THE MARATHON V. THE ANDREW HICKS.
653
ent complainant, withdrew therefrom several years since, and the association can hardly be said now to continue in existence as it was at the time the agreement for interchangeable use of the patents of the respective members was made. But, without reference to that question, I think it is sufficient to say that the law is well established that a license by a patentee is personal to the licensee, and not transferable, and that Harrison Woodmanse could not clothe the present defendant with any authority to use the patents in question by virtue of his membership in the Windmill Protective Association. Troy Iron tt Nail Factory v. Corning, 14 How. 216; Curt. Pat. § 213. The bill in this case charged the infringement by defendants of several other patents besides the ones which I have considered, but, upon the hearing, all the infringements charged were abandoned except the two patents now mentioned. No question call arise as to the validity of the reissue of this patent, because the claims alleged to be infringed in this case are the same as the claims in the original patent. l'he court therefore finds that the defendants have infringed the first claim of reissued patent No. 9,4U3, and the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth claims of reissued patent No. 6,101, and a reference to a master will be ordered to take an account of the damages; and the bill is dismissed for want of equity as to the other patents mentioned therein.
THE MARATHON V. THE ANDREW
HICKS.
(District Court, D· .JfassachuseUs. August 4, 1885.) COLLISION HOHN. STEAM-SHIP AND BARK- ATLANTIC OCEAN -
FOG -
SPEED -
FOG-
A speed by a steam-ship of IOU' knots an hour in It dense fog is immoderate even in mid-ocean. Steam-ship held liable for collision with whaling bark.
In Admiralty. Geo. Putnan, for the Marathon. C. T. Russell and C. T. Jr., for the Andrew Hicks. NELSON, J. These are cross-libels for a collision between the Cunard steam-ship Marathon and the whaling bark Andrew Hicks, of New Bedford. The collision occurred in a thick fog in the Atlantic ocean, in latitude 50 deg. 31 min. N., longitude.22 deg. 51 min. W., at about 5 o'clock of the afternoon of July 1, 1882. 'fhe wind was light, from the south-west, and the Bea l'1mooth. The Hicks was cnlising for whales. She was close-bauled on the starboard tack, her course S. S. E. T!:le Marathon was on a voyage from Liverpool to Boston. Her course before the collision was W. by N. She heard and saw nothing of the Hicks, and took no measures to avoid her, until they were so close together that the collision was inevita-
.654
FEDERAL REPORTER.
bIe. The Hicks struck the Marathon end on, upon the starboard bow. The Marathon suffered considerable damage, but the injuries to the Hicks were so severe that she was obliged to return to port, and her voyage was broken up. The charge against the Marathon is that she was going at an immoderate speed. I am of opinion that this eharge is fully sustained by the evidence. The maximum speed of which she was capable was between 12 and 13 knots. Her average sea-speed, in good weather, was from 11 to 12 knots. Just before the collision she was running at the rate of lOt knots. The fog was so thick that an approaching vessel could not be seen twice her length off. Such a rate of speed in such a fog must be pronounced immoderate, even in mid-ocean. The fault attributed to the bark is that she failed to give signal of her approach by sounding a proper foghorn. That her horn was blown constantly for some time before the collision does not admit of a doubt. The evidence of the men on the bark is clear and positive on the point. I see no reason not to believe their statements. At least one blast of her horn was beard on the steam-ship before she came in sight. The born was of the usual. dimensions, and such as is always carried by vessels of her class. I do not think any fault is shown on the part of the bark. In the suit against the Marathon, an interlocutory decree is to be entered for the libelants; the libel of the Cunard Steam-ship Company against the owners of the is to be dismissed, with costs.
THE I'OTTSVILLE.
655.
THE POTTSVILLE. THE JAMES
H.
MOORE.
(District (Jourt, D. Massachusetts. August 7, 1885.) COLLISIOX-VINEYARD SOUND-STEAMER AND SCHOONER-FOG-TORCH-MuTUAL I!'AULT-DAMAGES.
On examination of the evidence, held, that thesleam-ship Pottsville was negligent in running at full speed in a dense fog in such a thoroughfare for vessels as Vineyard sound, and in failing to stop and reverse when the fog-horn of the schooner James H. Moore was first heard, and that the schooner was also negligent in not exhibiting a torch, and that the damages should be divided.
In Admiralty. NELSON, J. This collision occurred in Vineyard sound, three miles west of West Chop, on the evening of the seventeenth of August, The wind was moderate from W. S. W., with thick fog. The schooner James H. Moore was on a voyage from Perth Amboy to Boston with a cargo of coal. She was under mainsail, foresail, and jib, with the wind directly aft. She was making from five to six knots. The Pottsville, a large sea-going steam-ship, was on a voyage from Salem to Philadelphia, light. Her course after passing West Chop was parallel with and nearly opposite to that of the Moore. She was going at full speed, from nine to ten knots. When the two vessels were from one-ninth to one-eighth of a mile apart, the fog-horn of the schooner was heard by the lookout on the steamer, and reported to the pilot; and was also heard in the pilot-house. The sound seemed to those on the steamer to come from over the port bow. By the master's order, the wheel of the steamer was put hard to port, to pass the schooner on the port aide. The speed of the steamer was also reduced ' to one bell. Almost immediately afterwards, within a very short interval of time, the schooner's lights were seen by the steamer's lookout through the fog and reported. The steamer's engine was then put full speed astern, but too late to avoid the collision. She struck the schooner on her starboard side, a few feet abaft the forerigging, cutting her down to the water's edge, and sinking her almost instantly. The crew escaped in the boat, and were taken on board the steamer. The lookout of the steamer was killed by the falling of the foretop-mast, pulled down by the rigging of the schooner. The error of the Pottsville was twofold. Driving the steamer at full speed in a dense fog, in such a thoroughfare for vessels as Vineyard sound, was a violation of the twenty-first sailing rule, which requires steam-vessels to go at moderate speed in a fog. Second, the failure to stop and reverse when the fog-horn was first heard, violated ;he same rule, which requires a steam-vessel, when approaching an-
J. G. Dodge c/; Sons, for the James H. Moore. R. Stone, for the Pottsville.