The Gazelle Meissner v. Brun
Decision Date | 26 November 1888 |
Citation | 128 U.S. 474,32 L.Ed. 496,9 S.Ct. 139 |
Parties | THE GAZELLE. MEISSNER et al. v. BRUN |
Court | U.S. Supreme Court |
This was an appeal from a decree in admiralty on cross-libels for breaches of a charter-party of the Norwegian bark Gazelle, by which, on June 16, 1881, Herman Brun, her master, chartered her to Meissner, Ackermann & Co. for a voyage from Baltimore 'to a safe, direct Norwegian or Danish port, as ordered on signing bills of lading, or as near thereunto as she can safely get, and always lay and discharge afloat,' on the terms, among others, that the charterers should furnish a full cargo of refined petroleum in barrels, and pay freight of three shillings and three pence sterling a barrel; that the vessel should be loaded by July 6th; and that demurrage of eleven pounds sterling should be allowed for each day's detention by their default. On July 11th, and August 1st, 9th, and 22d, the master filed successive libels against the cargo, setting forth the making and the principal provisions of the charter-party, and annexing a copy thereof; and further alleging that the vessel was duly loaded by July 6th, and on that day the charterers tendered to the master for signature bills of lading ordering her to the port of Aalborg, in Denmark, as the port of discharge, 'to be landed at Aalborg, or as near thereto as the vessel can safely get;' that the master refused to sign the bills of lading, for the reason that Aalborg was not a safe port, and it was impossible for a vessel to enter it with cargo, or to land her cargo at the port, or at any anchorage or landing place near it, so as always to lay and discharge afloat; and that he expressed to the charterers his willingness to perform the charter, and requested them to name a safe port, but they refused. Each of those libels claimed demurrage according to the charter, amounting in all to $2,070.20; the fourth libel claimed also $400 for the expenses of taking out most of the cargo; and each libel contained a prayer for general relief. The charterers filed answers, admitting the making of the charter-party, and the refusal of the master to sign bills of lading; alleging that the port of Aalborg is a safe port, well known to commerce, especially in the petroleum trade, and one to which vessels of deeper draught than the Gazelle are habitually dispatched under charter-parties of like terms with that in controversy; and further alleging that, by the established and uniform usage and custom of trade between Baltimore and other Atlantic ports of the United States, and ports of Norway and Denmark, the port of Aalborg is recognized as being, and understood to be, a safe, direct port of Denmark, within the terms and provisions of such a charter-party, denying that there is no safe place or anchorage outside that port where the vessel could always lay afloat and discharge her cargo, or that there had been any detention of the vessel by their default; and alleging that the entire delay and the damages, if any, resulting therefrom, were due solely to the default of the master. On August 20th, the charterers filed a cross-libel against the vessel, alleging the same matters as in their answers to the other libels, and claiming $8,000 damages for breach of the charter-party, and general relief. The master filed an answer to the cross-libel, presenting the same issues as the other libels and answers.
The district court sustained the libels of the master, and dismissed that of the charterers, and entered decrees accordingly. 11 Fed. Rep. 429. The charterers appealed to the circuit court, which consolidated the cases, and made the following findings of fact: ...
To continue reading
Request your trial-
Wiser v. Lawler
... ... 322, 26 L.Ed. 752; Watts v. Camors, 115 U.S ... 353, 6 S.Ct. 91, 29 L.Ed. 406; The Gazelle, 128 U.S. 474, 9 ... S.Ct. 139, 32 L.Ed. 496. Second. "That it is only the ... ultimate facts ... ...
-
Ira S. Bushey & Sons v. WE Hedger Transp. Corp.
... ... 391, 400, 6 L.Ed. 118; The Palmyra, 12 Wheat. 1, 13-14, 6 L.Ed. 531; The Gazelle, 128 U.S. 474, 487, 9 S.Ct. 139, 32 L.Ed. 496; The Spica, 2 Cir., 289 F. 436, 440; Smith, ... ...
- United States v. Citgo Asphalt Ref. Co. (In re Petition of Frescati Shipping Co.)
-
Pearson v. Tide Water Associated Oil Co.
... ... § 223, and award any relief which the law warrants under all the facts pleaded, The Gazelle, 128 U.S. 474, 9 S.Ct. 139, 142, 32 L.Ed. 496; Davis v. Adams, supra; Smith, Kirkpatrick & Co. v ... ...