Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/90/1/
Timestamp: 2019-04-25 18:07:36+00:00

Document:
1. The owners of a vessel in flames towed by a tug and no longer in command of her own captain and crew are not liable for injury done by her to another vessel by the negligence of the captain of the tug, the said owners not having employed the tug, she being a tug whose regular business was the assistance of vessels in distress and she having gone, of her own motion, to the extinguishment of the fire in this case.
2. A vessel anchored in the Hudson opposite to the Hoboken wharves, if anchored three hundred and fifty yards from their river front, is anchored so far from shore that in case of a collision with a vessel towed in flames out of the Hoboken docks, no allegation can be made that she is anchored too near the shore.
3. A vessel at anchor having an anchor light and one man on deck, though not strictly an anchor watch, is guilty of no fault in not being better lighted or watched.
4. A vessel whose business it is to give relief to vessels on fire is bound to have chain hawsers or chain attachments on board, and if, having only manila hawsers, she is compelled to tow a vessel out of its dock with such a hawser, which is burnt, so that the vessel on fire gets loose from the tug and, drifting, sets fire to another vessel, the tug is liable for the damages caused.
5. The owners of a vessel who through their own carelessness or that of their captain set fire to another vessel cannot claim salvage for putting that fire out.
protecting, and saving vessels in the port of New York when wrecked or in distress -- including the rendering of aid, protection, and safety to such vessels on fire or threatened with conflagration -- was the owner of a steam tug called the Clarita. This tug was equipped not only with means suited to assist vessels wrecked or in distress, generally, but with special apparatus for extinguishing fires -- that is to say with powerful pumps and hose, worked by steam as fire engines, also with axes and instruments for scuttling. The commander too was skilled in the use of such apparatus as well as in the ordinary management of a vessel in seasons of storm and occasions of distress from casualty and weather.
The dock of the vessel was at the foot of Canal Street, New York, where she was kept in constant readiness for service, with a crew on board, with fires "banked," so that at any time she could be set in motion and brought into service.
She was in her dock and in this state on the evening of the 1st of August, 1870, having on board several hempen hawsers strong enough to tow the largest vessels, but not having any hawser of chain nor a chain attachment for a rope hawser. Hempen hawsers, as was proved, are the sort of hawser universally used in the port of New York for towing vessels heavilly laden or disabled, and much preferable, in such cases, to chain cable. The only chains which the tug had on board were her anchor chains, of from fifty to seventy fathoms long, down in the locker -- very heavy chains, too heavy, indeed, to be handled in any sudden emergency.
Though constantly called on for assistance in cases of collision, springing of leaks, wreck, and other catastrophes arising from bad navigation, weather, or want of seaworthiness, and sometimes to extinguish fires before they had got much headway, the Clarita had never, in five years, been called on to tow more than one vessel in a state of conflagration or one about to become in that state.
of Canal Street, New York, her captain espied a smoke which indicated a fire, rising apparently out of the water's edge, at Hoboken, on the Jersey shore, opposite. He got steam up on his tug at once, and was shortly at the Christopher Street slip, Hoboken, from which the smoke was ascending. He here found that a ferry boat of the Hoboken Ferry Company was on fire, the fire, however, being in her hold, and not yet having burst forth anywhere into flame. Numerous people were on or about her assisting to put out the fire. A Hoboken fire company was doing what it could, and two other steamers in or near the dock were sending water into her from their hose. The tug, having made herself fast to the ferry boat by one of her hempen hawsers, got to work and plied her engines vigorously. A gas tank belonging to the ferry company, which, of course, was particularly liable to ignite and explode, was nearby, the dock had numerous vessels in it, and there were houses close to the place which, if a conflagration took place in the dock, would perhaps take fire and be consumed. The tug worked diligently for an hour and more, but the fire being in the hold, which was filled with flame and smoke and therefore could not be entered so as to direct the water advantageously, gained upon the most active and persistent efforts, and it was soon discovered that it had reached the deck over the hold and was ascending to the joiner work, of which the cabins and wheel house, and other light woodwork on deck were composed. The master of the burning ferry boat, who, with the chief of the Hoboken fire department, was on board of her, now requested the captain of the tug to pull the ferry boat out of the slip and tow her on to Hoboken Flats, which were the nearest flats, and not far off. The captain of the tug hereupon, and within five minutes, attached the hawser, by which on arriving the tug had been made fast to the ferry boat, to an iron cleat on the bow of the ferry boat, and the tug (with the master of the ferry boat and men of the Hoboken fire department on board), backed out of the ferry slip and then went ahead.
cable (other than unwieldy anchor chain) or chain attachment on board, it appeared by testimony given in the case that there was a light chain cable on a boat in the dock which had been assisting in putting out the fire. After the ferry boat had been hauled about two hundred yards out of the slip, the flames burst out fore and aft and burned the hawser off, and the ferry boat was drifted by the tide foul of a bark on the Hoboken side of the river, above the ferry slip, at anchor, before the men on the tug could get hold of her again, and set fire to the bark.
