Morrison v. Same v. District Court of United States For District of Massachusetts

• Decision Date: 03 January 1893
• Docket Number: No. 9,No. 8,O,9,8
• Citation: 37 L.Ed. 60,147 U.S. 14,13 S.Ct. 246
• Parties: MORRISON v. . riginal. SAME v. DISTRICT COURT OF UNITED STATES FOR DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS et al. riginal
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

147 U.S. 14

13 S.Ct. 246

37 L.Ed. 60

MORRISON

v DISTRICT COURT OF UNITED STATES FOR SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK et al.

No. 9, Original.

SAME

v DISTRICT COURT OF UNITED STATES FOR DISTRICT OF

MASSACHUSETTS et al.

No. 8, Original.

January 3, 1893.

[Syllabus from pages 14-16 intentionally omitted] Elihu Root, Harrington Putnam, and Saml. B. Clarke, for petitioner on both petitions.

R. D. Benedict, for respondents in No. 8, original.

John Lowell, John Lowell, Jr., and W. D. Sohier, for respondents in No. 9, original.

[Argument of Counsel from pages 17-18 intentionally omitted] Mr. Justice BLATCHFORD delivered the opinion of the court.

On the 24th of July, 1892, between 8 and 9 o'clock A. M., a collision took place between the steam yacht Alva, at anchor on Nantucket shoals, in Vineyard sound, and owned by William K. Vanderbilt, of the city of New York, and the freight steamship H. F. Dimock, running regularly between Boston and the city of New York, and belonging to the Metropolitan Steamship Company, a Massachusetts corporation. The collision occurred during a thick fog, and, as a consequence of it, the Alva sank.

On the 16th of August, 1892, the steamship company filed a libel and petition in the district court of the United States for the district of Masschusetts against Vanderbilt, as owner of the Alva, in a case of limitation of liability, civil and maritime. It set forth the particulars of the collision and the sinking of the Alva, denied that there was any want of care on the part of the Dimock, and averred that the collision, and the damage occasioned thereby, were caused by the carelessness and incompetence of those in charge of the Alva, and their negligence in anchoring where they did; that the Alva was claimed to be worth over $250,000, which was greatly in excess of the value of the Dimock and the latter's freight then pending,—that being less than $150,000; that the petitioner denied and contested its liability and that of the Dimock for any loss or damage suffered by the Alva or her owner, or by any persons on board of her, but feared that suits or libels might be brought against the petitioner or the Dimock, and damages be claimed in excess of the value of the Dimock and her freight then pending; that the petitioner claimed the benefit of the limitation of liability provided for in sections 4283, 4284, c. 6, tit. 48, of the Revised Statutes of the United States; and that, if the court decided that any damage was occasioned by the negligence of the Dimock, or those in charge of her, for which the Dimock was liable, the petitioner claimed that its liability as her owner should be limited to the value of the vessel and her freight pending at the time of the collision.

The prayer of the libel and petition was (1) that the court would cause due appraisement to be had of the value of the Dimock on the 24th of July, 1892, and of her freight then pending, and would make an order for the giving of a stipulation, with securities, for the payment of the same into court whenever it should be ordered; (2) that the court would issue a monition against all persons claiming damages for loss occasioned by said collision, citing them to appear before the court and make due proof of their respective claims before a day to be named in the monition; (3) that the court would designate a commissioner, before whom such claims should be presented in pursuance of the monition, to make report thereof to the court; and that the petitioner might be at liberty to contest its liability and the liability of the Dimock for all such loss, independently of the limitation of liability claimed; (4) that the court would make an order restraining all persons from prosecuting suits against the petitioner and the Dimock, except before such commissioner, and in the proceeding thus instituted; and that if, upon the coming in of the report of the commissioner and its confirmation, it should appear that the petitioner and the Dimock were not liable for such loss, it might be so decreed; (5) that, if the court should decree that any person or persons were entitled to maintain claims against the petitioner or the Dimock on account of any loss by the collision, it would also decree that the liability of the petitioner should in no event exceed the value of the Dimock and her freight pending at the time of the collision, and that the petitioner and the vessel should be forever exempt from all further liabilities in the premises; that the moneys secured to be paid into court, after paying costs and expenses, should be divided pro rata among the several claimants in proportion to the amount of their respective claims; and that in the mean time, and until the final judgment of the court, it would make an order restraining the further prosecution of any suits against the petitioner or the Dimock in respect of any such claims; and (6) for other relief.

