US SUPREME COURT DECISIONS

FOWLER V. RATHBONES, 79 U. S. 102 (1870)

Subscribe to Cases that cite 79 U. S. 102

U.S. Supreme Court

Fowler v. Rathbones, 79 U.S. 12 Wall. 102 102 (1870)

Fowler v. Rathbones

79 U.S. (12 Wall.) 102

Syllabus

1. Where a ship and cargo are exposed at a particular place to a common peril of sinking and becoming submerged in deep water, and the expense of raising and saving them from that place would be greater than if stranded in shoal water, and the master, to save them from such increased expenses, runs the ship on flats near by and strands her in shoal water, and thereby increases the peril to the ship and diminishes the damages and expenses of saving her and the cargo, then there is a "voluntary stranding" within the meaning of the law, and a case entitling the owners of the vessel to recover, as general average, their just proportion of such damages and expenses.

2. Where no water enters the ship which reaches and damages the cargo except what comes through holes cut in the bows by the ice previously to such a case of stranding, then the owners of the cargo are not entitled to be allowed anything for the damages to their cargo by water by way of general average or by way of reduction of the shipowner's claim.

3. In such a case of stranding, the shipowners are entitled to recover in general average only those expenses which were caused by stranding the ship, not including any occasioned by damage to the ship through the swelling of the cargo (linseed, which water swells) caused by water which entered through the holes in the bows; but if the ship was also injured by such stranding and by lying on an uneven bottom, her owners are entitled to recover the expenses for repairing such injuries by way of general average, and it is for the jury to determine from the evidence what such repairs amount to.

4. Erroneous findings of the jury -- assuming them to be erroneous as to what injury the ship did suffer by the stranding and what by swelling chanrobles.com-red

Page 79 U. S. 103

of the cargo, or such findings on any other matter of fact, are not subject to review here.

5. Where the owners of the cargo enter, after such a case of stranding as above described, into "an average bond" whereby they agree to pay as consignees of cargo what should be found to be due from them on their share of the cargo for general average losses and expenses arising out of the transaction, provided such losses and expenses should be stated and apportioned in accordance with the established usage and laws of New York in similar cases by certain average adjusters named, then if in respect to the contributory value of freight, the adjustment, as made up by the average adjusters, is according to the usage and custom of New York, and no more has been allowed for damages to the ship than was attributable to the stranding, in that case the shipowners are entitled to the amount stated in the average adjustment to be due from the owners of the cargo as their general average contribution, with interest from the date of the adjustment.

This was an action of assumpsit brought in the court below by the owners of the ship Oneiza to recover from the defendants, as consignees and owners of cargo transported aboard of that vessel on a voyage from Calcutta to New York, a sum alleged to be due to the plaintiffs by way of a general average for losses and expenses incurred in consequence of an alleged voluntary stranding of the ship.

The facts, which appeared from the protest and the testimony of witnesses, were in the main undisputed.

The ship arrived off Sandy Hook January 16, 1867, and anchored that night inside of the Hook. There was so much ice in the bay that she could not proceed until the 21st, when she was towed up, in the afternoon, as far as the quarantine ground and anchored there. The water was full of floating ice. The next morning it was discovered that the ship was settling by the head, and by 7 o'clock A.M. she had six feet of water in her, the leak being caused by holes broken in both of her bows by the ice. Attempts were made to free her from water by her pumps. They were, however, ineffectual, the water being about forty-two feet where she was anchored, and the Staten Island flats where the water was shoaler being near, the master caused the ship to be towed chanrobles.com-red

Page 79 U. S. 104

a distance of three hundred yards into such water, on the flats, until she grounded on the bottom at about 8 o'clock A.M. The bottom at the place where she had been anchored was soft. What sort of bottom was at the place where she grounded -- whether uneven or soft -- was not clear. The evidence was not full or perhaps quite consistent, but it was submitted to the jury. At the time the ship grounded, she had ten feet of water in her. If she had sunk where she had been anchored, she would have been totally submerged. A wrecking vessel reached her about noon. The tide was then an hour ebb, and the water was about the same height inside of her and outside. A diver was sent down and the holes were stopped. A pump was then started about 4 o'clock P.M. The water had reached to within two feet of her upper deck. Some of her cargo was not wet. The cargo consisted of linseed in bags, gunny cloth, and saltpetre. She was pumped out by 9 o'clock P.M. After that, she was kept free of water, and no more water reached her cargo. About half of her cargo was taken off by lighters. The ship was then taken to the city and the rest discharged. The ship could have been raised if she had sunk where she was anchored. The question of saving the vessel and cargo at either place was only a question of the expense of raising them. The wrecking bill was over $12,000, and would have been $30,000 if she had sunk where she was anchored. The defendants, on the 23d of January, 1867, signed "an average bond" whereby they agreed to pay, as consignees of cargo, what should be found to be due from them on their share of the cargo for general average losses and expenses arising out of the transaction, provided such losses and expenses should be stated and apportioned by Johnson & Higgins, average adjusters, in accordance with the established usage and laws of the State of New York in similar cases. An adjustment was made by those persons, and they ascertained the balance due from the defendants to be $11,380.78, July 20, 1867. The adjusters made no allowance to the defendants for the damages sustained by their cargo from the water which entered the ship, on the ground that such chanrobles.com-red

Page 79 U. S. 105

damage was caused by water which entered through the holes made in the bows of the vessel by the ice, and therefore by a peril of the sea, and was not caused by the stranding, and was not a general average loss. The effect of the water upon the linseed in bags, as evidence showed, was greatly to swell it, and the ship was found to have been much strained vertically. The swelling of the linseed and the lying on the bottom at the place of stranding, together, started up the deck and strained and broke the beams and the straps over the beams.

