141 F. 182 | D. Me. | 1905
The libelants, as owners of the schooner Frank W. Benedict, seek to recover damages sustained by the schooner while occupying Cutts’ wharf at Kittery Point, Me., a wharf used by the respondent for the discharge and storage of its coal, and at which the schooner was docked and lying while the respondent was discharging the cargo of coal consigned to it, and brought for it from Philadelphia. The Frank W. Benedict is a three-masted schooner, of a coal-carrying ’ capacity of 850 tons. In August, 1903, she was chartered to the respondent to carry a cargo of coal from Philadelphia to Kittery Point, Me. In pursuance of the charter, the schooner received on board at Philadelphia 863 tons of coal, for which the usual bills of lading were executed, which provided that the cargo should be delivered to the respondent at Cutts’ wharf, Kittery Point, and should be discharged by the consignee. The respondent is engaged in operating an electric road between Kittery Point, Me., and Portsmouth, N. H. The wharf in question is located at Kittery Point in the town of Kittery, and was owned at the time of the injury by Joseph D. Cutts, who was then employed by the respondent to discharge its coal and deliver the same as needed. It is situated about 60 feet below the bridge, which crossed at nearly a right angle with it, and over which the respondent’s track and feed wires are located. It extends out from the shore about 150 feet, and is from 35 to 40 feet wide at its outer end, and has upon it a discharging stage. In discharging a vessel, it is necessary to bring the hatch through which the cargo is to be discharged abreast of the discharging stage. In order for a vessel of the character of the Frank W. Benedict to discharge at this wharf from her forward hatch, it was necessary to dock her with her bow pointing up river in the direction of the respondent’s bridge. In order to discharge from the after hatch, which was some 38 feet aft of the fore hatch, it was necessary to bring that hatch abreast of the stage. This could be done either by winding the vessel, or by hauling her ahead sufficiently far so that the hatch would be abreast of the stage. If this latter course was adopted, her headgear would necessarily be over the respondent’s bridge and over its track and feed wires. The schooner arrived at Kittery Point September 9, 1903. The next morning the master of the schooner, Capt. Look, reported to the respondent
1. In coming to a conclusion as to where the faplt lay, the court must first consider what duty rested upon the respondent. Under the contract of carriage, the obligation’of discharging the vessel was clearly upon the respondent as consignee. In fulfilling this obligation, it was incumbent upon it to designate a suitable place for the schooner to lie while discharging, and to know, as far as by reasonable effort it could ascertain, that such place was reasonably safe. As a part of its obligation in this behalf, the respondent was charged with the duty of furnishing an agent to have charge of the unloading who should have sufficient knowledge to provide a reasonably safe place for the vessel to unload. It is not necessary for the libelants to prove actual knowledge on the part of the respondent of any unfitness of the dock or of the wharf; it is sufficient that the respondent’s agent had means of knowledge. For, while a consignee, upon whom is imposed the duty of discharging a vessel, does not guaranty its safety in coming to or lying at his wharf, he is bound to exercise diligence in ascertaining the condition of the dock and of the berths, and to give notice of any obstruction or of any danger to vessels. This subject has just received the attention of this court in Philadelphia & Reading Ry. Co. v. Walker, 139 Fed. 855. This court has also considered a similar question, and has cited leading authorities upon it, in Thompson v. Winslow (D. C.) 128 Fed. 73. The subject has also been fully discussed in the following cases: The Calvin P. Harris (D. C.) 33 Fed. 295; Hartford & New York Transportation Co. v. Hughes (D. C.) 125 Fed. 981; The Nellie (D. C.) 130 Fed. 213; Smith v. Burnett, 173 U. S. 430, 19 Sup. Ct. 442, 43 L. Ed. 756; Sawyer v. Oakman, Fed. Cas. No. 12,404; Garfield & Proctor Coal Co. v. Rockport & Rockland Lime Co., 184 Mass. 60, 67 N. E. 863, 61 L. R. A. 946, 100 Am. St. Rep. 543.
2. Were the libelants also in fault? The subject of the duty of a libel-ant under similar circumstances was also considered by this court in the case of The Elmwood, in Philadelphia & Reading Ry. Co. v. Walker, to which reference has already been made. The court there cited and discussed the recent cases bearing upon this subject. In the case' at bar it is true that the master of the schooner did not know the danger from the electric wires, but he was not charged with the duty of such knowledge. He had a right to rely upon the direction of the company’s agent to-discharge at this particular wharf as an assurance that the wharf was reasonably free from dangers and obstructions. He had a right to assume either that the electric wires from the respondent’s railroad would not be brought in contact with the ship’s chains, or, if so brought in contact with them, that they would not cause damage. In addition to the
The libelants are therefore entitled to a decree in their favor, erence may be had to an assessor. Ref-