Sims v. Gurney
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
This was an action of assumpsit to recover the contribution of the defendants to a general average. The cause was tried before his Honor Judge Yeates, at Nisi Prius in January last, when a verdict was found in favor of the plaintiff, for his whole claim ; and now upon a motion for a new trial, the facts were reported as follows: The plaintiff was the owner of the ship "Woodrop Sims, which sailed from Philadelphia on the 28th of March 1807, bound for Canton, having on board…
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This was an action of assumpsit to recover the contribution of the defendants to a general average. The cause was tried before his Honor Judge Yeates, at Nisi Prius in January last, when a verdict was found in favor of the plaintiff, for his whole claim ; and now upon a motion for a new trial, the facts were reported as follows: The plaintiff was the owner of the ship "Woodrop Sims, which sailed from Philadelphia on the 28th of March 1807, bound for Canton, having on board in specie 251,149 dollars, and in ginseng, brandy and wine 15,383 dollars, making an aggregate of 266,532 dollars, of…
1Opinion of the Court
Tilghman C. J.
In order to make a case of general average, it is necessary that the ship should be in distress, and a part sacrificed in order to preserve the rest. It is necessary also, that this sacrifice should be conducive to the saving of the rest, and that it should be voluntary; for if the loss is occasioned by the violence of the tempest, there is no reason for. contribution. Nothing can be more equitable than that all should contribute towards the reparation of a loss, which has been the cause of their safety; and nothing more politic, because it encourages the owner to throw away his…
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