Court Opinion

ID: 8638113
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2022-11-24 19:48:37.407224+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T16:56:00.026506
License: Public Domain

NELSON. Circuit Justice.
I agree with the court below that the service of the Delaware might properly be regarded as a salvage service; and that the compensation was rightfully made in conformity with the principles applicable to such a service. There appears to have been great excitement and confusion among the passengers on board of the Underwriter at the time of the arrival of the steamer; and her presence, the advice given to the captain, and the consent to remain and render all the assistance practicable, together with the efforts made for the purpose, until the means of assistance arrived from the owner, may well have contributed somewhat to the saving of the vessel, and furnish a claim to compensation beyond that of mere labor and service. But, comparing this assistance of the steamer and her hands, including her detention and damage, with the,service and expense which were subsequently required and rendered by the owner before she was rescued, I cannot but think that the compensation awarded was too high, and that the rate, if extended to the efficient service and expense in the saving of the vessel, would, in the aggregate, constitute a salvage allowance beyond the principles generally admitted as governing cases of this description. I think, also, that the injury to the steamer, claimed to have been occasioned while she was detained, has been greatly exaggerated. No repairs seem to have been made upon her for a month after the alleged injury occurred, the vessel being, in the meantime, engaged in her usual trips; and the bills of repairs have not been produced, nor is it pretended that the cost approached the estimate furnished. The shipwright states that he repaired her but partially, and then gives us a general estimate of what it would have cost to repair her thoroughly. He states the expense at $2500 or $3000. Another witness states that it would have cost $800 or $1000 to put her joiner work in good order. All this is very unsatisfactory, and subject to abuse in making up an account to the extent of the injuries to the vessel.
X think $2500 in this case a liberal compensation to the owners, master and hands of the Delaware for the detention and service, including the injury to the vessel, and shall modify the decree so as to reduce it to this amount, without costs on either side in this court, and apportion the $2500 as follows: $2000 to the owners of the Delaware; $100 to the master, and the same to the mate; and the residue to be divided equally among the representatives of Leland, and the other persons composing the crew of the vessel.