The Cimbria

156 F. 378, 1907 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 129
CourtDistrict Court, D. Massachusetts
DecidedApril 25, 1907
DocketNo. 1,798
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 156 F. 378 (The Cimbria) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
The Cimbria, 156 F. 378, 1907 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 129 (D. Mass. 1907).

Opinion

DODGE, District Judge.

The original libel against the Cimbria was filed by the Eockwood Manufacturing Company on September 11, 1906. No one appeared to claim the vessel, and on September 24, 1906, a decree was entered, upon default, in the libelant’s favor, for $371.42, with costs. A warrant for the sale of the steamer issued on' the same day, the sale took place October 5, 1906, and the net proceeds thereof, amounting to $3,403.40, were paid into court October 15, 1906. The intervening petitions, above referred to, .claiming liens against the proceeds, have been filed at various dates subsequent to the libel. They are named above in the order in which they were filed. All but three of them, as will appear below, are contested by the Veazie National Bank of Bangor, Me., the holder of a mortgage upon the steamer, by virtue of which it claims whatever balance of proceeds may remain after satisfying all diens superior to its own as 'mortgagee. Upon each petition there has now been a hearing, at which not only the mortgagee, but any other petitioner who desired, has been heard in opposition. The following findings are made upon the evidence introduced at these hearings. The facts material upon the various questions raised, will be stated as nearly as may be in the order of their occurrence.

1. The Cimbria was owned by the Bangor & Bar Harbor Steamboat Company, a corporation existing under the laws of Maine and located at Bangor in that state. She was registered at Bangor and hailed from that port. Prior to June 6, 1906, she ran as a passenger steamer between Bangor and Bar Harbor, or other places in Penobscot Bay and the adjacent waters, remaining at Bangor when not engaged in active employment.

2. In the spring or éarly summer of 1906, the company which owned her made arrangements to employ her in running as a passenger steamer between Boston and Nahant in this district. She left Bangor to enter upon this employment June 6, 1906, under the command of W. M. Crosby as master; his name being duly indorsed as master on her papers. Henry W. Barbour, president, treasurer, and general manager of the company, came to Boston at.the same time, and thereafter remained in or near Boston, taking personal charge of her busi[381]*381ness affairs, as will more fully appear below. He had been master of the steamer while she ran on the Bar Harbor route.

3. On June 6, 1906, when the Cimbria left Bangor for Boston, as above, money was due to certain of the petitioners for articles which they had furnished to her or on her account before that date. These petitioners were Thomas F. Gallagher, Penobscot Machinery Company, Snow & Nealley Company, E. & I. K. Stetson, all of Bangor, David Kahnweiler’s Sons, of New York, and Almy Water Tube Boiler Company, of Providence, R. I. The claims of these petitioners will be first dealt with.

4. There was due Thomas F. Gallagher, for supplies furnished to the Cimbria at Bangor:

In October, November, and December, 1904.$ 358 56
Between May, 1905, and December, 1905.. 1,837 60
In April, May, and June, 1906 . 208 76
In all...|1,904 92

Interest was also due on the bills for these supplies, amounting, when the petition was filed, to $102.02.

I find that these supplies were of such character and were furnished under such circumstances as to give the petitioner a lien for the above amounts due, under Rev. St. Me. 1903, c. 93, § 7. The petitioner had had abundant opportunity to enforce his claim before the steamer came to Boston in June, 1906, of which he had not availed himself. But so far as any express provisions of the Maine statute are concerned, the lien given by it continues for two years; and in view of this fact I find nothing in the evidence which requires the conclusion that the petitioners’ lien has been lost by the delay in asserting it, even for the supplies furnished during the seasons of 1904 and 1905. The lien for what was furnished during those seasons, however, though valid, may be postponed, if it becomes necessary, in favor of competing liens of more recent date. But no interest should, under these circumstances, be allowed prior to the filing of the petition.

5. There was due Penobscot Machinery Company, of Bangor, $100 for two sets of three-inch davits ordered May 11, 1906, and furnished to the Cimbria May 31, 1906; the amount mentioned being the agreed price therefor. This petitioner had a valid lien for said amount under the Maine statute above cited.

There was due Snow & Nealley Company, of Bangor, $73.34 for the supplies described in its petition, furnished by it to the Cimbria May 13 and 15 and June 1, 1906. This petitioner had a valid lien under the same statute for that amount.

There was due E. & I. K. Stetson, of Bangor, $100.93 for repairs made upon and materials furnished to the Cimbria in May, 1906. These petitioners had a valid lien under the same statute for that amount. The three last-mentioned claims were not contested.

6. There was due the firm of D. Kalmweiler’s Sons, of New York, N. Y., $100, being the agreed price of a 20-foot metallic lifeboat ordered from them May 14, 1906, by the owner of the Cimbria. It was ordered by telegram and letter from Bangor to be shipped “f. o. b. New York,” and it was so shipped by said firm, which did business at [382]*382New York. It was shipped to and received by the Cimbria's owner, at Bangor, and was placed on board her at that port. It was thereafter used on board her as a part of her equipment.

In ordering the lifeboat, the Cimbria had not been specifically mentioned or referred to, but at that time her owner owned no other vessel, and this the petitioners knew. It was an article of such character as to be necessarily used as equipment on board some steamer or vessel. It was intended for the Cimbria’s use when ordered by Henry W. Barbour, above referred to, who was the person who acted on the company’s behalf in ordering it. When he thus ordered the lifeboat, Barbour was master of the Cimbria, besides being the president, treasurer, and general manager of the company to which she belonged, and he was engaged in equipping her to come to Boston and begin her intended employment upon the Boston-Nahant route. The petitioners, so far as their own intent is concerned, gave credit to the Cimbria for the price of the lifeboat, and did not rely on the sole personal credit of her owner.

There was also due the Almy Water Tube Boiler Company, a corporation established at Providence under the laws of Rhode Island, $208.16, for repair parts and fire brick furnished by it for the Cim-bria’s boiler in May, 1906. These repair parts were ordered by letter from Bangor dated May 10, 1906. The letter asked to have them sent to Bangor by Eastern Steamship Company from Boston. " The petitioner shipped them, accordingly, from Providence, May 14, 1906, by rail to Boston, addressed to the owner of the Cimbria at Bangor. The petitioner is the only maker of repair parts for such boilers as the Cimbria’s, which was an Almy patent boiler. Such parts can be had from the petitioner only. They were necessary, they were ordered by Barbour on the owner’s behalf, his authority to represent the owner is undisputed, the order sent stated that they were for the Cimbria, they were in fact intended for her by both parties, and after reaching. Bangor they were accepted and used on board her.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
156 F. 378, 1907 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 129, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/the-cimbria-mad-1907.