Lever Transp. Co. v. United States

PETERS, District Judge.

These are cross-libels growing out of a collision between the schooner Elisabeth Ruth and the steamer Silver State, which occurred shortly after midnight on the morning of June 8, 1921, in the straits of Florida, about 70 miles northeast of Havana.

The schooner, a four-masted sailing vessel, of about 800 tons, 180 feet long, and 34 feet beam, was proceeding close-hauled on the starboard tack at a speed of 4 or 5 knots an hour. The wind was fresh, the sea choppy, the night dark, with conditions favorable to seeing lights on the water.

The schooner maintained her course and…