The New York herald., 1874-07-22
Decision in Favor of the SalVcr OF the
Steamship Pennsylvania.
PARTICULARS OF TIE uTlGATlOE.
AnaIysis of the Precedents in
Maritime Law.
OPINION OF JUDGE CADWALADER.

The steamship pennsylvania belonging 10 the
American Steamship company, OF Philadelphia,
lett Liverpool the 2lst OF February, 1874, on her
return voyage Tor Philadelphia, with large cargo
and ITO persons on board, including fifteen pas
sengers and the officers and crew. On the sd she
encountered stormy westerly gales which con-
tinued up to the 9th, when the wind increased 10
violence from the northwest. About midnight the
ship, which was then about one thousand rom
Liverpool got into what seemed 20 be the centre OF
. cyclone veering from northwest to southwest,
and shipped heavy seas which did much damage
about decks A few minutes after midnight she
shipped tremendous over the starboard side,
forward which swept on all the houses and matches
forward and the bridge on which the of1cers were
standing, and with II the Captain, Louis s. Brad
burn the nrst officer, Henry Sweetland; the Sec
ond officer, James I. Ross, anc two seamen who
were on the lookout These were all the persons
on deck at the time except a guartermaster and
three men in the alter wheelhouse AZ the wheel.
The ship, which was making about five or six
hnots an honr in the trough OF the sea, and
% great was the conclusion that she trembled
and quivered from stem 10 stern, as though she
were going TO pieces. The utmost confusion ana
CONSERVATION prevailed and the third oficer, who
was below, and who had never been IN service on
iron steamship before, proved entirely unequal
10 the emergency and seemed ignorant OF the
steps necessary TO be taken for the safety OF the
ship. Al this juncture Captain Cornelius l.. Brady
who was provident.ally passenger on board, and
who had seen much service as ofhcer and master
OF large ocean steamers and who won, a few years
ago, q brilliant reputation by his heroism on the
Inflated Atlantic, seeing the danger, gave orders
TO secure the matches and rushed on deck as
sumed command, slowed the engines and hove the
ship to. BY this prompt action alone the ship and
her cargo and the lives on board were saved. The
chief engineer the first and second assistant en-
g1neers, the purser, the surgeon, the carpenter
and others requested Captain Brady to retain the
command some Of them had previously requested
him TO assume III, on account OF the general
belief that ne was the only competent navi-
gator on board and the only one who could take the
ship safely into port. 1t appears that although they
did not consult the third 0fficer the subject he
readily scquiesced in all that was DONE being
probably conscious of his incapaoity for the COM
manc OF such q vessel and acted from tIat time
a. first oficer under the directions Of Captain
Brady. On the tenth day after the accident the
9Th OF March, the vessel arrived safely In Pnlla-
Oh deck, ali the time almost without sleep.
On the day alter the accident the ship Charles
A. Farwell was spoken and Captain Brady could
easily have boarded her and abandoned the Penn
ylvana-
phree days after his arrival in Philadelphia the
Board OF Directors passed q resolution Of thanks
IN the following words, VIZ
Whereas after the loss Of the CAPTAIN and the first and
snmed the command and by his skin and seamsnship
Resolved That the sincere thanks of this Board are
conduct taking responsibility OF commanding the
Se and is hereby requested address Captain Brady
letter S sns @ 0nr grsn1de @ to him and
prccison Of the valuable services rendered this
SALVAGE CLAIMED BY CAPTAIN BRADY.
Captain Brady promptly returned the check for
these resolutions, BY MIR. Edward c. Knight, then
President OF the company, and few days after
court for the Eastern district Of Pennsylvania.
claiming salvage i0r the services rendered BY HIM.
The respondents It's, dsmurreG s 70 the ibel that no
the lDellant was bound by the general rule which
requires passenger TO render all the services In
him from obtaining salvage therefor. In their an
swer they alleged that tne safety OF the ship was
but to the soundness OF the ships hull and
ber good seagolng qualities and TO the good con-
na sa thev heeved IN. conrse au 1 ,p
chief engineer In giving the command OF the snip
the morning after the accident TO Captain Brady
was III ADVISED, because the third o1icer capa-
BILE OF navigating the vessel safely into port, and
that believing that Captain Brady had acted in
good faith, they sent him the 81, 900, which he de-
cfned TO receive.
PREcgDENr IN MARITIME LAW
After over three months consumed in the taxing
Of dispositions the case came up Tor argument be-
lore Judge Cadwalader on Monday, July l3. and
occupied nearly the whole week. 1t was decided
IN favor OF the libellant, Captain Cornelius L.
Brady on Tuesday, July q. The libeliants coun.
sci relied principally on the following cases to sus-
tain their position there being no reported case
similar to this-
ois,Ss% sew%sn ,s rs Waters B Bos Phi ST. which was
@ a $ 8 the OF s as at SS5
Shoals and abandoned BY the master and got her of
% T ne nf are wa nWed IN s es %ss
,..hlch decided By Judge shipman in New Yofk in
rsans 10 %hieh en- wss ned that who at the
XII sase! and
pair she damage and make the ship obey her helm,
Sy Jsase Ssasdst /. s When hsia oas,aea sSaa
spored under command q their ofiesrs board the
menus compelled WORK steadily al the pumps 70
ses he sn end n.s 10 s 3 had
were not strictly passengers Amount Of salvage
:ssTssss 5000 SS pay '0f ea'h 0''er and man
The following authorities were also relied on to
:aow s under ne =, general rule
TO assume the responsibility Of the conduct Of the
ship, and may, therefore, become entitled 70 SAL
wage Tor sucn services:-
8 Kents Commentary, 146.
Lev Of r,as Merchant shpp,6os 6 ~ Maude Pollock, A.
J continss United states @ az Admiralty, s4s
friscsA9d's & I'd sIsS's's Dtsest. sss
Dana's Seaman's Manual l9
Roberts on Admiralty and Prize, @. s2 s.
The brig Anastasia, ! Benedict l69, and large
number OF English and American cases we're cited
10 show that the general rule precudes passengers
nom claiming salvage for ordinary but not for
extraordinary services, and that the tendency Of
the courts IN al modern cases involving questions
OF salvage, Is 10 give more literal construction TO
the Old rules ON this subject.
THE DRFRNCE
The respondents counsel relied on the old ruling
In The Vrede, Lush, 322, IN which salvage was
refused 70 passengers for their services, which
consisted only In pumping; and The Branson,
HAgg ., IN winch salvage was refused lieutenant
N the Royal Navy who q passenger on an
English Orig which got into distress for s'con-
trtbuting ms assistancer the nature OF the assist
ance not being speclhed In the report Of the case.
fernaps no case tnat mas ever occurred in the
history Of Pennsylvania courts has attracted such
great public comment
REHARKABL8 CROsS-RxAMrNArIoN.
The counsel OF Captain Brady Messrs Rnfus f.
ShapleiQh and G. M. Neal, have manipulated the
IQ at