THE TONAWANDA. ,
877
TIm, TONAWANDA. l JARVIS and'others 'D.
THE TONAWANDA.
(OVrcuit Gourt, E;D. Pennsylvania. January 17,1887.)
1rLuuTmE
Unregistered and secret maritime liens may be enforced against a vessel in the hands of bona fide purch/tsers, unless the holders of such liens havebeeJ;l , guilty of negligence or laches. See the Same case, at' length, in 27 Fed·, Rep. 575. '
LIEN-LACHES.
"
Appeal from district court. See 27 Fed. Rep. 575. EtfJlng' & WiUiama, for l.ibelants. , HfJnry ,R. Edmunds, forfespondents. I
In ,Admiralty· '
McKENNAN, J. The defenseoftherespondent3 in this <lase is apparently so equitable, and therefore meritorious, that I have examined and considered the whole case with an to make effective against the claim of the libelants. 'r4eyhave d911e l\nd have not forborne to do anything, ininy judgll1ent, the assertion by them of any just or legal reason for denying their liabil. '.Cgey bona fide, 'Purchasers of the vessel,froll1 its real as as qsteIlSible owners. received 'a,ssurances of the freedom of 'the #9Pi an and charges, and they took frorn theirv.endor a conveyance, ",ith,:,li,iS, P,'ersonal w,arrari,t Wh, ic, was rende,!ed ine,ffe,ctive bYSUOS, , irisol:vency. Hence they had. a rIght to beheve that they had paid, tp.e full consi!leration for theirpurchase for which they were, in any wise, bound. But tile libelanw held an unregisWred' and secret lien uponthe vessel, which they had an' undoubted right to enforce, unless they' haye lost it by their own negligence. Greater on their in tracing the ownership of the,vessel, and in demllnding payment for their debt from the purchasers of it, might have imabled'the latter to protect vendor; but I am constrained to the conthemselves Qy a resort to clusion, by the pressure of 'decided cases, that they are not chargeable with such'laches as will subject them to the loss of their remedy llgliinst him. This is fully and satisfactorily described in the opinion' of the learned judge who' decided the case in the district court., , I therefore adopt his .views, and now order that a decree be prepared entered in this court for the S,UlA decreed by tile district court, in favor of the libelants,and agairistthe respondents, with costs. ' ..
y,
IReported bie. Berkeley T"ylor, Esq., of the Phil"delphia ba.r.
S78
FEDERAL REP.oRTER.
t
THE,BRAl'd:>OW.1'
, t (
TH;E
'J3E;SSARABIA..
BoYLE,Master, etc., f;[ . _ ., ,
BESSARABIA,
etc.
(DiBtriet OO'll'l't, E. D. South Oall'olina. February 8, 1887.) 1.B.ALTAGB_UNNJooEBSARY ASBISTANOIl.,
One who voluntarily goes.tothe:Bsslstance of a Yessel in distress, with the intent and of aidin$ her. but who fails to arrive until his assistance has ceased to be necessary, IS not entitled to compensation as a salvor, nor is his 8eatu8 altered by reason of the circumstance that he participated in the e,fforts to save the vessel,if at the time, of ,arrival his assistance '\'VaS not required.
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·
, '',
S. SAME-COSTS-UNNECESSARY, ASSISTANCE''-INTEN'1"-EFFECT OF. While one who goes to the assistance ola vessel in distJ,'es's,\ but who fails to arrive until the necessity for his aid has ceased to cannot claim as a salvor, the court will. in consideri'ngthe 'question of costs. have a due regard for the intent and hope of the libelant, and, if it appears that tbe efforts of the made with the intpnt and hope of il'endering 888istance, the costs will'becliv:ided. ' ' ,
" ;!MitilieU &: Smith, for claImant. ,;d '
In Admiralty. Libel for salvage. :A.G. MagrdJ)", forlibelant;' ,
, SIMoNiON, J. On the morning 'Of tpe eighteenth Jaiiuary, 1887, about past 12 A. M., a fire broke ouUn the Bessarabia"then loading with cotton in the' port M9harleston, at Atlantic Wharves.' ,The ,steam-ship was bUiltin forw,ard was divided into two parts by, w09den bulk-heads. were in the ship, wh:en fire broke op;t, some 1,100 bales of cott()n. of theseb&les were.inthe ,Ciotnpartment aft, the remfitnder in'the compartment forward. 'SfuOke was seen cOD:"!ing out of thefo'rward hatch,auel, the fire was evi,ciep.tlyin the forward The ,alarmoffire was first given the' watch on the ,of the 'steltrn-ship, doming on deck, set his punwgoing, an.<l sent a stream pfwater down the forward hatch with the ship's hose.. Hesounqed no alarm from.his vessel, but the . 91} the. :wharf tosoun9 the city fire alarm; thus to summon theClty fire department. In, fi\l'e minutes this waS done. The fire r.espoilded at once, and were on the' scene of in five or six the'alarm was sounded , with five steam f\?ur , sbonastbe fire department \ii-rived, its chief took charge tbe 'fire,w1th, the fun concurrence of tbe master of the steam-ship, andilli a sh'ort'time had4;"and soon wards had 10, streams. of pouring the, forward hatch, frqm hose discharging each about '800 gallons of water a min'ute: This steady stream of water produced its natural result. The fire was at once under control, and after some time was subdued. After the fire was out, and IReported by Theodore M. Etting, Esq., of the Philadelphia bar.