The Livingstone

104 F. 918, 1900 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 106
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. New York
DecidedOctober 8, 1900
DocketNo. 3,664
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 104 F. 918 (The Livingstone) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
The Livingstone, 104 F. 918, 1900 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 106 (W.D.N.Y. 1900).

Opinion

HAZEL, District Jndge.

This is a cause of collision between the steamer Grand Traverse, owned by the Lackawanna Transportation Company, and the steamer Livingstone, owned by the Michigan Navigation Company. Both steamers were found in equal fault, and an interlocutory decree was rendered on January 8, 1899, that the loss and damage accruing to the steamers Livingstone and Grand Traverse, respectively, -be apportioned between them in equal moieties. The Livingstone, 87 Fed. 769. The libel was filed by the Lackawanna Transportation Company, owner of the Grand Traverse, and by the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad Company as owner of 679 gross tons of nut coal and as bailee in divers other merchandise shipped upon the said propeller Grand Traverse. The Grand Traverse was chartered by the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad Company for the season of navigation on the Great Lakes for 1896. The libel upon which the suit is based was filed in the joint names of the Lackawanna Transportation Company and Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad Company, and a joint right of recovery is averred therein. The Livingstone was seized under this libel, and was bonded by the Fidelity & Deposit Company of Maryland as surety. The bond runs to the libelants above named jointly and severally in the sum of $75,250, to be paid to the said libelants, their and each of their successors or assigns, and conditioned that, if the claimant of the Livingstone shall well and truly abide and answer the decree of the court in said cause; of libel without fraud or oilier delay, then the obligation to be void. The answer of the Livingstone to the libel denies fault on her part, and avers that the collision was caused wholly on account of the fault, negligence, and improper navigation of the Grand Traverse. The answer also aUeges that the Livingstone suffered damages to the extent of $6,850, which constitutes an enforceable lien against the Grand Traverse, and prays that the libel in the cause may be dismissed, and that such other and further order may be made as will protect the just rights of the respondent. After issue was joined, the Indemnity Mutnal Marine Assurance Company, Limited, of London, England, filed its petition setting forth [920]*920that it was the insurer of 679 gross tons of nut coal shipped by the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad Company, and consigned to said Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad Company; that the insurance on coal was against all perils that should come to the damage of said property; that the coal was totally lost, and was abandoned to the petitioner, the insurance company, and the amount insured thereon was paid by the insurance company to the consignee, the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad Company, and it thereby “became subrogated to the rights of the libelant the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad Company, as owner of the coal, against any vessel or person whomsoever on account of the injury and damage resulting to said coal by reason of the collision.” The. petitioner prays that it be allowed to intervene and prosecute its claim against the Livingstone and the sureties upon the bond or stipulation filed in the cause, and the court is asked by the petition to “decree that the claimant of the Livingstone and the sureties upon its bond pay to your petitioner the loss and damage sustained, with interest.” An order was accordingly made permitting the petitioner to intervene, and in due time the Livingstone, as required by the order, made answer to the petition, denying, among other things, that she was in fault for the collision, and denying that the Indemnity Mutual Marine Assurance Company has a claim against the owner of the propeller Livingstone and the sureties on the bond and stipulation filed in the cause. After the entry of the interlocutory decree finding both steamers in fault, the Union Marine Insurance Company, Limited, of Liverpool, England, also petitioned to be allowed to intervene as insurers of certain cargo of the steamer Grand Traverse, shipped via the Lackawanna Transportation Company, and consigned to Johannes Bros., of Green Bay, Wis. It alleges that said last-mentioned merchandise was insured in the sum of $813, and that said merchandise was at the time of the collision of the two steamers lost and destroyed; that on payment of the insurance the merchandise was abandoned to the last-named insurance company by the shippers and consignee, and that by the terms and conditions of the policy it became subrogated to the rights of said shippers and consignee against any vessel or person whomsoever on account of the injury and damage resulting to said merchandise by reason of said collision. To this petition the claimants of the Livingstone also made answer denying liability. The interlocutory decree, after finding that both steamers were at fault in bringing about the collision between the said steamers, respectively, and that the loss and damage occurring to said steamers be apportioned between them in equal moieties, decreed further that the question of the amount of damages sustained by said vessels on account of the collision, as well as to the cargo of the steamer Grand Traverse, be referred to a commissioner to take proof respecting said damage, and ascertain and report the amount thereof, together with such proofs, to the court; and that all questions as to the liability of said steamers for the loss and damage resulting from said collision to the. cargo of the steamer Grand Traverse be reserved by the court for further consideration until the [921]*921coming in of tin; report of the commissioner and the entry of the final decree in the case. Pursuant to the decretal order, the corn-missioner reported to the court that the parties to the cause entered into a stipulation authorizing and directing him, as such commissioner, to report the damage to libelants by reason of the loss of the Grand Traverse at pi,500, and he does so report accordingly, with interest from the date of the collision, October 19, 189(5, amounting to $45,31(5.17. As to the claim made by the owners of tlxe Livingstone for the loss and damage sustained by that vessel, the commissioner found from a written admission signed by proctors for libelants and for respondent, and from the evidence before him in regard to certain disputed items, that the damage sustained by the Livingstone, with interest, amounts to $7,815.16. As to the claim made by the intervening underwriters on cargo- of the Grand Traverse, based on the stipulation of proctors for libelants and for respondents, he find's the damages sustained by them to be as follows: The Indemnity Mutual Marine Assurance Company, Limited, of London, England, the insurer of the coal, with interest, $4,284.60; the Union Marine Insurance Company, Limited, of Liverpool, England, the insurers of merchandise consigned to Johannes Bros., with interest, $955.41. As to die claim for personal effects of the master and crew of the steamer Grand Traverse he finds that their recovery against the Livingstone is limited to one-half of the value in each case of personal effects lost, amounting to 8402.99, including interest. In each case interest is computed from the date of the collision at 6 per cent., except as to The claims of the interveners, in whose behalf the computation of interest is from the tíme of payment by the interveners of the cargo damages. The claimant of the Livingstone, the Michigan Navigation Company, excepts to the report of the commissioner, and the question now to be considered arises upon the exceptions to the commissioner’s report.

It is insisted: First.

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Bluebook (online)
104 F. 918, 1900 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 106, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/the-livingstone-nywd-1900.