As soon as practicable, another hawser (hempen) was got to the ferry boat, and she was hauled off from the bark.
With this second hawser, the ferry boat was got round, heading up the river, when this hawser, too, parted from being burned off by the fire on the ferry boat. Then, as soon as it could be done, a third hawser (this time a large hawser of seven inches) was taken to the ferry boat in a life boat belonging to the ferry boat and by men from the ferry boat and the Hoboken fire department, and was again attached to the ferry boat. But this hawser, too, was burned off. The iron cleat to which these different hawsers had been attached remained standing in the boat.
cut and the half-consumed remains of the ferry boat allowed to sink.
As soon as the hawser was cut, the tug returned to the schooner, which was now burning fiercely, and certain, unless aid came to arrest the flames, to be consumed entirely. The tug made fast to her, and after having plied her engines for two hours and more succeeded in extinguishing the flames.
The owner of the schooner thus saved from entire destruction now filed a libel against the tug to recover damages for the injury which she, the schooner, had suffered from the fire.
The owners of the tug in turn filed a libel against the schooner for salvage as having saved her from being burnt up entirely.
The case was heard upon the cross-libels.
1. That the attempt to tow the burning ferry boat out into the stream by a hempen hawser was an act of negligence.
2. That the drifting of the ferry boat was not an inevitable accident, but was the result of negligence on the part of those in charge of the steam tug.
3. That the schooner, not being required by law to keep a watch under the circumstances, was without fault and entitled to damages.
That court accordingly gave to the owners of the schooner damages compensatory of the partial destruction which she had suffered by being set on fire by the drifting and burning ferry boat. And after such a decree dismissed, of course and from necessity, the libel of the tug for salvage in preventing her being burned as to her residue.
The circuit court on appeals confirmed the decrees, and from the decrees of the latter court these appeals were taken by the owners of the tug.
MR. JUSTICE CLIFFORD delivered the judgments of the Court, giving an opinion in each of the cases.
Whenever, therefore, a fault is committed whereby a collision ensues, that fault is imputed to the owners and the vessel is just as much liable for the consequences as if it had been committed by the owner himself. Consequences of the kind, however, do not follow when the person committing the fault does not in fact or by implication of law stand in the relation of agent to the owners. Unless the owner and the person or persons in charge of the vessel sustain in some way towards each other the relation of principal and agent, the injured party cannot have his remedy against the colliding vessel.
By employing a tug to transport their vessel from one place to another, the owners of the tow do not necessarily constitute the master and crew of the tug their agents in performing the service, as they neither appoint the master of the tug nor employ the crew, nor can they displace either one or the other. Their contract for the service, even though it was negotiated with the master of the tug, is in legal contemplation made with the owners of the vessel employed, and the master of the tug continues to be the agent of the owners of his own vessel, and they are responsible for his acts in her navigation and management.
for the consequences of the collision, as the evidence shows to a demonstration that the steam tug was in the charge of her own master and crew, and that those in charge of her undertook in the usual and ordinary course of her employment to transport the burning ferry boat from one place to another over waters where such accessory motive power is usually employed, and consequently that the steam tug, in the absence of the officers and crew of the tow, must be held responsible for the proper navigation of both vessels, and that third persons suffering damage through the fault of those in charge of such motive power must, under such circumstances, look to the steam tug, her master or owners, for the recompense which they are entitled to claim on account of any injuries that their vessel or cargo may receive by such means.
Whether the party charged ought to be held liable is made to depend in all cases of the kind upon his relation to the wrongdoer. Where the wrongful act is done by the party charged or was occasioned by his negligence, of course he is liable, and he is equally so if it was done by one towards whom he bears the relation of principal, but the liability ceases, in such a case, where the relation of principal and agent entirely ceases to exist, unless the wrongful act was performed or occasioned by the party charged. Grant that and it follows beyond peradventure that the owners of the ferry boat are not responsible for the consequences of the collision, as it is clear that the officers and crew of the steam tug were the agents of the owners of their own vessel and not of the burning ferry boat.
II. Suppose that is so, still it is insisted by the respondents that those in charge of the steam tug were without fault; that the collision, as far as they are concerned, was the result of inevitable accident, though they insist that it might have been prevented by proper care on the part of those in charge of the schooner.
III. Two faults are imputed to the schooner: 1. that she was anchored in an improper place; 2. that she had no watch on deck.
Attempt is made in argument to show that the schooner was anchored in an improper place, but both the subordinate courts were of a different opinion, and the Court here, in view of the whole evidence, concurs in the conclusion that that defense is not sustained.
2. Concede all that and still it is contended by the respondents that the schooner was in fault because she did not have a sufficient watch, but the Act of Congress contains no such requirement, and inasmuch as the evidence shows that the schooner was anchored in a proper place and that one of her crew was on deck, the Court is of the opinion that the charge of fault made against the schooner in the answer is not sustained.
party that if those in charge of the steam tug had used a chain instead of a manila hawser, the object contemplated might have been safely and successfully carried into effect.
