Navigazione Alta Italia, of Turin, Italy v. Vale
| Decision Date | 08 March 1915 |
| Docket Number | 2698. |
| Parties | NAVIGAZIONE ALTA ITALIA, OF TURIN, ITALY, et al. v. VALE. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
James C. Henriques, of New Orleans, La., for appellants.
J. L Warren Woodville and John Alonzo Woodville, both of New Orleans, La., for appellee.
Before PARDEE and WALKER, Circuit Judges, and MAXEY, District Judge.
The injury to the libelant, who at the time he was hurt was acting as the foreman of a gang of screwmen engaged in loading cotton upon the steamship Ill Pie Monte, was due to the breaking of a rope sling used in hoisting the cotton from the wharf and lowering it into the hold of the vessel; a result of the breaking of the rope being that the hook tackle to which it was attached flew up and struck the libelant. The libel charges that it was the duty of the ship to furnish the proper tackle and apparatus to stow its cargo, and that it was grossly negligent in furnishing a sling not sufficiently strong to bear the weight of the two bales of cotton which were being lowered into the hold when the sling broke.
The contract for the loading of the cotton was made by the ship's agent with John B. Honor & Co., who were contracting stevedores. The manner in which the work of loading was done was not controlled by the ship, its officers, or agents, and the men engaged in the work were not subject to their orders or directions. The contract for loading the cotton was made with the stevedores, in accordance with the terms of a written agreement which had been entered into by and between the steamship agents, the contracting stevedores, and the labor organizations of the screwmen of the port of New Orleans, of one of which organizations the libelant was a member. Under that arrangement the ship's agent engages a contracting stevedore to load or unload a cargo, or a part of it (when cotton is to be loaded agreeing to pay so much a bale for loading it), the ship furnishes the rope, tackle, and other appliances required for the work, the stevedore gets the work done by employing for the purpose one or more foremen or 'toters' of gangs of screwmen, each of these foremen having the selection of the members of his organization who are to work with and under him (in the case of loading cotton the stevedore paying the foreman according to the number of bales loaded by his gang), and the foreman settles with the other screwmen, who, with himself, make up his gang. If while the work is in progress, the rope slings which have been furnished to the foreman of a gang wear out or break, on the application of the foreman other slings are furnished to him by an officer of the ship. When work on a job is suspended before it is completed, the slings are left in the hatch where they have been in use, remaining there for further use of the gang until the job is finished. It is not uncommon for slings to wear out or break while the work of loading is going on. Nor is it uncommon for the same slings to be furnished and used which were used in loading the vessel when it was in the port at a former time and was taking on cargo for a previous voyage. At the time the rope in question broke the loading of the cotton had been in progress several days.
It is manifest that the stevedores who contracted to load the cotton were independent contractors, that there...
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