The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1903-10-16
DAMAGES
FOR SAILOR
Judge Estee Finds That
Capt. Graham Was
Negligent.

for 10000 damages brought by julius
| a. Schumacher against the ship Ers-
kline NJ. Phelps, whereof II. J. Gra-
! ham is master. He awarded eighteen
hundred dollars together with costs OF
suit to the libelant. r. McCants Stew
art and j. ]. Dunno appeared for libel
liant, and Holmes & Stanley and Rob-
ert w. Breckons for libellees.
The court found that no evidence
had been adduced to prove the allega-
tons of careessness in loading the
| vessel as against the owners. Neither
| was there proof of a failure in the
| legal obligations of vessel owner re-
| garding food supply or proper care in
case OF sickness.
The case then narrowed itself down
into the single proposition of whether
| 1t was reasonably possible for the cap
| tain of the ship to have obtained prop
| err medical care and attention for this
man after the accident happened which
resulted in the breaking of his leg.
Judge Estee discusses this proposition
at length, among other things making
the following deliverances:
| On August g. 1908, the ship was less
than nine hundred miles from VAL
paraiso less than eight hundred miles
from Valdivia. both on the coast of
Chill; while on August 10th, the ship
was within POPS miles of Tahiti and 2426
miles from Tai-o-hae in the Marquesas.
At all of these ports, 1t is well known,
If not actually in evidence that medi-
cal and surgical aid could have been
obtained.
Any man of common intelligence
knows that a man not professionally
educated in surgery, acting as the
mate of a ship, cannot properly set
limb when broken, and the photographs
of this mans leg, taken with the y
ray, show clearly that his limb was not
properly set. although 1t was done with
the primitive knowledge claimed by
the mate.
Notwithstanding the statements OF
DIR. Cooper to the contrary l think a
voyage of nearly seventy-seven hum
dred miles across the ocean is severe
test of the physical endurance of man
suffering with broken leg crudely
set by one admittedly without surgical
knowledge.
-
The Captain seemed to have been
peculiarly Indifferent in reference to
the whole matter. He never went to
see this man but twice, once imme-
diately after the occurrence of the ac-
| tiLent, again the next day when he
told him he could do nothing for him,
but that the mate would attend to
/ him. The Captain himself testified
| that after ordering the mate to attend
to libellart he only saw him, with the
exec ption of these two instances cited,
! through the skylight of the forecastle
| where the man lay. In fact he SEEM
ed to avoid coming in contact with
| this man. And even after the vessel
| arrived in Honolulu Captain Graham
went "about the ships business" as
he testified, for nearly three days with
out having the libelant sent to a hos
! pital where he could have received
treatment. Iitellant should have been
sent to the hospital at once upon the
arrival of the vessel and he should
have been paid the wages then due him:
and not have been sent alone finally to
the U. S. Marine Division of the
Queens hospital without any money
with n slight knowledge of the Eng
fish language and unable to walk.
AS to the evidence of the captain and
some of his witnesses, who were mas
ters of vessels like himself that the
port of Port Stanley was a dangerous
one to make, this seems directly con-
Trajectory of the history of that port.
1t is well known that for many years
ships have put in there for supplies
and that now there are In the town
of Port Stanley, repair shops, where, IL
the language OF a well known author.
ity the Encyclopaedia Britannica,
(Werner's Edition published in 1900,
ships can be repaired and provided in
every way, much better and more
safely than at any of the South Amer
lean ports,-a matter of much import
ance, seeing that greater amount OF
injury is done annually to shipping
passing near Cape Horn by severe
weather. than in any other locality in
the world. The average number of YES
sells entering Stanley Harbor in the
year is about fifty with an aggregate
tonnage of 10000; OF this number
fourth arrive in distress and are re-
paired at Stanley.
The evidence of the Captain further
disclosed tnat ne cOuld nave TedcHtu
Valparaiso within twenty-five days af-
ter the first accident occurred, and on
August 9th could have sailed there in
nine days. While there Is some evil
dence showing that up to within 1900
miles of Honolulu, he could have more
readily reached the Ports of Papeete,
on the Island of Tahiti. or Tai-o-hae In
the Marquesas, where surgical aid
could have been obtained. Such pos
sibility never seemed to have entered
into the calculations of the captain as
he made no efforts to make any port
but his port of destination. And while
1t Is said libellant did not ask TO be
taken to nearest port for aid, yet that
did not relieve the captain of his duty
in the matter. The former may have
been ignorant of his rights and so
failed to have asked to have them en-
forced.
am of opinion that the captain was
negligent In not taking the course the
law required of him, namely, to have
put into the nearest port, and the ship
and owners thereof are liable for such
negligence.