The Wildcroft

124 F. 631, 1903 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 155
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedJuly 15, 1903
DocketNo. 32
StatusPublished

This text of 124 F. 631 (The Wildcroft) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
The Wildcroft, 124 F. 631, 1903 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 155 (E.D. Pa. 1903).

Opinion

J. B. McPHERSON, District Judge.

This action is brought to recover for damage done by water to a cargo of sugar, consigned to the libelant at the port of Philadelphia, and carried by the British steamship Wildcroft from the ports of Matanzas and Cardenas. The facts, which are not in dispute, save at one or two points, will be found in the following statement, which is condensed from the brief of the claimant’s counsel:

In April, 1901, the Wildcroft, having discharged a cargo of coal in Havana, proceeded to Cardenas and Matanzas, where she loaded [632]*632sugar in bags, consigned to the libelant. The sugar in controversy was stowed in No. 3 and No. 4 holds, and some of it was found, while being discharged, to have been damaged by water. It does not appear precisely how much of the cargo was damaged. Apparently the bulk of it was sound. But at the top of No. 3 hatch, on the starboard side, the sugar was wet all across the hatchway to a depth of about eight feet. Under the starboard ventilator of the same hold a burrow, caused by water, extended down about eight feet. Under this there was a layer of sound cargo down to a point about three feet from the bottom. On the bottom-of No. 4 hold also, as well as of No. 3, there was a layer of damaged cargo about three feet thick. There was no damage elsewhere in No. 4. In each hold the damage at the bottom was on the starboard side of the tunnel.

The damage at the top of No. 3 hold was caused by salt water that found its way into the hold on April 19th in the manner hereafter stated. The damage at the bottom of the holds, however, was caused by fresh water, the marks on the bulkheads showing that both holds-had been flooded to a height of two to four feet. In order to determine how water, either salt. or fresh, may have found its way into these holds, it is.desirable to refer to the construction of the vessel in some respects, and also to the circumstances of the voyage. The Wildcroft has four holds, two on the fore side of the engine-room tank, and two on the after side. No. 3 and No. 4 holds are on the after side of the engine room, and are separated from each other by a grain-tight bulkhead. A water-tight bulkhead separates No. 3 hold from the engine room, and a water-tight bulkhead also separates No. 4 hold from the peak tank aft. The flooring under No. 3 and No. 4 holds is not water-tight, but is' better than grain-tight. The average depth of the bilges below the flooring is 2 feet 6 inches. As the bulkhead between No. 3 and No. 4 holds is pierced by limber holes, these two compartments are practically one, so far as the passage of water is concerned. The vessel has five tanks. No. 1 is under No. 1 hold, No. 2 under No. 2 hold, No. 3 under the engine room, No. 4 under No. 3 hold, No. 5 under No. 4 hold; and the after-peak tank is aft of No. 5. All these'tanks, excepting the after-peak tank, are built on the double vcellular principle. No. 1 and the after-peak tank were empty during all the voyage from Baltimore to Havana, and thence to Cardenas, Matanzas, and Philadelphia. Nos. 2, 3, 4, and 5 tanks were filled with water for ballast at Havana after the discharge of the cargo, but when the vessel arrived at Cardenas they were pumped dry, and remained dry during the rest of the voyage to Philadelphia.

After the discharge of cargo at Havana, the sluices, holds, and bilges on the ship were overhauled and cleaned. At Cardenas part of the cargo was loaded, the rest being taken on board at Matanzas. After leaving- this port, each hatch was protected with a wooden-cover and with three tarpaulins that were securely battened down with iron bars and wedges. On leaving Matanzas, the vessel drew about 2r feet'6 inches fore and aft, and was then in every respect seaworthy, and properly manned, equipped, and supplied. The hatches were not taken off until after the vessel reached Philadelphia. Dur[633]*633ing the voyage the weather was exceptionally severe, culminating on April 19th in heavy gales, tropical rain, and high seas, the result being that the vessel rolled and pitched heavily, and shipped large quantities of water on deck. About 3 p. m. on that day a heavy sea tore away the three tarpaulins that covered No. 3 hatch and the starboard ventilator cover at the forward part of the hatch. New tarpaulins were lashed temporarily over the hatch as securely as the violent weather would permit, and a spare cover was put oyer the ventilator, but the weather did not moderate sufficiently until 6 or 7 o’clock the next moving to permit the crew to fix the tarpaulins permanently over theliatch, and thus to make it again as secure as when the vessel left Matanzas. During this interval, the vessel shipped heavy seas, the downpour of rain continued, and a considerable quantity both of sea water and of rain water entered No. 3 hatch through the. joints of the hatch and down the ventilator hole. Not much water reached the bottom of either hold at this time. Both holds were-sounded night and morning during all the voyage, and no more than the usual amount of water was found — two to four inches. The vessel arrived at Philadelphia on April 22d, and was taken to the libel-ant’s wharf to discharge her cargo. Before the discharge was begun, the sugar directly under the hatch of No. 3 was found to be damaged by water. All the bags across the hatchway were wet. Under the-ventilator whose cover had been washed off there was a burrow about eight feet deep between the bags where the water had run down. The discharge began on April 23d, and was continued without further incident until April 29th. At 7 a. m. of that day, in accordance with the standing orders that soundings should be taken night and morning, the pumps connecting with No. 3 and No. 4 holds were started and were worked for 15 minutes, but nothing was pumped out. About 3 p. m., however, the stevedore that was discharging the vessel reported to the chief officer and the chief engineer that there was water in hold No. 4. Soundings were taken immediately, and between five and six feet of water were found. There was no water in the engine-room bilge, however, and the sluices in the tunnql connecting with No. 3 hold and the after-wells of the engine room were then opened, and the water and molasses were' pumped out, both holds being dry by midnight. The chief engineer tasted the liquid in the bottom of the hold, and found it to be molasses and fresh water. In order to determine whether any of this water had come into the ship through a leak in the hull, of in any of the ballast tanks, the vessel was thoroughly examined by Lloyd’s surveyors in Philadelphia immediately after the cargo had been discharged, and before repairs of any kind had been made. No leak or injury to the hull or tanks was found, and the surveyors thereupon gave the vessel a certificate of seaworthiness.

The fresh water in the holds is accounted for as follows: On the morning of April 29th, No. 3 engine-room tank was filled with fresh, water from the Delaware river, for ship’s purposes. It began to’ flow into the tank at 10 o’clock and the flow was uninterrupted for three hours. A drawing showing the arrangement of pipes, connections, and valves involved in this explanation, is annexed to the claim[635]*635ant’s testimony. This drawing was prepared by a consulting engineer who examined the vessel in London in June, 1901, before any repair, alteration, or change in arrangement had been made in any of the pipes, cocks, or valves in use on April 29th, when the damage was done. No. 3 tank, just referred to, is under the engine room. It is filled by opening a valve, A, in the ship’s side, which admits water from the river into the tank-filling pipe, A, B.

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Bluebook (online)
124 F. 631, 1903 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 155, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/the-wildcroft-paed-1903.