El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-02-17

n FIGHT soon is to be made TO de-
~ termine how great a reward
L shall be paid to the German
steamer Erika for the salvage of an
other German steamer, the Varzin. The
| Erika sailed from New York a few
weeks ago bound for Fayal and other
ports When several days out she
| sighted the Verzin lying helpless in the
| trough of the sea. She Immediately gave
| the disabled freighter tow line and
headed with her for Boston.
The question which all this will
| bring. up is what compensation the
| Erika shall get for the salvage of the
Varzin. That the latter was a valuable
prize is shown by the fact that 1t had
a cargo worth sS,O0O,O0O. 1t carried
| $4,000 bags of wool, and was one of
/ the richest laden ships that ever sail
ed from an Australian port. Juris-
diction over this case will be taken
by the admiralty courts OF Germany,
| since both vessels are of German re-
I giSter. The recompense Of the Erika
will be based on the degree of danger,
the value of the rescued cargo, the
loss of time and such other evidence
| as may be submitted
The Loss of the Republic.
] Maritime usage often works queer
anomalies, owing TO the variations of
the statutes of the different countries
anniversary of whose sinking occurred
a few days ago, affords a notable il
| lustration of this. The English own
| ers of the Republic have sought to have
| all litigation growing out of her sink
| ing take place in the courts of the
United States. The Americans and the
| Italians concerned preferred that this
| litigation should take place in England.
| The reason of all this is not far to
4
laws provide that the liability CT ship
| owners shall never exceed the value Of
the ship itself. The English law fixes
the limit of damages at $4,000 per
| life lost, and $40 for each ton of gross
register. The owners of the Republic
would have been liable for double as
I much in the English as in the American
| or Italian courts.
| Responsibility of Tugs.
| The Oceanic was being lowed by
tug not long ago, and it was shown
that she was injured by colliding with
the tug. The case was brought into
! the courts, and by way of defence the
| tug owners exhibited a contract in
| which the tow assumed all response
| bility for damage. The court held that
| when this was done an accident grow
ing out of the plain negligence of the
crew of the tug could not give grounds
1
In another case the charterer of a
ship agreed to unload her. Among
| other things on board were some
| boilers weighing many tons. The char
/ terer employed the captain and the
! first mate TO superintend the job. They
tried to use the main mast as part
of the necessary hosting tackle, but
| II buckled and broke. The ship-own-
| ers sued the charterer for damages.
fS h1% ha had cd
their agents ITO superintend the job.
and that the ship owners were respOn-
sible for the acts of their agents. The
| court held that the captain and mate
were acting as the charterer's agent
| when the accident happened
Coastwise Laws.
A curious situation has come about
| under the coastwise shipping laws OF
the United States. In order TO in
| sure all the coastwise traffic to yes
sells of American register. fine is pro-
| vided for everey person dollars
worth of merchandise carried between
American ports on foreign vessels.
One of the big tourist agencies has
9, tourist steamer making a trip around
the world. 1t will reach the Pacific
seaboard this summer. Under the ship
ping laws if it lands its passengers at
San Francisco it will be liable TO a
heavy fine. If it takes them TO Van
couver it will escape the fine. OF
course everyone realizes that the coast
wise shipping laws never were in
tended to cover such cases, and 1T is
not improbable that the steamship
| company will take the bit in its teeth,
land it's passengers and then test the
constitutionality of the law in so far
as it held to apply TO such cases.
How Dereiicts Are Traced.
One Of the most interesting phases
of maritime law is the general lookout
that must be kept for derelicts. The
United States photographic office keeps
careful account of all derelicts through
the reports it receives and the know
ledge Of ocean currents which it pos
sesses. In one OF its 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. Each day the
line is heightened and the pin moved
that much further On the tag attached
to each pin is the name of the dere-
lict which it represents. BY this me-
thod the chart shows the probable po-
sition of each derelict each day in the
week.
Bottles are frequently turned loose
in the sea. the exact spot of release
interfere with the traffic work of the
police department and seem to think