The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1903-04-17
FIXES BLAME
FOR RIO WRECK
JUDGE DE HAVEN RENDERS DE-
CISION SCORING THE MASTER
AND THE PILOT.

SAN FRANCISCO, April 11.-Judge
De Haven of the United States District
Court rendered a decision yesterday in
the matter of the petition of the Paci-
fic Mail Steamship Company, owners
of the steamship City of Rio de Janeiro,
for limitation of liability. The decision
settles the disputed question of res
possibility by holding Captain Ward
and the pilot equally culpable The
claims as originally put in were shaved
down considerably, but the claimants
will get a little more than 80 cents on
the dollar, which is considered victory
by the attorneys for the petitioners. Be
fore the institution of the suit the COM
pany fixed $l1 900 as the amount which
1t would pay pending claimants for
freight. AS a result of the contest the
amount was raised to $4,000, $4,000 of
this sum being accumulated interest.
This $4,000 wis be distributed among
petitioners whose claims aggregate $55-
900. Over the matter of the efficiency of
the Chinese crew, an appeal may be
taken according to a statement made
yesterday by Attorney Denman for the
petitioners. The following is substan-
TALLY the decision as rendered:
The right of the petitioner to limit its
liability is contested by the representa-
tives of some of the persons who were
passengers on the City of Rio de Jan
eiro, and whose lives were lost as re-
suit of the sinking of that steamer.
1t is claimed by them not only that
the loss of the steamer was caused by
reason of negligence upon the part Of
her master and pilot, but they further
contend that the steamer was not pro-
vided with sufficient officers and crew
a q
They allege that the City of Rio de
Janeiro was mot provided with a full
complement of licensed officers suffi-
cient at all times to manage the ship,
but that all the officers and petty Of
ficers of the said ship were insufficient
| in this that no one of them, save the
/ bOatsWain and first fireman, could
speak the language of the members of
the crew. comprising the sailors of her
| deck department, her firemen and her
coal-passers all said sailors, firemen
and coal passers being Chinese and un-
able to speak or understand any Euro
pean language; and that the lives OF
! the passengers were lost because of the
! "insufficienCy of the said officers,
whereby they were unable to make
themselves understood by the said Chi
nese, in the attempted lowering of the
| lifeboats from the said steamship, and
placing therein the said passengers, on
| the occasion OF the wreck of the steam
! er.
Upon consideration of the evidence
and Of the able and exhaustive argu-
ment submitted in behalf of those
claiming damages, my conclusions are:
! l That the master and pilot of the
| City of Rio de Janeiro We're guilty of
| gross negligence in attempting to enter
the port of San Francisco on the morn
ing of February 22 1901, when the fog
was so thick that the steamer could not
be safely navigated because the lines
of the shore were not discernable, and
/ it was not possible to ascertain her eX-
act position in the channel
2. | think the evidence shows thai
the steamer was properly ofIicered and
! had sufficient crew. 1t is true that
the crew was mostly composed of chi
! nese, but the evidence shows without
any conflict that they We're competent
! sailors Indeed, 1t is not claimed they
/ were not; but the COntentkon is that
they did not understand our language
and because of Jhis they could not anc
( did not understand the orders to lower
4 the boats. This contention H. based
mainly upon the evidence of some o
the Chinese members of the crew, WhC
teSuncd that they were uRitDle TO spear
or understand English and could only
receive orders through the Chinese
boatswain, who could. But the evidence
shows there was no difficulty in cOmmu
nicating orders to the Chinese crew ir
this way. orders at sea are usually
first given to subordinate officers anC
by them communicated to the crew
There win be decree limiting the liza
bility of the petitioners in accordance
with section 42s3 of the Revised Statues