The Oranmore

• Decision Date: 21 July 1885
• Citation: 24 F. 922
• Parties: THE ORANMORE. v. THE ORANMORE. MORRIS
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

24 F. 922

THE ORANMORE.

MORRIS v. THE ORANMORE.

United States District Court, D. Maryland.

July 21, 1885

Sebastian Brown and John C. Richberg, for libelant.

Brown &amp Brune, for respondent.

MORRIS J.

This libel is brought to recover for 67 head of cattle which died and were thrown overboard, and for the depreciation in the value of others, during a voyage on which they were being carried by the British steam-ship Oranmore from Baltimore to Liverpool in January, 1885.

The plaintiff, who is a citizen of the United States, residing in Chicago, shipped on the steamer 320 head of cattle, to be carried on the upper between-decks, and received therefor through his agent in Baltimore, the bill of lading, dated January 10, 1885, given in evidence. The bill of lading recites that the shipment is made under and subject to the conditions of a 'live-stock freight contract,' dated at Baltimore, November 19, 1884, signed by the libelant for his father, by which the father had agreed, upon the terms therein expressed, to ship as many cattle as could be carried on the upper between-decks of five of the steamers of the Johnston line plying between Baltimore and Liverpool, of which the Oranmore was one, for two consecutive voyages of each of the five steamers, commencing with the voyage of the Oranmore now in question. The stipulations of this 'live-stock freight contract' are much those usually found in similar contracts for carrying cattle across the Atlantic, except the sixteenth clause, which I have not met with before, and which is as follows:

'16. Any questions arising under this contract or the bill of lading against the steamer or her owners shall be determined by English law in England.'

The libel alleges that the loss occurred by reason of the insufficient fittings of the stalls which the steamer contracted to provide for the cattle.

The defense is that the fittings were proper and sufficient, and that the cattle were injured and lost by the negligence of the cattlemen sent by the shipper to feed and care for them on the voyage, and by the insufficient amount of bedding put under them by the cattlemen, and by the weakness of the head-ropes furnished by the libelant.

The claimant of the steamer, under the sixteenth clause of the contract, denies the jurisdiction of this court, and also contends that if the court takes jurisdiction the exceptions contained in the bill of lading are to be interpreted according to English law, and that by the English courts these exceptions would be held to relieve the ship from liability, even though the losses happened by reason of the insufficiency of the cattle fittings.

I shall first consider the issue of fact as to whether the loss occurred by reason of defect in the construction of the cattle stalls. It must be conceded, although rough weather was experienced on the voyage, commencing soon after leaving the capes, and that the ship rolled very considerably from a high sea abeam, that this was not unusual January weather and that the loss is attributable, not to any peril of the sea, but either to the insufficiency of the fittings of the cattle stalls, as contended by the libelant, or, as contended by the claimant of the ship, to the incompetency of the cattle-men, the want of proper head-ropes, and the insufficiency of bedding. The Oranmore is one of six British steamers which constitute what is known as the 'Johnston Line,' plying regularly between Liverpool and Baltimore, and which specially solicit and are intended for the carriage of live cattle across the Atlantic at all seasons of the year. They have, from time to time, improved the special fittings and facilities for that business, until what was some few years ago considered an extra-hazardous undertaking, has become reasonably certain and safe. The voyage of the Oranmore on which the cattle sued for were lost was the only voyage made by any steamer of the line for a long time on which all the cattle shipped, with the exception of one or two beasts, had not been carried safely at all seasons of the year.

The stalls on the between-decks on the Oranmore for the voyage in question were fitted up differently from any previous voyage, and were altered again before she attempted another. Prior to this voyage the stalls on the between-decks had been put up by erecting stanchions five feet apart, resting on and affixed to a false floor, laid on the iron deck, and at the top shored by braces stretching to the sides of the ship, and to other permanent objects against which they could be braced. While in the port of Baltimore, preparing for this voyage, the cattle fittings on the between-decks previously used having been all taken out on the voyage just made, she having carried no cattle on that voyage, it was determined by the captain and agents in Baltimore, in putting in new stalls, to fasten the stanchions by a new system which had been tried, in some of its features, on other ships of the line and had been found to work well. This was to have holes bored in the iron beams, supporting the deck overhead, and to clamp the upper end of the stanchion firmly to the beam; the foot of the stanchion to be shored and braced as before. The only difference between this system as applied to the Oranmore, and the same system of clamping to the overhead beams which had been applied on some of the other ships, was that on the Oranmore the stanchions were clamped to every other beam instead of to every beam, and this brought them eight feet apart from center to center. As they had been fastened previously without the iron clamping, they had been five feet apart. Head-boards were used of the same thickness as before; that is to say, about two inches thick.

The contention of the libelant is that as the direct strain of the weight of the cattle when pitching and slipping in rough weather is against the head-board to which they...