The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1906-08-21
W|LLSCOTT.
CASES LOST
Sailors We're Too Late
Complaining About
Their Grub.

Two Iibels against the American bark
Willscott by members of her crew were
dismissed by Judge Dole. in a written
decision. yesterday.
williamS Ryan, Arthur Stander, Peter
Petersen, John Lee, Henry Olsen and
John Byrne brought one suit, while
William Smither brought the other.
Geo. A Davis was proctor for the
sailors r. W. Breckons and j.
Dunno were proctors for the ship, Mr..
Dunno trying the case and preparing
the brief.
1t is an important decision. one like
ly to stop the practice of sailors. on
second thought after arrival here, SUI
ing their vessels for damages on ac-
count of grievances that they had
never made known on the voyage. The
syllabus of the decision is as follows:
"A shipping agreement contains the
following provision, to wit: 1t is also
agreed that if any member of the crew
considers himself to be aggrieved by
any breach of the agreement or other
wise, he shall represent the same to
the master or officer in charge of the
ship in a quiet and orderly manner,
who shall thereupon take such steps
as the case may require Held that
unless a seaman who is a party to such
agreement makes complaint as thus
provided, for a supposed breach of
such agreement, he may not thereafter
set the machinery of a court of adj
miralty in motion to try a charge of
such breach. The complaint was the
same in both cases: being to the effect
that from the 18th day of April to the
8th day of May the master of the
libelee. while on the high seas. unlaw-
fully reduced the allowance of provis-
ions and food of the libelants by more
than one-third of the quantity thereof,
in violation of the contract between
libelants and the ship entered into
at Newcastle prior to the beginning OF
the voyage from Newcastle to Homo
lulu; also that for the whole of said
voyage, to wit, from March 9Th until
the Sth of May, 1906, the said master,
in violation of such contract, did I'M
lawfully furnish to said seamen food
that was bad. rotten, unhealthy and
unfit for human consumption and the
libelants claimed under the statute the
sum of $50 each.''
A motion to dismiss the libels for
default of security for costs, on the
ground of lack of showing that no.
body but libelants were interested in
the results of the suits: was set aside
upon the filing by counsel for libelants
of a waiver of compensation other
than what the court might award, also
the filing of a stipulation to like effect
between most of the libelants and their !
counsel.
Judge Dole quotes the clause of the
shipping contract, as appears in the
syllabus, and then sums up the evil
depce on the point in question thus:
1.-THE evidence in this case has been
very full, both for the libelants and
for the ship. and it does not appear
that any complaint was made to the
master in regard to the allegations of
the libelants as to the shortage of pro-
and as to their poor quality,
except that shortly after the beginning
of the voyage, one of the libelants. :
John Lee, complained that the hash on
a certain day was sour, and that the
captain called all the men aft and told
them that if anything was wrong with
their food he wanted to see it himself,
before it went forward, and would do
MS pest TO rectl1y all mistakes. ABOUT
a month after this, about the 18th of
A pril. information was brought to the
captain by the steward in regard to
their excessive consumption of sugar.
and after that some of the libelants
demanded their statutory allowance
not only of sugar but of everything
else. That was the libelant Ryan and
upon such request their statutory al |
lowance was granted to all of the crew.
There is no evidence that there was
any complaint made in regard to the
shortage or quality of any other arti-
Gle of food, or in regard to the food
as a whole, except testimony by Ryan
that on the occasion when the captain
called the men aft about the food he
asked them what the complaint was
and we told him the food was of bad
quality for one thing which complaint,