchasers, if award
for their benefit on the libel in behalf of the
Winfield Scott the sum OF $3.50, the claimants
having raised an objection which might have
been presented, founded on the transfer of the
claim to these parties.
The petition of Boyd and Chase is for the
payment OF certain expenditures incurred by
them and for Boyd's services about the vessel
after thei- purchase of the w. Scntt's claiu,
These services as think are to be considered
not as absolute salvage services but rather as
CHAINS Tor work and labor done upon the prop
erty after it had been saved from immediate
danger and reached port of safety. 1t is
SHOWN that the Nellie Chase was chartered by
the petitioners to go to Wood Island and assist
III Fighting the vessel, and that they agreed to
pay her thirty five dollars per day for three days
absolutely, and twenty-five dollars per day for
the time Sue might be further employed. They
iett here about seven o'clock in the morning
were lowed to Wood Island by the tug and
returned about midnight the same night with
tne wreck, having been actually employed
snort twenty hours, but if the bargain was a
fair and reasona lie one, upon which point
there Is nothing to discredit, the owners of the
Nellie Chase are entitled to receive their three
days pay, although they have been deprived OF
their vessel but single day, and they have had
the Use of her for the two days for which they
thus Will receive compensation from the petit
TONERS. 1t would have been more satisfactory
TO the Court if the contract had been to pay a
reasonable amount for the time to be actually
cult to obtain vessel and it is not shown that
Que could have been obtained on any other
terms, will allow the charge of $105 on ac-
count of the Nellie Chase. Another claim made
on account OF this schooner is for hawser, which
Is said to have been chafed and parted in tow
ing the wreck, or as is set forth in the bill of
Items, spoiled in Fighting and towing schoon-
er rms charge is one which i should not
certainly allow to its full extent. The schooner
was hlred for the purpose ofrighting the wreck
was to be towed out and back, of course in con-
nectIon with the wreck, if the undertaking
should prove a success; all the spars, rigging,
bawsers and other appurtenances Of the
schooner were to be used, 10 any way which was
reasonable and proper, and if whist thus used,
tney should be injured, apprehend the dam
age should be borne by the schooner and not
by those who have hired her for this employ
mrnt !t certainly must have been we'll I'm
oerstood, that the work was something unusu-
al ABOUT which she was to be EMPLOYED and
would make somewhat severe demands upop
the vessel, her rigging and other appurtenau
ces In accomplishing the business she had un-
aertaken-her spars, ropes and hawsers would
necessarily be required to stand heavy strains
with great force, they were hired for this very
purpose, as part of thelvessel, and the damage
to them, it any should not be charged to the
hlreis, especially when we consider the large
amount to be paid for one days employment
OF tne vessel. 1t is said, the hawser was broken
and chafed whilst in use as a tow-line from the
tug to the wreck, if so, the tug may be account
able, as she should have been provided with
proper tow-lines, if she was deficient and OBJ
tanned the hawser from the schooner which
was In charge of her master, it is matter sole
~ between the tug aud schooner as to the dam
age done by the tug to the hawser, for which
me charferers of the schooner can in no way be
b Id responsible.
Bovd went in the Nellie Chase. taking with
him five OF his men, and his tackles aud pur-
chases, sufficient to right the wreck. His
claim IS one hundred tw enty-fve dollars for
this days work. He ordinarily charges three
dollars and half day Tor his men, and the
be worth len dollars. Cha.e claims twenty
eight dollars paid for watching the proDerty af-
teri was brought to Portland, and before 1t
was taken possession of by the Marshal. He
also presents another bill for horse hire, serv-
ces Of Capt. Shannon, and telegraph charges.
amounting in all to thirty-four dollars and
forty-six cents, no part of which, as think,
can properly be allowed in the prese ut suit, as
they are cbarees to be borne by the owners,
without regard to any salvage services. Upon
the best consideration which can give to the
claim presented by BOYD & Chase. for their
own charges and the bills OF the Nellie Chase,
shall ward and allow them the sum of two
hundred and twenty-five dollars.
The only remaining claim is that of the orr
glnal salvOr the Mary A. DOwnes, and this in
cludes the amount properly chargeable for
towage by the steam tugs 1t appears that the
two small fishing vessels had succeeded in tow
ing the wreck in her then condition about ten
miles, and as the weather then was and had
continued for five days. have no doubt they
would with perseverance have succeeded in
getting it into Wood Island, if they had chosen
90 to do; still it was quite proper for them to
OBTAIN the assistance of the tugs, tor a reason
able amount, and the Court will always be
quite ready to sustain any agreement for tow
age Tor wrecks which under the circumstances
may be fair aud just. In the present case, the
agreement as made, was, to tow this wreck, as
IL Then was, bottom upwards, into this port for
three hundred dollars. Willard, the master of
TINS business, saw the condition of the wreck,
and must have been aware of the slow prog 'ess
OF the schooners in towing it, and he demand
ed very considerable sum for taking it to
Portland, and more than the shippers of the
fishing vessels thought reasonable; but situa-
ted as they were, they finally agreed to pay
this amount for this particular service, and the
Court would probably have allowed that sum,
if the tug had performed her part of the con-
tract, which it must be remembered was to
take the wreck into Portland, as it then was
and not, as it might afterwards be, when right
ed at the expense Of the salvors, and so placed
as to be lowed there in third of the time il
would have taken, in the condition the wreck
was when the bargain was made.
deem 10 not improper to suggest, in rela-
ton to these contracts for towaee, when enter
ed into by the ma tiers of the tugs, with those
in charge of wrecked property, that Court o.
Admiralty is inclined to scrutDiZe such bar
gains with considerable care, and before they
will be sustained and enforced the Court must
be satisfied, that the master of the tug has moi
taken advantage of his position to make an I'm.
reasonable bargain and insist on an exhorbi.
tant recompense.
As is we'll stated by Mr. Justice Story in
Sumner DO 1T is true, that contracts made
for salvage services, are not ordinarily he Id
obligatory by Court of Admiralty upon the
person whose property is saved, unless the
Court can clearly see that no advantage is ia
ken ofthe parties situation, and that the ratt
OF compensation is just and reasonable. Tnis
doctrine is founded upon principles of sound
public policy, as well as upon just views O
moral obligations. No system of jurisprudence
purporting to be founded upon moral or rel
ate for moment the doctrine, that salvo
might avail himself of the calami,ies of others
to force upon them a contract unjust, oppres
siye aud exhorbtant that he might turn tn