Even ordinary experience and prudence would have suggested that the part of the hawser made fast to the burning ferry boat should be chain, and that it would be unsafe to use a hawser made of manila. Where the danger is great, the greater should be the precaution, as prudent men in great emergencies employ their best exertions to ward off the danger. Whether they had a chain hawser on board or not does not appear, but sufficient does appear to satisfy the Court that one of sufficient length to have prevented the disaster might easily have been procured even if they were not supplied with such an appliance.
All of these matters were fully considered by the district judge, and the same conclusions at which he arrived were reached by the circuit court. In those conclusions the Court here concurs.
N THE CLAIM FOR SALVAGE.
1. Because the schooner would not have caught fire if those in charge of the steam tug had exercised due and proper care in their attempts to tow the burning ferry boat from her slip up the river.
2. Because the schooner was run into and set on fire by the carelessness, negligence, and inattention of those who rendered the alleged salvage service, and not from any accident, nor from any fault or neglect of duty on the part of the schooner.
Further discussion of the matters of fact involved in those propositions is unnecessary, as they have all been conclusively determined in favor of the owners of the schooner in what precedes, which leaves nothing for decision in the case before the Court except the question whether the claim for salvage compensation can be sustained in view of the facts set forth in the propositions submitted by the respondents.
Persons who render such service are called salvors, and a salvor is defined to be a person who, without any particular relation to the ship in distress, proffers useful service and gives it as a volunteer adventurer without any preexisting contract that connected him with the duty of employing himself for the preservation of the vessel.
1. A marine peril to the property to be rescued.
2. Voluntary service not owed to the property as matter of duty.
3. Success in saving the property or some portion of it from the impending peril.
Such compensation, however, is not claimable in every case in which work and labor are done for the preservation of a ship and cargo. Suitors, in order to support such a claim, must be prepared to show that the property was exposed to peril and that the undertaking involved risk and enterprise, and that they were successful in securing the property and saving it to the owner, and that the service was voluntary and that it was not rendered in pursuance of any duty owed to the owner or to the property. Conditions of the kind are inherent in the very nature of the undertaking, and salvors, in consideration of the large reward allowed to them for their services, are required to be vigilant in preventing, detecting, and exposing every act of plunder upon the property saved, for the reason that the right to salvage compensation presupposes good faith, meritorious service, complete restoration, and incorruptible vigilance, so far as the property is within the reach or under the control of the salvors.
consequences of their own wrongful acts,"
None of these exceptional cases, however, can benefit the libellants in this case, for the reason that the insuperable objection to their right of recovery is that the peril to which the schooner was exposed was caused by those who rendered the alleged salvage service, and to the rule that such libellants are not entitled to recover there are no exceptions when it appears that the suit is prosecuted in behalf of the wrongdoers.
Decree affirmed in both cases.
Sturgis v. Boyer, 24 How. 123.
Morning Light, 8 Wall. 557; Steamship Company v. Steamship Company, 24 How. 313.
The Erskine, 6 Notes of Cases, 633.
The John Adams, 1 Clifford 413; The Lochlibo, 3 W.Robinson 310; 1 Parsons on Shipping, 573.
Steamship Co. v. Calderwood, 19 Howard, 246.
1 Parsons on Shipping, 573; The Granite State, 3 Wall. 310.
Strout v. Foster, 1 How. 89.
Knowlton v. Sanford, 32 Maine, 148; The Batavier, 40 English Law and Equity 20; 1 Parsons on Shipping 574.
Maude & Pollock on Shipping 419.
Machlachlan on Shipping 569; The Neptune, 1 Haggard's Admiralty 236; The Thetis, 3 id. 48.
The Island City, 1 Clifford 228.
Miller v. Kelley, Abbott's Admiralty 564; The Perkins, 21 Law Reporter 87; The Speedwell, ib. 99.
The Andries, 1 Swabey, 226; Same Case, 11 Moore Privy Council 318.
The Branston, 2 Haggard's Admiralty 3, note; The Vrede, Lushington's Admiralty 322; The Two Friends, 1 Robinson 285; Maude & Pollock on Shipping 485; 2 Parsons on Shipping 268.
The Fair American, 1 Peters' Admiralty 95; Parsons on Shipping 285.
The Celt, 3 Haggard's Admiralty 328; The Ericsson, Swabey 40; The Dispatch, ib. 140; 1 Parsons on Shipping 529.
The Iola, 4 Blatchford 31; 2 Parsons on Shipping 289.
The Capella, Law Reports, 1 Admiralty and Ecclesiastical 356; The Queen, Law Reports, 2 id. 55.
Williams & Bruce's Practice 123; Benedict's Admiralty (2d ed.) 180.
The Sappho, Law Reports, 3 Privy Council Appeals 690; Same Case, 8 Moore Privy Council N.S. 70.
The Potter, Law Reports, 3 Admiralty and Ecclesiastical 296; The Minnehaha, 1 Lushington's Admiralty 335; Same Case, 15 Moore Privy Council 133; Maude & Pollock on Shipping 479.

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