Omaha daily bee., 1910-02-18
Some Things You Want to Know
Laws Of The Sea,

A fight soon is 70 be made to determine
how great a reward sha be paid to the
German steamer Eriks for the salvage Of
another German steamer. the Varaln. The
Erika sailed from New York a few weeks
ago bound for Fayal and other ports. When
several lays out IT sighted the varxin.
lying helpless in the trough Of the sea.
It Immediately gave the disabled freighter
a tow line and headed with II for Boston.
The question which all this will bring up
is what compensation the Erika shall get
for the salvage OF the vRrzin. That the
latter war a valuable prize Is shown by the
fact that It had a cargo worth 100000
It carried 1900 bags of wool. and was one
OF the richest laden ships that ever sailed
from an Australian port. Jurisdiction over
this case will be taken by the admiralty
courts Of Germany. since both vessels are
Of German register. The recompense Of
the Erlka will be based on the degree Of
danger, the value OF the rescued cargo. the
loss OF time, apd such other evidence as
may be submitted.
Maritime usage often works queer ano-
males. owing to the variations OF the
statutes OF the different countries. The
case Of the Republic, the first anniversary
Of whose sinking occurred a few days ago
affords a notable illustration OF this. The
English owners OF the Republic have
sought to have all litigation growing out
Of It's sinking take place In the courts Of
the United States. The Americans and the
Italians concerned preferred hat this It'll
cation should take place IN England.
The reason Of all this is not far to seek.
- - :. A-a- -
vide that the liability Of ship owners shall
never exceed the value Of the ship itself.
The English law fixes the limit OF damages
at $10y0OO per life lost. and $40 for each ton
Of gross register, The owners Of the Re
public would have been liable for double
as much in the English as in the American
or italian courts.
The Oceanic was being towed by q tug
not long ago, and II was shown that II
was injured by eolliding with the tug. The
case was brought into the courts, and by
way OF defense the tug owners exhibited
a contract In which the tow assumed all
responsibility for damage. The court held
that when this was lone an accident grow
ing out Of the plain negligence Of the crew
Of the tug could not give grounds for the
recovery of damages. In another case the
charterer Of q ship agreed to unload It.
Among other things on board we're some
boilers weighing many tons. The charterer
employed the captain and the first mate
to superintend the job. They tried to use
the main mast as part OF the necessary
hoisting tackle, but Il buckied and broke.
The ship owners sued the charterer for
damages. His defense was that he had
employed their agents to superintend the
job, and that the ship owners were re-
sponsible for the acts of their agents. The
court held hat the captain and mate were
acting as the charterer's agent when the
accident happened.
A curious situation has come about under
the coastwise shipping laws Of the United
States. In order to insure all the coast
wise traffic to vessels OF American regis
ter a fine is provided for every person or
dollars worth OF merchandise carried be-
tween American ports on foreign vessels.
One of the big tourist agencies has a
tourist steamer making q trip around the
world. 1t will reach the Pacific seaboard
this summer. Under the shipping laws, IL
Ii n its passengers at San Francisco
it will be liable to a heavy fine. II It takes
them to Vancouver 1t will escape the fine.
OF course. everyone realizes that the coast
wise shipping laws never were intended to
cover such cases. and It is not improbable
that the steamship company will take the
bit in Its teeth, land its passengers and
then test the constitutionality Of the law
insofar as 1t hely to apply to such cases.
One of the most interesting phases of
maritime law Ia the general lookout that
must be kept for derelicts. The United
States photographic office keeps careful
account OF all d~erelicts through the re-
ports it receives and the knowledge OF
ocean currents which it possesses. In one
OF It's rooms there is kept a big map of
the seas. on this map, starting at various
points, are Irregular lines traced with
chalk. At the end of each line Is a pin.
to which is attached a tag. Zach day the
line is heightened and the pin moved that
much further. On the tag attached to
each pin Is the name OF the derellct which
1t represents. BY this method the chart
shows the probable position OF each derellct
each day in the week.
Bottles are frequently turned loose in the
sea. the exact spot Of release noted and the