The value of the Albion, freight and cargo, was 11,590l. Deane, Q.C., and Lushington, for the plaintiffs.-The ship when taken in tow by the Wonder and Energy had no means of bringing up with safety, and if, on nearing the land, a gale had occurred blowing on shore, she must, but for steam assistance, have in all probability been lost. The joint services of the Wonder and Energy were therefore not simple towage, but salvage. The Kingalock (a) was a case of this kind, and there the Court, overruling an agreement to tow, which had been made without communicating the loss of ground tackle and the disabled condition of the windlass, allowed salvage. We also submit that the Wonder is entitled to recompense for all her services. As soon as the extraordinary danger to the ship supervened, all further labours for the ship terminating, as these have done, successfully, were in the nature of salvage. The Wonder did not renounce her obligation to the ship, as possibly she might have been justified in doing, but, knowing the danger of the ship, made every effort to return to her assistance, and finally succeeded in reaching her and bringing her to a place of safety. Twiss, Q.C., and Clarkson, for the defendants.-The ship was not rescued from any immediate danger by the tugs; she was in all respects fit for a sea-voyage, except that the hawsepipes and windlass were a little injured. The lugger had brought an anchor and chain, and with that the ship might have been safely brought up, if necessary; perhaps the anchor, if let go, could not have been hove up in the ordinary way by the windlass, but that is immaterial. If the weather had not moderated, or if any second gale had arisen, the ship could have kept to sea. The joint services of the Energy and Wonder were therefore simply towage, like the previous towing by the Wonder from the Foreland to the Prince's Light ship; and the wanderings of the Wonder between cannot be taken into account; they were voluntary, and of no service to the ship. It is submitted that the original contract was either terminated by the perils of the seas intervening, and that the second towage was a new service of simple towing, for which only an ordinary towing remuneration is due; or else that the original contract bound the Wonder to take all reasonable measures, notwithstanding the interruption, to fulfil the contract. In either case no salvage is due. The ship was rescued from no extraordinary danger. 1861. March 18. Right Hon. DR. LUSHINGTON :-The only real question in this Judgment. (a) 1 Spinks, 263. 1861. March 18. case is, what was the condition of the Albion when the steamtugs came up with her on the 29th of May? She had lost both anchors and chains, but had received an anchor and chain from a lugger; her hawsepipes were also carried away, her bowplanking injured, especially on the starboard side, and her windlass was disabled. Whether the ship could in such a condition have anchored with any safety, the witnesses differ, the witnesses for the plaintiffs stating positively that she could not, the witnesses for the defendants maintaining the contrary. The ship was certainly not in any immediate danger; but, on the other hand, she was upon a most perilous coast, the weather was unsettled, and, if a gale had set on to the shore, the ship must have been in considerable danger from the want of sufficient ground tackle, and the disabled condition of the hawsepipes and the windlass. From this danger she was saved by the services of the Wonder and Energy; and adhering to the case of the Kingalock, which has been referred to, I am of opinion that these services were in the nature of salvage and require salvage remuneration. I am also of opinion that the earlier services of the Wonder in seeking the vessel must be taken as part of the same transaction, and be remunerated in the same way. I give the Wonder great credit for the resolution and perseverance with which she endeavoured to discover and assist the ship; and this must be taken into acount, for it is of the utmost importance to the safety of shipping, that the owners of steamtugs and other salvors should know that this Court is inclined to reward liberally unusual efforts to assist vessels in distress, whereever those efforts are successful. As Mr. Justice Story has said, "Salvage is a mixed question of private right and public policy;" and that has always been the doctrine maintained in this Court. Considering the value of the property salved, 11,590l., the danger to which it was exposed, and the services rendered by the salvors, I award to the plaintiffs the sum of 3501. Rothery, proctor, for the plaintiffs. Clarkson for the defendants: THE HARRIET. Wages-Special Contract-17 & 18 Vict. c. 104, s. 189. The Court of Admiralty has no jurisdiction over a contract for wages different from the ordinary mariner's contract. The 189th section of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1854, bars a seaman from recovering wages less than 501. in the Court of Admiralty, except in the contingencies therein specified. The plaintiff signed the ship's articles as mate at 51. 10s. per month; he also verbally agreed with the owner to act as purser, and superintend the ship's accounts for 4l. 10s. per month additional; he served afterwards in both capacities, and finally claimed 631.:-Held, that the parol agreement was, in the circumstances, a special agreement, which the Court could not inforce; and the claim, thus falling below 501., was dismissed altogether. THE THE plaintiff, George Lines, sued the British ship Harriet for wages; claiming for wages as mate 337., and 301. as wages for superintending the ship's disbursements. The action was defended by John Rogerson, mortgagee of the ship in pos session. It appeared that on the 16th of November, 1859, when the Harriet was lying at Hartlepool, designed on a voyage to Carthagena in Spain, John Winspear, the owner of the vessel, verbally engaged the plaintiff to serve as mate, at the rate of 51. 