The Robert C. McQuillen
| Decision Date | 21 January 1899 |
| Docket Number | 1,131. |
| Citation | 91 F. 685 |
| Parties | THE ROBERT C. McQUILLEN. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Connecticut |
Deforest & Klein, for claimants.
On the 3d day of September, 1895, the libelant was a seaman on the three-masted schooner Robert C. McQuillen. In the afternoon of said day, when the schooner was in the Gulf Stream, off the North Carolina coast, on her return voyage from Darien Ga., to the port of New York, the order was given to reef the mainsail. It was storming at the time. There was a heavy sea on, and the vessel was lurching and rolling heavily, and had fallen off a point or two from her course. James Krouse, the first mate, who was then in charge of the deck, directed libelant, while the mainsail was being lowered, to get the reefing tackle. In order to reach said tackle, libelant instead of going around the end of the main boom, as he should have done, attempted to crawl under it, when the lift which supported it parted, and the boom fell on his back causing a concussion of the spine, and so bruising him that it was necessary to put in to Wilmington and to take him to the hospital.
The libelant claims $10,000 in damages. I find that his injuries although they were severe, and required treatment during several months, were not of a permanent character, and that the damages therefrom did not exceed the sum of $1,000. I also find, upon the testimony of libelant's witnesses, that he was guilty of contributory negligence; because, inter alia, they assert or admit that the rope was so rotten that its dangerous condition was apparent to everyone, that the libelant knew its condition, and that he voluntarily crawled under the boom contrary to express orders. The Tammerlane, 47 F. 822.
The single remaining question in the case is whether the lift supporting the boom was so defective, by reason of an old, weak, and rotten rope, as alleged in the libel, that the claimants are liable for negligence in its use. The portion of the lift which parted was a halliard of Manila rope, which ran from a block in the mizzen mast to a pin in the rail above the deck, on the port side, near the forward shroud of the mizzen rigging. On the end of the main gaff there was an iron band with a square edge. The preponderance of testimony indicates that the accident was caused by the gaff swaying, by reason of the heavy sea, when it was in a horizontal position, and at such a height that said iron band on the end of the gaff struck forcibly against said lift and parted it. There is some testimony to the contrary, however, and it is not necessary to decide this question, because the claim of defective construction of the boom and lift was abandoned in open court after the taking of additional testimony.
The rope was of proper size, and was only occasionally used, and then only to support the boom while the sail was being reefed. At the point where it parted it was not ordinarily exposed to friction or wear and tear. It appears from libelant's own witnesses that the construction of the lift was the usual one in such vessels, and that the rope was of the ordinary size. The testimony of the captain, of the first mate, and of another captain who sailed the vessel after the accident, is to the effect that they examined the rope before and after the accident,...
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... ... See, e.g. , The Robert C. McQuillen , 91 F. 685, 686687 (Conn. 1899) ; The Lizzie Frank , 31 F. 477, 480 (SD Ala. 1887) ; The Tammerlane , 47 F. 822, 824 (ND Cal ... ...
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