Pacific Mail S. S. Co. v. Waimanalo Sugar Co.

181 F. 927, 104 C.C.A. 365, 1910 U.S. App. LEXIS 4885
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedOctober 3, 1910
DocketNo. 1,839
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 181 F. 927 (Pacific Mail S. S. Co. v. Waimanalo Sugar Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Pacific Mail S. S. Co. v. Waimanalo Sugar Co., 181 F. 927, 104 C.C.A. 365, 1910 U.S. App. LEXIS 4885 (9th Cir. 1910).

Opinion

ROSS, Circuit Judge.

This case grew out of the stranding of the Pacific Mail steamship Manchuria on a coral reef in the bay of Waimanalo, on the northeasterly side of the island of Oahu, on the 20th day of August, 1906, the details of which stranding áre set forth in the case of Pacific Mail Steamship Company v. Commercial Pacific Cable Company, 173 Fed. 28, 97 C. C. A. 346. In the present case the appellee, which was the libelant in the court below, did not sue for salvage services, but brought its libel for services rendered by its steam schooner J. A. Cummings on that occasion at the alleged request of the agents of that company—such services being alleged in the libel to have been “of an extraordinary character, and rendered at the great risk, hazard, and peril to said steam schooner J. A. Cummings, and to the great benefit and advantage of said steamship Manchuria, her passengers, and cargo,” and to have been reasonably worth $4,000.

The specific allegations of the libel are, in effect, that the Cummings, on the 20th of August, 1906, landed passengers and handbaggage from the Manchuria, carrying about 197 passengers in two trips; that on the 21st of August it was loading sugar, as was its custom, at Waimanalo, and, having placed on board about 400 bags, was by the agents of the steamship company requested to go to the Manchuria, [928]*928and in response to that request immediately went out and near to the stranded ship, but found the sea too rough to safely do anything, and consequently went on to Honolulu; that on- the next day, the 22d, it took from the Manchuria and carried to Honolulu about 80 tons of passengers’ baggage and 26 boxes of valuables, worth about $75,000; that on the 23d of August it carried anchors, cables, and other material to the Manchuria, and received baggage from hef, which it transported to Honolulu; that on the 24th of August it carried supplies to the ship Restorer, which was then engaged in salving operations for the Manchuria; and that on the 25th, 26th, and 27th of August it remained at Honolulu, ready to respond, if wanted, under a general request from the agents of the stranded ship.

In its answer the steamship company set up that the only work of the schooner Cummings was performed on August 20th, 22d, and 23d; that on the 21st, at the request of the libelee’s agents, she went out near the Manchuria and left without doing anything; that her work was not of an extraordinary character, nor difficult, nor dangerous; that there was no general request on the part of the steamship’s agents for the schooner to be ready at call during the 25th, 26th, or 27th; and that she was used merely as a matter of convenience, and not as a matter of necessity, there being other vessels available which could have done the same work.

The court below held that, inasmuch as the libelant’s pleading did not allege ¡nor call upon the libelee to meet a, claim for salvage, no award could be made to the libelant upon salvage principles, however much the evidence might tend to show that the services rendered by the libelant were of a salvage nature—citing Simms v. Guthrie, 13 U. S. 18, 24, 3 L. Ed. 642; Crockett v. Lee, 20 U. S. 522, 524, 5 L. Ed. 513; Harrison v. Nixon, 34 U. S. 483, 503, 9 L. Ed. 201; Boone v. Chiles, 35 U. S. 176, 207, 9 L. Ed. 388; Hobson v. McArthur, 41 U. S. 180, 194, 10 L. Ed. 930; Eyre v. Potter, 56 U. S. 41, 55, 14 L. Ed. 592. At the same time it gave in its opinion and judgment “much weight” to the- stranded condition of the "Manchuria.

The libel charges that the Cummings was a steam schooner of about 79 tons, carrying a crew of 15 men, besides the master, and was staunch and in every way "fitted for the transportation of passengers and cargo to and from the several ports in the island of Oahu, within the territory of Hawaii, and was of a value of about $15,000. The court awarded the libelant for the services rendered the aggregate sum of $3,183, made up of these items :

For landing passengers......................................... $1,970 00

Conveying valuables worth $75,000 to Honolulu................... 375 00

Conveying 160 tons of passengers’ baggage........................ 640 00

Carrying wrecking gear to Manchuria........................... 98 00

Attempt of August 21st to get to Manchuria............-.......... 50 00

Carrying supplies for Restorer and Manchuria.................... 50 00

Since quantum meruit is the basis of the libelant’s action, we are to inquire whether these allowances are, as appellant contends, excessive.

The record shows that the schooner Cummings was owned by the libelant, "and that its principal • ¡business was the transportation of [929]*929freight between Honolulu and Waimanalo, which is the landing place for the libelant’s plantation, and distant in a direct line about qne mile from the place where the Manchuria was stranded, but about eight miles as boats are compelled to go because of the reef. The schooner also made trips to neighboring ports, and at times carried some passengers; the usual fare for such passengers from Waimanalo to Honolulu being $1. Ordinarily the schooner made two round trips a week; “emergency trips, five trips a week, when they are jammed with sugar at Waimanalo,” said one of the libelant’s agents, Mr. Whitney, testifying on its behalf. The Cummings was about to leave Honolulu for Waimanalo on one of its regular trips early in the morning of August 20th, when news was received there of the stranding of the Manchuria. With commendable promptness, Mr. Whitney directed the master of the schooner to proceed at once to the distressed ship, and render any and every possible service. Arriving there about 10 a. m., the service of the schooner was at once accepted by the ship for the landing of her cabin passengers and their hand baggage, to accomplish which the schooner was compelled to go to the starboard side of the Manchuria, which was the shore side as she lay upon the reef. The evidence tended to show, and the trial court found, that the water was at the time rough and boisterous, and, although the master of the schooner had long navigated and been familiar with the waters in the vicinity, it appears that he was not familiar with the character of the sea bottom on the lee side of the Manchuria, and did not take time to make soundings, but proceeded at once to tie up at the gangway of the ship and to take off 197 of her cabin passengers, with their hand baggage, and to land them at Waimanalo. The circumstances of this operation, as disclosed by the evidence, were such as clearly to justify the conclusion of the learned judge of the court below that they were “attended with enough uncertainty to include possible damage to the Cummings.” Undoubtedly the service thus rendered by the Cummings was not only of a salvage nature, but highly commendable, and, if the pleadings permitted, should be allowed for on salvage principles. Even as the case is presented, this service may be justly and properly characterized, as it was by the libelant in the court below, as extraordinary, and may be properly compensated in that light.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

The Aurora
194 F. 559 (W.D. Wisconsin, 1912)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
181 F. 927, 104 C.C.A. 365, 1910 U.S. App. LEXIS 4885, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pacific-mail-s-s-co-v-waimanalo-sugar-co-ca9-1910.