The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1907-10-19
0OLE Awards Sl7l56l



nection with the said wildcat was dan
gerous to those attending to 1t. Such
chain and wildcat were placed on
board the Fullerton just previous to-
the said voyage, with the full knOwl-
edge of the master and other agents OF
the Fullerton of such misfit. The tow
ing chain was, during the said towing
operations, dashed to a towing bitt, an
upright timber three to three and one
half feet square, rising out Of the decA
! forward of the windlass. Such LASH
ing previous to the accident was made
with an old rope, by the order of the
master, against the remonstrance O.
| libellant. After dark in the evening
of December gath, with the ship pitch
! ing into a choppy sea, the towing chain
! started to slip over the wildcat, break
ing such lashing, and libellant, with
the assistance of sonTo of the crew,
ATTEMPTED to lash it more firmly to the
said towing bitt to stop and prevent
sucb slipping, and while so engaged
| the chain slipped suddenly over the
wildcat and violently struck libellant,
throwing him down and pinioning ana
crushing his right arm against the
| towing bitt. breaking some OF the
bones and bruising and tearing the
muscles and ligaments. At the time Oh
this accident the Fullerton was to-
ward 500 miles away from Port Har-
ford and about 1900 miles from Kihei
! Libellant requested the master to re-
turn to Port Hartford for medical as
sistance. but the master decided to
continue the voyage to Kihei. After
landing at Kihei libellant's arm was
amputated near the shoulder.
GAS to the first question, counsel for
libellees has contended that because
no proper chain for use on board the
Fullerton, in connection with her
wildcat, could be obtained in San
Francisco or Oakland, and could not
be obtained from the East for two
months, they had done all which pru-
dence and the eXigencies of the situa-
ton required; in other words, in order
to save the Fullertin from loss by de-
Law. the ship was deliberately sent to
sea with appliances which were adj
Gnittedly unsafe for the use of the crew,
and her agents were justified in so do
ing. The mere statement of the pro-
position refutes the contention. If the
ship could not make proper prepare
lions for sea, and chose to go to sea
without them, it was a deliberate as
sumption by her of all risks and all
damages which might result from such
want of preparation, which would in
clude all damages that the crew might
suffer in the way of injury through
such want of preparation. The only
way out of 1t would have been to have
acquainted the crew before departure
with the defect and its danger, and to
have given them an opportunity to de-
cline to make the voyage or to make
it with their eyes open to the danger,
and accepting the risk"
The judge rules against conten-
ton that the lbellant knowingly as
sumed the risk of handling the de-
lection apparatus and aginst a claim
of recklessness and negligence on the
mates part and holds that the vessel
should have put back to Port Har-
ford for medical aid, when the acct
dent happend
1T does not appear that the master
took the injury to libellant very Sc
riously; on the contrary, he treated
it rather nonchalantly. He does not
appear to have given the subject much
deliberation, ealthough he says h
thought the whole matter over and
came to the conclusion to continue
| the voyage Upon libellant's urgent
| request to return for fear of serious
! consequences to his arm if the voyage
was continued, the master answered,
according to libellant's testimony, that
will be all right, you know l can't
| turn around, it would cost me too
much money, see how much it will
cost to turn around, and the steamer
will vnot go with me anyway He
made no attempt to procure the assis-
lance of the Lansing in the matter,
either to return with the Fullerton
or to convey libellant to Port Har-
ford, leaving the Fullerton to finish
| her voyage alone.
Although the time which would
have been required for the return was
uncertain, / find from the evidence
that the prospects of obtaining speedy
medical assistance were decidedly
more favorable in case of a return
to Port Hartford than by a continuance
of the voyage to Kihei,, and that the
! seriousness of the libellants condi-
ton required the adoption of the
| most promising plan.
CAS- to the amount of damages,
consider that the libellant's earning
capacity may be reasonably estimated
to be not over one-third of what it
was before the injury. He is incapa-
| citated from performing work as
seaman, but may still earn something
on land. He had been earning in wag-
es and perquisities one hundred and
fifty dollars.a month, and was earning
on the Fullerton in wages and per-
! quisities one hundred and forty dol
| lars a month, with the chance of max