Spraigue v. Thompson

• Decision Date: 26 April 1886
• Citation: 6 S.Ct. 988,118 U.S. 90,30 L.Ed. 115
• Parties: SPRAIGUE and others, Owners of the Saxon. v. THOMPSON. Filed
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

118 U.S. 90

6 S.Ct. 988

30 L.Ed. 115

SPRAIGUE and others, Owners of the Saxon. v. THOMPSON.

Filed April 26, 1886.

H. B. Tompkins, for plaintiffs in error.

No appearance for defendant in error.

MATTHEWS, J.

This was an action at law, begun by the defendant in error in a magistrate's court in Chatham county, Georgia, against the plaintiffs in error, to recover $93.16, claimed to be due under the pilotage laws of Georgia, for inward pilotage on account of the steamer Saxon, of which the defendants were owners, the vessel having been spoken by the pilot while she was bearing towards the port of Savannah, and his services offered outside of Tybee bar, and refused, the vessel having arrived in port piloted by another Savannah pilot, who spoke her and entered on the discharge of his duties as pilot on the same day, but subsequently to the tender by the plaintiff below of his services. There was a judgment in favor of the plaintiff below in the magistrate's court for the amount claimed, which was reversed on appeal by the superior court of Chatham county, which judgment was in its turn reversed by the supreme court of Georgia, which ordered judgment to be entered for the plaintiff below. To reverse this judgment this writ of error is brought.

The case was submitted and decided upon an agreed statement of facts, as follows: 'It is agreed between the parties to the above-entitled cause that the same shall be tried on appeal in the superior court of Chatham county, on the following state of facts before the court, without a jury: That the steam-ship Saxon is a licensed coastwise steam-vessel engaged in the trade between Philadelphia and Savannah, and belongs to Spraigue, Soullee & Co.; that on the ninth day of August, 1881, she was engaged in a voyage from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Savannah, Georgia, and that S. W. Snow was her master; that said master was duly licensed, under title 52 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, as master of a steam-vessel, and as a pilot also, but that his certificate as a pilot did not include Tybee bar and Savannah river, but that his certificate was for the Atlantic coast, and that his certificate as master and pilot was issued last November; that said steam-ship Saxon was spoken by plaintiff off Cape Romain on the ninth day of August, 1881, and his services were tendered to said master of said steam-ship Saxon as a pilot for Savannah river and Tybee bar, and that at the time his said services were offered there was no pilot for Tybee bar or Savannah river on board said steam-ship, and that said plaintiff was the first pilot who spoke said vessel on her said trip to Savannah. It was further admitted by counsel at the hearing that Philadelphia was the home port of said steamer Saxon, and that the captains and masters of the Ocean Steam-ship Company's steamers, whose home port is Savannah, have each a license from the United States authorities at Savannah to pilot their vessels up and down the Savannah river over and from the bar to the city; that said pilot was duly commissioned by the commissioners of pilotage for the Savannah river and Tybee bar, and was also duly commissioned by the United States inspectors, to conduct steam-vessels over Tybee bar and up Savannah river, and within that limit; that Thompson went out to meet the Saxon, being advised of her departure from Philadelphia, and his services were refused; that the defendant had procured the services of Walter W. Smith, a pilot who was duly licensed for the Savannah river and Tybee bar by the commissioners of pilotage, and who was also duly licensed by the United States to conduct steam-vessels over Tybee bar, and up Savannah river, and had notified the captain of said steam-ship Saxon to stop at the Martin's Industry light-ship, and take said Walter W. Smith on board to pilot said steam-ship over Tybee bar and up Savannah river; that said Walter W. Smith was employed as the regular pilot of steamer Saxon and was under pay from time said vessel left Philadelphia; that said pilot was taken on board said steam-ship on tenth day of August off the Martin's Industry light-ship, and he piloted the said vessel to the city of Savannah and has continued in the employ of said vessel from that time until the present time as pilot; that Cape Romain is on the South...