158 F. 449 | W.D. Wash. | 1907
Two libels are included in this case, one by the captain of the steam tug Carlyle to recover damages for personal injuries which he suffered, and the other by the owner for damages to the tug, caused by a hawser stretched across a slip between two wharves in Bellingham Bay, known, respectively, as the “Sehome” dock and the “Bellingham Bay Improvement Company’s” dock. On the day of the accident the steam schooner G. C. Lindauer arrived at Bellingham to receive a cargo of lumber, and was assign
It is the opinion of the court that the hawser was an unlawful obstruction of navigation; and, it being a part of the equipment of the ship, she is to be regarded as a guilty thing, and perpetrator of a wrong, and subject to a lien for the consequential damages. I do not find in the evidence any support to the charge of negligence made against the libelants in the respondent’s answer. It is true that the evidence does not show affirmatively that the tug blew her whistle or
Upon the evidence I find that the sum of $100 is a reasonable estimate of the damages to the tug, and that amount will be awarded to her owner. I consider that the captain is entitled to a pension to solace him for the permanent disfigurement of his features and his impaired ability to enjoy life. The amount of an annuity purchasable by one payment of $3,000 I consider to be a reasonable allowance. As captain of the Carlyle he was earning $100 per month. His time was worth that much, and 10 months is a conservative estimate of the lost time to be compensated for. I also allow him $1,500 as compensation for pain and expenses, making the total amount of damages awarded to him $4,500. Both libelants will be entitled to legal interest on the sums awarded from the date of the decree to be entered until paid, and their taxable costs.