Murphy v. Dunham
District Court, E.D. Michigan
In Admiralty. This was a libel for the tortious conversion of 981 tons of coal. The facts were substantially as follows: About the 12th of May, 1883, the schooner Wells'Burt, of which respondent Dunham was the owner, started from Buffalo with a cargo of 1,375 tons of chestnut coal, consigned to Chicago. On the 18th of May she arrived off Evanston, Ill., •where she was last seen at anchor.
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In Admiralty. This was a libel for the tortious conversion of 981 tons of coal. The facts were substantially as follows: About the 12th of May, 1883, the schooner Wells'Burt, of which respondent Dunham was the owner, started from Buffalo with a cargo of 1,375 tons of chestnut coal, consigned to Chicago. On the 18th of May she arrived off Evanston, Ill., •where she was last seen at anchor. A heavy storm swept the lakes that night., and when it abated the schooner had disappeared, having foundered at her anchorage with all on board, neither man nor animal surviving. The whereabouts of the…
1Opinion of the CourtBrowN, J.
1. Respondent’s first objection that there was no property in esse which could be the subject of a sale from the underwriters to the libelant I think is untenable. It is true that the property at that time lay at the bottom of Lake. Michigan, and that its exact position had not then been ascertained; but only six weeks had elapsed since the vessel was lost; her location was known, approximately, and was readily ascertainable. The ownership of the coal was still unchanged, and the m'ere fact that libelant was willing to take and pay for a bill of sale is sufficient evidence to show that there…
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