3 F. 814 | D. Mass. | 1880
This is a libel in personam, against the owners of the ship Iceberg, to recover for loss and damage of 2,502 baigs of cutch, on a voyage from Calcutta to Boston. It appeared at the hearing that the cutch was received on board the Iceberg at Calcutta, in the months of January and February, 1878, in good order and condition, and bills of lading were delivered for the same, containing the usual exception of the perils of the sea, and the memorandum, “weights and contents unknown.”
The ship sailed from Calcutta early in March, and arrived in Boston in the following July. In the course of the voyage, in consequence of the heat of the lower hold, where it was stowed, the cutch had softened, had leaked out of the bags, and run together, and had become mingled with the fragments of the bags and the dunnage, and had suffered a shrinkage of about 5 per cent, of its weight as received at Calcutta. In addition to the loss of weight, the libellants
It appears that, owing to the inherent character and quality of the article itself, cutch always suffers a greater or less loss from evaporation on a voyage from Calcutta, depending upon the condition it is in when received, and the temperature of the weather during the voyage, and that it is liable to soften and run through the meshes of the bags, when exposed to a temperature which is inevitable in the hold of a vessel on a voyage of several months in hot weather. When this cutch was received on board the Iceberg, at Calcutta, it had become somewhat softened from a voyage of 1,500 miles, from Singapore, and was rebagged at Calcutta in consequence.
Upon the whole case, I am of the opinion that the shrinkage caused by the evaporation and melting of the cutch was owing to the inherent nature and quality of the article itself, and not to any negligence of the respondents. The authorities are numerous and conclusive that the ship owner is not responsible for loss to goods arising under such circumstances, whether in his relation as common carrier, or upon bills of lading in the form given in this case. Nelson v. Woodruff, 1 Black, 156; Brig Coleaberg, 1 Black, 170; Clark v. Barnwell, 12 How. 272; Lamb v. Parkman, 1 Sprague, 343; The Invincible, 1 Low. 225; Libby v. Gage, 14 Allen, 261.
Libel dismissed, with costs.