,44 FEDERAL BEPOBTEB•
of the derrick fell upon the deck. In falling, it struck the libelant upon the
shoulder, causing severe injuries. The same appliance had been used the day
before, in hoisting the boat aboard, with safety, but in a quiet harbor. Port
` Maria is an open roadstead, and on this occasion there was considerable rolling
. · and lurching of the ship. There was no latent defect in the hook that broke.
‘ Held, that the owner was bound to furnish appliances adequate for the place
and occasion where used, and these being, in fact, inadequate, and never tested
for sutiicicncy under the circumstances of a rolling sea, held negligence in the
owners, and that the vessel was liable for the damages; and $1,500 were awarded
‘ to the libelant.
In Admiralty. Action for personal injuries. V
H. J. Schenck, for libelant. `
H. Putnam, for claimant.
Bnowu, Il. On the nineteenth of January, 1883, the libelant, being
a seaman on the steam-ship Edith Godden, was ordered, with others,
to help hoist and lower away from the steam-ship, while lying at Port
Maria,.Jamaica, a fruit boat, formerly a long-boat, designed to be used
for the lading of cargo there. A derrick was made use of in connec-
tion with a steam-winch, and the boom of the derrick was held in
- place by means of a block, through which ran double ropes to the
foretop-mast, and the block was attached by an iron hook running
A inside of an iron collar which surrounded the derrick boom. After
the boat ‘had been raised and got over the ship’s rail, the hook that A
held the derrick in place broke, and the boom fell down upon the i
deck, across the hatch and the rail. In falling it struck the libelant
upon the shoulder, causing severe injuries, for which this libel was
filed. .
" The evidence varies considerably, both asto the weight of the fruit
boat, and as to the weights that the derrick was designed to sustain.
There was a brake, designed to be applied bythe foot, attached to
the winch; but it was out of order. The fruit boat had been taken
on board the day before by the use of the same derrick, winch, and
tackle, in a quiet harbor. ,_ Port Maria is an open, unsheltered road-
stead; and when the boat was lowered away, there was considerable
rolling and lurching of the ship. Considerable evidence- for the claim-
_ ants was offered to the effect that the brake, if in order, would not
be proper to be used inlowering weights so heavy as this boat, which
weighed somewhere from one to two tons ; that the only proper mode,
and the mode ordinarily in use, was by reversing the steam-winch, and
managing the steam-valve by hand. In behalf of the libelants, the evi-
dence of some experts was to the effect that the reversing of the steam-
winch, and managing it by hand, was a somewhat delicate operation,
that required care to prevent sudden jerks; and that special difficulty
was likely to arise in this way where there was any rolling or lurching
- of the ship. An examination of the hook showed no defects in the iron
at the place of breakage, and no apparent insufficiency. In this re-
spect the case differs from that of The Nederland, 7 Fan. Bur. 926.
The only cause for breakage that could be assigned was either too
great a weight, or some sudden strain. The weight of proof indicates