10s. a month, and also entered into a further agreement with the plaintiff that he should take the management of the ship's accounts, and superintend the ship's disbursements during the Voyage. This latter agreement was not reduced to writing, and on the ship's articles, which the plaintiff signed on the 19th of November, he was entered in the capacity of mate at the rate of 51. 10s. per month, receiving at the same time an advance of the like sum. The plaintiff sailed on the voyage, acting as mate, and also superintending the ship's disbursements, according to the oral agreement. On the return of the vessel to this country he was discharged, and thereupon brought this action. The services of the plaintiff in both capacities were proved by the owner of the ship, but it was contended by the defendant that the plaintiff could not recover any wages not specified in the ship's articles, and this being so, the claim fell within the statutory limit of 501. The following sections of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1854, (17 & 18 Vict. c. 104) were referred to in the argument: 1861. March 21. 1861. March 21. S. 149. "The master of every ship, except ships of less than eighty tons registered tonnage exclusively employed in trading between different ports on the coasts of the United Kingdom, shall enter into an agreement with every seaman whom he carries to sea from any port in the United Kingdom as one of his crew in the manner hereinafter mentioned; and every such agreement shall be in a form sanctioned by the Board of Trade, and shall be dated at the time of the first signature thereof, and shall be signed by the master before any seaman signs the same, and shall contain the following particulars as terms thereof; (that is to say,) (1) The nature, and, as far as practicable, the duration of the intended voyage or engagement: (2) The number and description of the crew, specifying how many are engaged as sailors: (3) The time at which each seaman is to be on board or to begin work: (4) The capacity in which each seaman is to serve : (5) The amount of wages which each seaman is to receive: (7) Any regulations as to conduct on board, and as to fines, And every such agreement shall be so framed as to admit of stipulations to be adopted at the will of the master and seaman in each case, as to advance and allotment of wages, and may contain any other stipulations not contrary to law provided, that if the master of any ship belonging to any British possession, has an agreement with his crew made in due form, according to the law of the possession to which such ship belongs, or in which her crew were engaged, and engages single seamen in the United Kingdom, such seamen may sign the agreement so made, and it shall not be necessary for them to sign an agreement in the form sanctioned by the Board of Trade." S. 150. "In the case of all foreign-going ships, in whatever part of her Majesty's dominions the same are registered, the following rules shall be observed with respect to agreements; (that is to say,) (1) Every agreement made in the United Kingdom (except in such cases of agreements with substitutes as are hereinafter specially provided for) shall be signed by each seaman in the presence of a shipping master : (2) Such shipping-master shall cause the agreement to be read over and explained to each seaman, or otherwise ascertain that each seaman understands the same before he signs it, and shall attest each signature: (3) When the crew is first engaged, the agreement shall be signed in duplicate, and one part shall be retained by the shipping-master, and the other part shall contain a special place or form for the descriptions and signatures of substitutes or persons engaged subsequently to the first departure of the ship, and shall be delivered to the master: (4) In the case of substitutes engaged in the place of seamen who have duly signed the agreement, and whose services are lost within twenty-four hours of the ship's putting to sea by death, desertion, or other unforeseen cause, the engagement shall, when practicable, be made before some shipping-master, duly appointed in the manner herein before specified; and whenever such last-mentioned engagement cannot be so made, the master shall, before the ship puts to sea, if practicable, and if not, as soon afterwards as possible, cause the agreement to be read over and explained to the seamen; and the seamen shall thereupon sign the same in the presence of a witness, who shall attest their signatures." S. 157. "If in any case a master carries any seaman to sea without entering into an agreement with him in the form and manner and at the place and time hereby in such cases required, the master in the case of a foreign-going ship, and the master or owner in the case of a home-trade ship, shall for each such offence incur a penalty not exceeding five pounds." S. 189. "No suit or proceeding for the recovery of wages under the sum of fifty pounds shall be instituted by or on behalf of any seaman or apprentice in any Court of Admiralty or Vice-Admiralty Court, or in the Court of Session in Scotland, or in any superior Court of Record in her Majesty's dominions, unless the owner of the ship is adjudged a bankrupt or declared insolvent, or unless the ship is under arrest, or is sold by the authority of any such Court as aforesaid, or unless any justices acting under the authority of this Act, refer the case to be adjudged by such Court, or unless neither the owner nor master is or resides within twenty miles of the place where the seaman or apprentice is discharged or put ashore." Tristram, for the plaintiff.-The plaintiff seeks to recover 1861. March 21. |