Denison v. Seymour
New York Supreme Court
This was an action on the case, tried at the Albany circuit in September, 1830, before the Hon. James Vanderpoel, one of the circuit judges. The defendant was sued as the captain or master of the steam-boat, the New Philadelphia, for running upon and sinking a vessel called the Atlantic, belonging to the plaintiff, lying at anchor in the Hudson river. The collision took place in the night.
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This was an action on the case, tried at the Albany circuit in September, 1830, before the Hon. James Vanderpoel, one of the circuit judges. The defendant was sued as the captain or master of the steam-boat, the New Philadelphia, for running upon and sinking a vessel called the Atlantic, belonging to the plaintiff, lying at anchor in the Hudson river. The collision took place in the night. There was a dense fog; but whether it extended to that part of the river where the Atlantic was lying at the time of the accident is doubtful, the evidence as to that fact being contradictory. It was proved…
1Opinion of the Court
By the Court,
Savage, Ch. J.
The motion for a new trial rests on the double ground that the judge erred in his instructions to the jury, and that the verdict is against the weight of evidence.
The question how far the captain of a steam-boat is responsible for the acts of the pilot in navigating the boat, is one of importance and difficulty. The officer here called the pilot, is not the same as the pilot recognized in the laws regulating foreign commerce. Vessels are required, by the laws of most *11commercial countries, to take a pilot in what are called pilot’s water; and if the captain of such…
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