The morning call., 1891-02-27
THE PRICE OF RESCUE.

One of the topics of discussion on the street
is the charge of 200 which the tug Relief
made for towing the Jessomene into port
from Point Reyes in Mondays storm. The
facts were that the Jessomene was rapidly
drifting on the rocks, where she would nave
become total wreck, like the Elizabeth;
that the Relief, beng powerful vessel ana
perfectly able to take care of herself ana Oh
the ship likewise, ran up alongside and OIL
ferett to tow her in; that she asked $1,000
for the service and refused to accept several
smaller sums which the captain of the Jes-
somene offered that the latter, in his des-
perate strait, with death and the destruction
of ship and cargo worth $4,000 staring
him in the face, decided to accept the offer
and closed the bargain accordingly.
Opinion is divided on the merits of the
transaction. Some say that the charge was
exorbitant, and that the act of the captain
of the tug in demanding it was little better
than that of a brigand who holds his captive
to ransom. On the other hand the owners
of the tug probably justify the charge on
the ground that the tug ran considerable
risk of being lost that $4,000 was only 10
per cent of the value of the JeSsomene and
her cargo, which is a low rate OF salvage;
that the owners should deem themselves
lucky in having only $4,000 TO pay when
they stood fair chance of losing ten times
that amount; that the tug-boat company
goes to considerable expense for just such
extraordinary emergencies, and is entitled
to extraordinary remuneration when life and
property are saved through its agency.
1t seems likely that out of these con-
flicting views a controversy will arise which
will have to be adjusted by court of law.
The contract made by the captain of the
Jessomene at a time when his ship was
drifting on the rocks and his own life and
that of his crew were not worth an hours
purchase was made under duress, and could
hardly be enforced in any court Of law. 1t
will be for the court to decide, in view OF
all the circumstances, the risk run by the
tug, the value of the service it rendered, the
peril in which the ship stood, and the actual
money worth of the property saved, what
the work done by the tug was fairly worth;
and it will hardly stop, in coming to a con-
clusion, to consider the price which the TUG
master put upon his Intervention, or the
promise which the ship captain made while
in the actual jaws of death.
The law of salvage, which, it is claimed,
will govern the case, has been greatly
modified of late years. The old law rested
upon the notion that it was nobody's bust
LCSo W LSEp d NtsSci III lISlItSSy anu ludb
any one who did so, of his own mere motion,
was entitled to a considerable proportion
sometimes one-half-of the property saved.
Modern law recognizes duty which de-
wolves upon a number of persons to assist a
vessel in danger without hope Of reward.
Thus, the law as it stands, will award no
salvage. save in exceptional cases, to
passenger who helps to save a ship on
which lie is travelling, nor to a national
vessel, nor 10 a 'life-saving crew. 1t is
doubtful whether pilot-boat could claim
salvage, over and above the legal pilotage
charges. The spirit of these reservations
might, perhaps, include tug-boats engaged
in the regular business of towing ships into
port from claiming salvage in such cases as
that of the Jessomene. 1t might be held by
a court that the tug Relief was bound by
duty to save the ship, and could not claim
anything by way of salvage, nor, indeed,
any sum beyond liberal fee for n long
arduOus tow.
However the matter may terminate it is
an unfortunate occurrence for the port. 1t
viii be said that not only is the approach to
the Golden Gate extrahazardous in SOUTH
east gale, but the owners of tugs are so
rapacious that they consider vessels in dis
tress as their natural prey, and bid the
owners of ships which they rescue 10 thank
their stars that the rescuer only took part
and not the whole of their properly.