On the 25th of August, 1892, the libel and petition was amended by adding an averment that, at the time it was filed, the Dimock was, and ever since has been, lying in the port of Boston, and within the admiralty jurisdiction and process of the district court.

On the 16th of August, 1892, the district court for Massachusetts issued a warrant to the marshal of the district, directing him to cause the Dimock and her pending freight to be appraised on oath by three appraisers named in the warrant, to be duly sworn. The appraisers made oath before the clerk of the court that they would appraise the vessel and her pending freight according to their best skill and judgment. On the 17th of August, 1892, the three appraisers reported to the court that, after a strict examination and careful inquiry, they estimated and appraised the Dimock at $80,000, and her freight pending at the time of the collision at $2,395.33.

On the latter day the court made an order setting forth that, whereas it appeared that 'due appraisement' had been had of the amount or value of the interest of the petitioner in the Dimock and her pending freight at the time alleged in the petition, and the value thereof had been found to be as stated in the report, and ordering that the petitioner give proper stipulation, with sureties, for the payment into court of the sums named, whenever the same should be ordered. On the same day a stipulation was filed, signed by the petitioner and by two sureties, each of whom justified in the sum of $200,000, which stipulation stated that the petitioner and the two sureties, 'submitting themselves to the jurisdiction of this court,' bound themselves, their heirs, executors, and administrators, jointly and severally, in the sum of $82,395.33, unto William K. Vanderbilt, owner of the Alva, and all other persons claiming damages in the proceedings; that the petitioner should abide by all orders and decrees, interlocutory or final, of the court, and should pay the amount of its final decree, and all sums that the petitioner should be ordered to pay by such final decree, whether in the district court or any appellate court; and that, unless it should do so, the signers consented that execution should issue against them, their heirs, executors, and administrators, jointly and severally, and their lands, goods, and chattels, wherever found, to the value of the sum above mentioned, without further notice or delay.

On the same day, the district court issued a monition to the marshal, commanding him to give notice to Vanderbilt, and to all persons concerned, of the filing of the libel or petition, and of its substance; to cite Vanderbilt and all persons claiming damages for any loss occasioned by said collision to appear before the court, at Boston, on or before November 25, 1892, and make due proof of their respective claims in the premises; to serve a copy of the monition on Vanderbilt, if he should be found within that district; to give further notice by advertising the same in a specified newspaper published at Boston at least 60 days before such return day, and to post a copy of the notice at the courthouse in Boston. The marshal made return on September 2, 1892, that he had advertised the monition three times—on August 19th and 26th, and September 2d—in the designated newspaper, had posted a copy of it in the courthouse at Boston on August 19th, and on the same day had given a further notice to Vanderbilt, by mailing to him an attested copy of the monition, by registered letter, to his house at Newport.

On the 17th of August, 1892, the district court also made an order enjoining Vanderbilt and all persons claiming damages for any loss arising out of the matters and acts alleged in said libel and petition from prosecuting any suit or suits against the libelant or petitioner, as owner of the Dimock, or against that vessel, in respect to any claim or claims arising out of said collision, 'except in these proceedings.' On the 20th of August, 1892, a deputy of the United States marshal for the district of Massachusetts mailed an attested copy of such restraining order to Root & Clarke, attorneys for Vanderbilt, at New York.

On the 30th of September, 1892, Henry Morrison, who was the master of the Alva, and on board of her at the time of the collision, filed a libel in the district court of the United States for the southern district of New York against the Metropolitan Steamship Company, the Dimock, Vanderbilt, and all persons claiming damages against that company or the Dimock by reason of said collision, in a cause civil and maritime, of apportionment of limited liability, pursuant to section 4284 of the Revised Statutes. The libel set forth the particulars of the collision, and averred that it was not caused by any neglect or fault of the libelant, or of any of the persons on board of and having charge of the Alva, but was wholly due to the fault of those in charge of the Dimock, in seven specified particulars. It averred that by the collision the Alva and the personal effects of...