The adjusters did not allow as a general average loss anything for any damage sustained by the ship from the swelling of the linseed, on the ground that such swelling was caused by water which entered through the holes in the bows from a peril of the sea, and therefore was not caused by the stranding; but they did allow as a general average loss the damage caused to the ship by laying on in what they inferred to have been an uneven bottom when she was stranded, inferring this from injuries of a certain kind which the keel and keelson of the ship were found to have suffered, though some of the direct testimony went to prove that the bottom, like that of the place where the vessel had been anchored, was soft. The adjusters stated to the jury the ground on which the adjustment on this point was made. "We could not tell absolutely," they said, "what damage was caused by lying on the bottom and what from swelling of the cargo, but we decided it as well as we could," and the same witness described particularly the damages. The defendants called no witnesses to disparage the conclusions of the adjusters. The salvage expenses were put into general average. According to custom, one-half of the gross freight for the whole voyage was taken as the net freight to be contributed for.

The counsel for the defendants prayed the court to charge the jury as follows:

"Fourth. That if they found that the stranding or taking of the bottom was not a different one from what was originally impending

Page 79 U. S. 106

in consequence of the damage received from the action of the ice at the time the master determined to run or tow the ship into shallower water, but was a merely incidental and unsubstantial modification of such original stranding or taking of the bottom, then the expenses incurred for repairing the damage to the ship, arising from her lying upon the bottom, were not the proper subject of a general average."

"Fifth. That unless at the time the master came to the determination to run her upon the flats, there was a substantial and valuable chance that the ship might be kept from sinking where she was anchored, which chance the master voluntarily abandoned, the injuries sustained by said ship in consequence of lying upon the bottom are not a subject for general average."

"Sixth. That if the ship was, at the time the master came to his determination to run her upon the bottom in shallower water, so exposed to the injuries which she sustained from going upon and lying upon the bottom that such injuries could not by any possibility or in any event be prevented, such injuries are not to be made good by a general average contribution."

"Eighth. That there is no evidence from which the jury can determine what particular repairs were rendered necessary by the ship lying on the bottom, and what were rendered necessary by the swelling of the cargo, and that as it appears that both these causes concurred in producing the injuries to the ship, one-half of such injuries should be deemed to have been occasioned by the one cause and one-half of the other, as the nearest practicable approximation to justice."

"Ninth. That inasmuch as it appeared that all the freight on the cargo had been collected, and the disaster happening at the very entrance of the port of destination, such freight should contribute in general average upon its full value, after deducting such expenses, if any, as were necessarily incurred in order to earn it, and the jury should, in making up their verdict, so estimate the contributory value of freight."

But the court refused thus to charge, and charged:

"1st. That if the jury found that the ship and cargo were exposed to a common peril of sinking and becoming submerged in deep water, and that the expenses of raising and saving them from such place would have been greater than if stranded in

Page 79 U. S. 107

shoal water, and that the master, to save the ship and cargo from such increased expenses, ran the ship on the flats, and so stranded her in shoal water, and thereby increased the peril to the ship and diminished the damages and expenses of saving the ship and cargo, then that there was a voluntary stranding within the meaning of the law, and that the plaintiffs are entitled to recover in general average their just proportion of all damages and expenses occasioned thereby."

"2d. That if they found that no water entered the ship which reached and damaged the cargo except what came through the holes cut in the bows by the ice, then that the defendants were not entitled to be allowed anything for the damages to their cargo by water, by way of general average or by way of reduction of the plaintiffs' claim, because such damages were not caused by or the result of the act of stranding the ship, but were caused by a peril of the sea which had overtaken the cargo before it was determined to strand the ship."

"3d. That the plaintiffs were entitled to recover in general average only those expenses which were caused by stranding the ship, not including any occasioned by damage to the ship through the swelling of the cargo caused by water which entered through the holes in the bows, and therefore, if the jury found that the ship was injured by such stranding and by lying on an uneven bottom, that the plaintiffs were entitled to recover the expenses for repairing such injuries by way of general average, and that it was for the jury to determine from the evidence what such repairs amounted to."

"4th. That if, in respect to the contributory value of freight, they found that the adjustment, as made up by Johnson & Higgins, the average adjusters, was according to the usage and custom of the port of New York, and that no more had been allowed for damages to the ship than was attributable to the stranding, then that the plaintiffs were entitled to the amount stated in the adjustment to be due from the defendants to the plaintiffs as their general average contribution, with interest from the date of the said adjustment."

To all these instructions the defendants excepted.

The jury having found a verdict for the plaintiffs for $1,071.73 and judgment having been entered accordingly, the case was now here on error. chanrobles.com-red

Page 79 U. S. 114



























chanrobles.com



ChanRobles Legal Resources:

ChanRobles On-Line Bar Review

ChanRobles Internet Bar Review : www.chanroblesbar.com

ChanRobles MCLE On-line

ChanRobles Lawnet Inc. - ChanRobles MCLE On-line : www.chanroblesmcleonline.com