20 F. 866 | D.N.J. | 1884
The libel is filed in this caseto recover damages caused by a collision. It alleges that on the fifteenth of November, 1882, the libelants’ boat Mary, loaded with a cargo of coal, was taken in tow by the steam-tug Robert Burnett at Elizabethport, New Jersey, to be towed with three other boats to the city of New York; that the tow was made up with two boats on each side of the said tug, fastened thereto, the libelants’ boat being on the outside of the port side of the tug; that they left Elizabethport between 7 and 8 o’clock in the morning and proceeded on said trip; that after they left Elizabethport the tug Annie Williams took a schooner in tow astern, by a long hawser, and proceeded after said tow, and following them; that when said tug and tow were about abreast of Mariners’ Harbor, Staten isl- and, and where there is a turn in the channel, the tug Annie Williams, with the said schooner in tow, attempted to pass the Robert Burnett and her tow between libelants’ boat and the New Jersey shore; that in so doing the steam-tug Annie Williams caused the schooner to take a rank sheer, and while on said sheer the schooner came in’ contact with libelants’ boat, striking her on the port quarter, starting
The only interpretation to be put upon the answer is that, inasmuch as the schooner in tow of the Annie Williams was manned by and was under the control of her own crew, the schooner alone is answerable for all damages arising from a collision; and, secondly, that if any collision occurred no injury in fact resulted therefrom. The last question is not properly before the court, hut must be considered hereafter, on a reference to ascertain the damages, if a reference is ordered. With regard to the first, the proposition is not true, without qualification. Steam-tugs having boats in tow are not liable as common carriers; nor are they insurers. They are, nevertheless, bound to the exercise of reasonable skill and care in everything relating to the work until it is accomplished, and are chargeable for the want of either to the extent of the damage sustained. And this liability continues, although it may appear that the negligence or un-skillfulness of those managing the tow contributed to the collision.
The relative duties of the tug and tow were fully discussed by the late Justice Clifford in the case of The Express, 3 Cliff. 462, and it was there determined that where a vessel was drawn by a hawser, both vessels had duties to perform, and that both might be held in fault in case of an accident; that when tow-lines were used, the master of the tow was bound to obey all proper orders of the master of the tug; and that where he refuses to obey such orders, or fails in reasonable skill and attention to his duty, such conduct might relieve the owners of the tug from responsibility. But, however culpable the conduct of the tow may be, the owner of the tug cannot claim such release from responsibility in any case where he also was in fault, and it is now well settled that where both tug and tow contribute to the accident by lack of skill or care, the injured party may maintain his suit and recover his damages against one of the offend--ing parties.
Thus, in The New Philadelphia, 1 Black, 76, the supreme court held as a rule of law in the admiralty, as at the common law,—
“That when a third party has sustained an injury to his property from the co-operating consequence of two causes, though the persons producing them may not be in intentional concert to occasion such a result, the injured person is entitled to compensation for his loss from either one or both of them, according to the circumstances of the accident, and particularly so from the ■ one of the two who had undertaken to convey the property with care and skill to a place of destination, and there shall have been in so doing a deficiency in either.”
To the same effect, and as illustrating the same principle, is the decision of the supreme court in The Atlas, 93 U. S. 319, where it is said :
“Parties without fault * * * bear-no part of the loss in collision suits, and are entitled to full compensation for the damage which they suffer from the wrong-doers, and they may pursue their remedy in personam, either at tho common law or in admiralty, against the wrong-doers, or any one or more of them, whether they elect to proceed at law or in the admiralty courts.”
The question then is, do the facts of this case show a want of reasonable care and skill on the part of the respondents’ tug, having the schooner in tow? She was the following vessel, and was undertaking to pass the tow to which the libelants’ boat was attached, on the port side of the channel. Being the motive power, the law regarded her as the dominant mind in the transaction, and made her responsible for all accidents resulting from not exercising ordinary care. It is impossible to ascertain from the conflicting testimony the width of the channel at the point of passing. About 200 feet is the average of the evidence upon the subject. A mud-digger with a scow on her starboard side, anchored in the channel on the New Jersey side, made' the attempt to pass more difficult and hazardous. The weight of the
There must be a decree in favor of the libelants, with costs, and a reference to ascertain the amount of the damages, unless the parties will agree that the commissioner may report the amount from the evidence already taken.