McCarthy v. The Sarah E. Kennedy

29 F. 264, 1886 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 187
CourtDistrict Court, D. New Jersey
DecidedNovember 10, 1886
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 29 F. 264 (McCarthy v. The Sarah E. Kennedy) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. New Jersey primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McCarthy v. The Sarah E. Kennedy, 29 F. 264, 1886 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 187 (D.N.J. 1886).

Opinion

Wales, J.

The libelants, 13 in number, sue for seaman’s wages, and their libels have been consolidated. Their services are alleged to have been rendered on board the brig Sarah E. Kennedy. The brig belonged to Somers Point, New Jersey; and while lying at the port of Baltimore, on the seventeenth of July, 1885, was chartered by Daniel Walters, her master and agent for owners, to Charles Smedley for a voyage from the last-named port to Arenas Key, a small island in the Gulf of Mexico, and back to Hampton roads for orders not east of New York. By the terms of the charter-party, Smedley stipulated to provide and furnish to the vessel a full and complete cargo, under deck, of guano in bulk for the homeward voyage, to carry out men and materials, to gather cargo, and bring men back, to furnish a steward, provisions, take entire care of the men, and to load materials, etc., free of expense to the vessel. He was to .pay the master or agent, for the use of the vessel during the voyage, at the rate of four dollars per gross ton for each ton delivered, and deliver the guano along-side at Arenas Key at his own expense. Twenty-five days were allowed for loading and discharge; and for each day’s detention by default of the charterer, he was to pay $48. Performance of the com [265]*265tract by Smedley was guarantied by third parties. The brig had her own master, and a full complement of officers and crew, with an ample supply of provisions for their separate use.. The libelants, each for himself, by written agreement, engaged to go with Smedley to the island “for a cargo,” in consideration of wages varying from fifteen to twenty dollars per month, and found, “and to he under orders, and work diligently as ho may direct.” The brig was to sail on the twenty-first of July, hut did not get off until the twenty-seventh. Smedley accompanied tho men.

Nothing unusual occurred on the outward voyage until the island was sighted, on the twentieth of August, at about 7 p. m., when tho brig ran on a coral reef or bar, and all hands on board, including libelants, went to work throwing over ballast. The tide was low, but rising, and, after 15 or 20 tons or more had been thrown over, and the top-sails backed, the vessel floated, in about an hour after she had struck, and without damage. The weather was calm. The brig put to sea, and the next day came to anchor off the island. On the 22d, the master notified Smedley that he was ready to discharge supplies and receive cargo. Sunday intervening, the libelants did not get to work until the 24th. They were quartered on the island during the time of loading the vessel, digging out and carrying the guano alongside in scows, from which it would be hoisted on board by the crew. The libelants continued at this work until the fifteenth of September, when, in consequence of a rumor that the water on the brig was falling short, they refused to work any longer, but were prevailed on by tho united efforts of Smedley and the master to bring off two more loads in order to trim the vessel; and on the evening of that day the brig sailed on her return voyage, touching at Hampton roads for orders, and arrived off Jersey City on October 35th. The libels were filed four days afterwards.

The libelants were landsmen. Only two of them had been at sea before,—one as a fireman, and the other as a passenger or cook. On the voyage out and back, Smedley, with some of his riten, would occasionally assist at the wdndlass, and at the braces when tho vessel was tacking, hut they never went aloft, stood watch, or steered. At tho time of signing the charter party, Smedley agreed to let tho master have the use of the men when he wanted it, but the master says he never called on him for assistance. Ho had seen Smedley and his men take hold of the windlass and help heave; had seen them catch hold of the braces, and help pull round sometimes; but that most of the men never did anything at all. McCarthy, one of the libelants, says that he helped any time “he was asked,-—not every day, but when he was up out of the hold.”

The cargo was sold for. $3,300. The master’s claims for freight, demurrage, etc., exceeded this sum, and he and Smedley had some kind of a settlement in tho office of Lister Bros., the purchasers of tho guano, in New York. Smedley received $400, with the under[266]*266standing, on his part, that out of the balance the master would pay his own claims, and the wages of the .libelants. The master denies that he made any such promise. He and Smedley flatly contradict each other, and the only reliable testimony on this subject is that of Mr. Post, a lawyer, who was present at the time the $400 were paid to Smedley. This witness says that the master’s claim was in excess of the value of the cargo, and that, “in making up the statement upon which the settlement was effected, it was stated that this libel had been put upon the vessel. It was part of the settlement that the captain should take care of the claim of these libelants, either by resisting and defeating it in the court, or by satisfying it if a judgment should be obtained.” The defense is that the libelants did not sign shipping articles as seamen, and did not in fact render any services as such; that they were not employed by the vessel as laborers, but contracted to work on the credit of Smedley, and not on that of the brig or cargo; and that the slight and occasional help contributed by them in working the ship was entirely voluntary, and not of such character and importance as to give them a maritime lien.

It is contended for the libelants that they are entitled to payment for services rendered, as seamen, or as salvors, or as stevedores. But this contention is founded on the evidence, and not on the allegations contained in the libels, which omit any mention of claims for salvage or for loading the brig. The libelants must recover, if at all, as seamen, secundum allegata et probata. The Boston, 1 Sum. 331, where it was held not sufficient that there are facts proved which might have a material bearing, unless there are allegations suited to bring them, as matters of .plea and controversy, before the court. See, also, Admiralty Rule 23, and Ben. Adm. § 401. The only question, then, is, can these libelants recover, under the head of seamen or mariners, on the law and the facts of the case. The solution of this question will govern the decree of the court.

The main proposition in support of the affirmative is that “all the persons who have been necessarily or properly employed in a vessel as co-laborers for the great purpose of the voyage, have by the law been clothed with the legal rights of mariners,—no matter what might be their sex, character, station, or profession.” Ben. Adm. § 241. And the cases chiefly relied on to sustain and illustrate this rule are The Ocean Spray, 4 Sawy. 105; The Highlander, 1 Spr. 510; The Canton, Id. 437; The Minna, 11 Fed. Rep. 759.

In The Ocean Spray, 30 Indians were shipped by the vessel, at Victoria, to go to the northern waters to take seal, “and to lend a hand on board whenever they were wanted,” for $30 per month, until they returned to Victoria, where they were to be paid off and discharged. During the outward voyage, when head winds prevailed, they helped to reef and make sail, heave the anchor and clear decks, but did not stand watch. They were also employed in procuring [267]*267drift-wood and water for the use of the vessel, and were under the control of her officers.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
29 F. 264, 1886 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 187, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mccarthy-v-the-sarah-e-kennedy-njd-1886.