The Powhattan
| Decision Date | 12 July 1882 |
| Citation | 12 F. 876 |
| Parties | THE POWHATTAN, etc. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of New York |
In this case I find the following facts:
The steamer Powhattan is an ocean steamer built of iron. Her length is 267 feet, and her breadth of beam 32 1/2 feet. Her registered tonnage is 998 tons. She was built in 1878, and was owned by the Mediterranean & New York Steam-ship Company Limited, and was running between New York and European ports. The firm of Phelps Brothers & Co. were the general agents in New York of the Powhattan and of her owners.
The libellant, in 1878, and for many years prior thereto, was a wholesale butcher and dealer in cattle in Brooklyn, New York. The Powhattan was built for the fruit trade, and was so constructed as to render her between-decks well ventilated for that trade. She had permanent ventilators fixed up to ventilate her hold. She had 15 permanent ventilators, 8 of which were meant to let the hot air up, and the rest had cowls on and were meant to catch the air and force it down some of them being 15 feet high from the deck and others 9. She had four unusually-large hatches. No. 1, the forward hatch, was 11 feet 10 inches long and 8 feet 9 inches broad. No. 2 was 19 feet 6 inches long and 10 feet broad. No. 3 was 16 feet long and 10 feet broad. No. 4 was 8 feet long and 6 feet broad. The combings of all the hatches were 3 feet 10 inches high, so as to enable the hatches to be kept uncovered in ordinary seas.
On the seventeenth of June, 1878, Moses May, the libellant, and the firm of Phelps Brothers & Co., as agents of the steamer Powhattan, entered into a written agreement at New York, of which the following is a copy:
At the time the agreement was made the Powhattan was on her way to New York, and Mr. Phelps informed Mr. May that she would sail from New York on or before the first of July. Subsequently the agreement was modified so that only 129 cattle were required to be shipped in the between-decks, instead of 130. Subsequently Mr. May received notice from the agents of the Powhattan to ship the cattle on Sunday morning, July 7th, and was then told that the steamer would sail at 9 o'clock on the morning of that day, in order to enable her to leave at slack water, which on that day was at 9 o'clock in the morning. The steamer could not leave her dock except at slack water. On the evening of Saturday, July 7th, the cattle then being in the libellant's cattle-yard, the libellant divided them into two lots. Into one lot he put the 129 largest of the cattle, leaving 102 cattle in the remaining lot. All the cattle were of the same good quality and condition, but those in the 129 lot were the largest and heaviest cattle. Their average weight was 250 pounds more than the arrangement of the cattle in the other lot.
At 3 o'clock on the morning of Sunday the lot of 129 cattle was taken from the yard, and by 9 o'clock they were properly stalled in the between-decks of the Powhattan. The second lot was properly stalled on the deck of the Powhattan before half past 10 o'clock. When the 129 cattle which were put on the between-decks were taken on board the Powhattan they were in good order and condition for shipment, and were so receipted for by the steamer's agent in the bill of lading. There was a delay of about one hour in taking the cattle on board the Powhattan, owing to the planks not being ready for the cattle to go on board. For the reason the steamer had lost the morning slack tide the master of the Powhattan changed the hour of sailing to 3 o'clock in the afternoon, which was the next slack-water time on that day. The morning was, in its early hours, hazy. There was a light breeze blowing then and throughout the day along the river from the south-west. On the pier there was an iron shed running the whole length of the pier, and its crown was about 20 feet above the deck of the steamer. The Powhattan lay on the north side of the pier, which was then the lee side of the shed. At the signal-service station at New York the recorded observations of the thermometer on the seventh of July were, at 7 A.M., 77 deg.; at 12 M., 80 deg.; at 2 P.M., 82 deg.; at 4:35 P.M., 83 deg.; at 9 P.M., 81 deg.; and at 11 P.M., 79 deg. At Hudnut's, on Broadway, in New York, the recorded observations were, at 3 A.M., 72 deg.; at 6 A.M., 70 deg.; at 9 A.M., 77 deg.; at 12 M., 82 deg.; at 3:30 P.M., 88 deg.; at 6 P.M., 82 deg.; at 9 P.M., 75 deg.; and at 12 midnight, 74 deg. Soon after the cattle were stalled in the between-decks the heat in the between-decks became intense, and the sufferings of the cattle from the heat were great. Application was made to the officers of the steamer to put wind-sails in the hatches; but it is not shown that the use of wind-sails at the pier would have afforded material relief to the cattle in the between-decks. The officers of the steamer did not put up any wind-sails at the pier, saying that they would put them up as soon as the steamer left the dock. The libellant then urged the master of the Powhattan to get under way, and the master promised to start at noon. At 3 o'clock the steamer started. Up to that time the heat and closeness in the between-decks were great, and the cattle suffered much therefrom. While the steamer was lying at the pier, 13 of the permanent ventilators were open and in good working order, 8 of which were intended to draw upwards the heat in the between-decks, and thus allow it to escape.
After the steamer left the dock, and while she was passing down the bay, 12 wind-sails were put up and distributed among the four hatches of the Powhattan, and were kept up during the whole...
To continue reading
Request your trial