Lewis v. A Lot of Whalebone

51 F. 916, 1892 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 71
District Court, N.D. California·Decided August 30, 1892·No. No. 10,269·Published·Cited by 5 cases

Opinion

Morrow. District Judge.

This is a suit brought by William Lewis, of New Bedford, Mass., managing owner, and Joseph Whitesides, masr ler, of the steam whaler Belvidere, on behalf of themselves and oí' the other owners, and of the officers and crew of tho vessel, and all others entitled to recover compensation for a salvage service in rescuing a Jot of whalebone from the wreck of the steam whaler William Lewis, near Point Barrow, in the Arctic ocean, October, 1891.

On the morning of the 3d day of October, 1891, the steam whalers William Lewis and Belvidere were engaged in whaling in the Arctic ocean, about 25 miles northeast of Point Barrow. Both vessels were bark-rigged steam whalers. The Lewis was tho more powerful vessel of the two. She was commanded by A. C. Sherinan as master, and her crew of oflir cers and men numbered 47. She had on board a lot of whalebone; subsequently valued at 825,797.25, and 250 barrels of oil, of the value of about 82,500. The Belvidere was commanded by Joseph Whitesides as master, and her crew of officers and men numbered 44. It is alleged in the libel that she was worth, with her catch, supplies, and equipments, in the neighborhood of 875,000, and this is not denied in the answer. About 7 o’clock on the morning of October 3d the wind commenced to blow from the northeast, and continued to increase during the day until about 4 o’clock in the afternoon, when the gale was accompanied by a heavy snowstorm. The Lewis and Belvidere sought shelter under the lee of Point B:.....ow, rounding that point between 7 and 8 o’clock in the evening. At the start from the whaling ground the Lewis was in the lead, but the Belvidere, steaming a little faster than the Lewis, obtained the lead, and kept it until the Belvidere came to an anchor in shoal water, south of the point. At this time it was snowing hard,.and dark. The Belvidere dropped both anchors, and,,in consequence of the shoal water, blew throe blasts of her whistle, to notiiy.thq [918] Lewis that there was danger. The Lewis was about two points off the starboard quarter of the Belvidere. In a lew minutes it was discovered that the Lewis was ashore. The Belvidere kept up steam all night, and steamed up to her anchors to relieve the strain on them. The vessel drew 16 feet of water, and it was found on sounding that she had but 3! feet of water under her keel. When the Lewis ran ashore her engines were reversed, and sail made, to back her off. Every effort was made in this direction until about 11 p. m., the vessel pounding heavily all the time, when the propeller refused to revolve, and it was found that the rudder was broken in twm pieces. The engineer reported the keel broken, and the machinery thrown out of position, and at about the same time water was discovered coining in on the starboard side. At midnight the Lewis blew her steam whistle several times, sent up rockets, and burned blue lights, to indicate her dangerous position and need of assistance. These signals were observed on board the Belvidere, and the captain of the latter vessel asked Mr. Blain, the second officer, if a boat could be got to the Lewis. The latter thought that the sea was too rugged, and that it would not be safe to make the effort. The wind and snow continued during the night. In the morning the captain again asked Blain about sending a boat to the Lewis, and was again told that it would not be safe. None of the officers of the Belvidere wanted to go. A heavy swell coming in made the situation dangerous for the Belvidere. Accordingly, about 6 o’clock, she steamed up to her anchors, took up one, slipped the other with 45 fathoms of chain, and moved off shore about half a mile, when she was again anchored, with the Lewis on her starboard beam. Masses of ice, coming in around the point and grounding outside, had made the water smoother inshore-, but the heavy swell continued, and the strong current, carrying ice, and running southward, rendered it still dangerous to attempt to reach the Lowis.o About 10 o’clock one of the Lewis’ boats went inshore of the ice, and then, coming off to the windward of the Belvidere, came down with the current through the ice to that vessel. This boat had eight men in it, and was in charge of Smith, the boatheader of the Lewis.

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Lewis v. A Lot of Whalebone, 51 F. 916, 1892 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 71 (N.D. Cal. 1892).

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