Morris Beef Co. v. The Wells City
| Decision Date | 29 May 1894 |
| Docket Number | 103. |
| Citation | 61 F. 857 |
| Parties | THE WELLS CITY. v. THE WELLS CITY. MORRIS BEEF CO., Limited, |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit |
MacFarland & Parkin (W. W. MacFarland, of counsel), for appellant.
Convers & Kirlin (J. Parker Kirlin, of counsel), for appellee.
Before WALLACE, LACOMBE, and SHIPMAN, Circuit Judges.
The libelant appeals from a decree dismissing a libel filed to recover damages for the decay and deterioration of a lot of beef shipped in good order at New York upon the steamship in a refrigerator, under a bill of lading for transportation to and delivery at Bristol, England. 57 F 317. Upon the voyage the steamship fell in with a vessel disabled and in distress, and took her in tow, and, in performing the salvage service, deviated from the voyage, and was detained thereby about four days beyond the ordinary voyage period. The deviation was only such in distance and duration as was necessary to enable the steamship to take the vessel to a place of safety. In consequence of the delay, the condition and value of the been was materially impaired. The bill of lading, after reciting the receipt, in apparent good order and condition, of the merchandise, continues as follows:
'To be delivered from the ship's deck in the like good order and condition at the aforesaid port of Bristol (subject to certain enumerated exceptions), and with liberty, during the voyage, to call at any port or ports to receive fuel, to load or discharge cargo, or for any other purpose whatever; to call with or without pilots; to tow and assist vessels in all situations.'
If the deviation was, under the circumstances, justified by the provision in the bill of lading in respect to liberty to tow and assist vessels in all situations, the libelant has no just cause of complaint.
It is urged for the appellant that the clause in question is not intended to authorize a deviation to earn salvage at the expense of the cargo; that to construe the clause so as to permit this would be subversive of the object of the contract; and that the only rational construction is that it exempts the carrier from becoming an insurer against excepted risks. In construing such clauses, they are to be read in the light of the general purposes of the contract, and reconciled, so far as may be, with all of its expressed and implied conditions. They are not to be permitted to operate to the extent of their literal scope when this would be inconsistent with the substantial objects of the contract. One of the fundamental conditions of the contract by bill of lading is the obligation of the shipowner to be diligent in carrying the goods on the agreed voyage, and to carry them directly, without any unnecessary deviation; and a construction of the clause which would permit him to abandon the voyage, and go in...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Rosenberg Bros. & Co. v. UNITED STATES SHIP. BOARD EF CORP.
... ... Ward, 20 Q. B. D. 475; The Wells City D. C. 57 F. 317, affirmed in C. C. A. 2 61 F. 857, 10 C. C. A. 123), ... ...
-
United States Shipping Board EF Corp. v. Rosenberg Bros. & Co.
...track of the specific voyage, but not those far outside or beyond the ordinary track. The Wells City (D. C.) 57 F. 317, affirmed 61 F. 857, 10 C. C. A. 123. Bringing the principle to the immediate case, the ports to which the West Aleta could go were those which, in a business sense, would ......
-
Schwarzchild v. National Steamship Co.
... ... put upon it, were considered in the case of The Wells City, ... 57 F. 317, 318, in this court, and on appeal in 10 C.C.A ... ...
-
Smith v. United States Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corp.
...1892 1 Q. B. 337, 342. The American cases are in accord with the British. Ardan S. S. Co. v. Theband, 35 F. 620 (D. C.); The Wells City, 61 F. 857, 858 (C. C. A. 2); Joyce on Insurance (2d Ed.), § Finding that the "rotation" clause had been thus limited, shipowners sought greater latitude b......