The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-11-25
HOW SALVAGE IS PAID.

 Rules Which Govern the Method in
 Which Vessels Are Rewarded for the
 Rescue of Others
 Salvage on ships saved at sea by others in the majority of cases is paid by the underwriters, although the big steamship companies insure them selves. The insurance companies think that a board of arbitration can more satisfactorily adjust claims than can the courts The word salvage, as de- fined by that celebrated admiralty. Roscoe, is sthe reward which is earned by those who have voluntarily saved or assisted in saving a ship or boat, or their apparel, or any sort therof or the lives of persons at sea, or ship, cargo or any part thereof from peril, or wreck from total loss" The last part of the definition is trifie puzzling.
 In discussing the merits of salvage case it must be remembered that there is no obligation, written or implied, upon the master or crew of any vessel to heed the signals of distress. Public opinion alone enforces the idea that "a call for help at sea must be obeyed" The laws of salvage are merely framed to encourage the saving of life and property on the deep. There is avarice in the mariner as in landsmen, and the laws are made to overcome and curb these nlercenary ambitions. For that reason a master and his crew cannot expee. salvage for saving their own vessel. It is the natural assumption in law, as well as in fact, that they must do everything they can to preserve their charge, and under an agreement with the owners keep it from danger whenever possible.
 In salvage one of the first laws is that the peril must be actual. The bar gain made in time of danger by the master or agent of the imperiled craft with another volunteering aid need not of necessity hold in court, and general l ly does not. As a rule the bargain is l exhorbitant, and made at a time when | the victim would be willing to guaran- | tee the payment of millions for prof. l fered assistance. This point has been | decided hundreds of times, the courts l taking the stand that peril made an l exorbitant bargain necessary. As 1 general thing, the salvage award is equal to about third the value in i the case of sailing craft, and from one l third to one-half in the case of steam CTS. The owners of the salving craft whose money was wasted by delay,
 wear and tear, are, of course, entitled l to the bigger piece of the plum. The master of the salvor gets about twice | the sum that his mate receives, and the mate is paid something like double
 the amount of each sailor.
 1 Should the latter have been a mem- | Der of lifeboat crew used in running l hawsers or in going aboard as a prize
 crew, he and his mates are entitled to | an extra compensation. Naval officers l cannot claim salvage when the work accomplished is in the direct line of | their duty. In the case of an abandon ed vessel there is peculiar law as ap- | piled to ownership. No matter where l the derelict be found and lowed or as- l sisted in by 8, prize crew or otherwise l the court holds that she is still the | property of her original owners, al-
 though abandoned by her crew, their ] agents, and that no effort has been | made by men to recover her. It sounds peculiar to the average mariner, but | it's the law.
 To make a successful salvage claim l it is necessary that the property must
 be actually saved, and saved by those | claiming to be salvors. In other words, l the salvage services must be rendered l by persons not bound by contract to render them. If the mariner or other ! encounters the danger or misfortune
 or damage which might possibly ex- pose the ship to destruction unless