Barnes v. Cole
New York Supreme Court
This was an action on the case, for negligently running down the plaintiff’s scow, tried at the Onondaga circuit, in April, 1836, before the Hon, Daniel Moseley, one of the circuit judges. The plaintiff’s scow lay at a dock or wharf in the Oswego river, at the village of Oswego, with the stern projecting westward beyond the end of the wharf from 8 to 16 feet into the river, at a place where the channel was narrow, and only from 50 to 70 feet wide.
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This was an action on the case, for negligently running down the plaintiff’s scow, tried at the Onondaga circuit, in April, 1836, before the Hon, Daniel Moseley, one of the circuit judges. The plaintiff’s scow lay at a dock or wharf in the Oswego river, at the village of Oswego, with the stern projecting westward beyond the end of the wharf from 8 to 16 feet into the river, at a place where the channel was narrow, and only from 50 to 70 feet wide. The defendants were owners of the steamboat William Avery, commanded by Oapt. Read, and while in coming into the river from Lake Ontario, struck…
1Opinion of the Court
By the Court,
Bbonson, J.
Was McSwain properly excluded as a witness ? He was at the helm at the time the accident happened; but the captain of the steamboat was at his side, acting as pilot. So far as appears, the steersman did nothing more than discharge his duty in obedience to the orders of his superior. If there was negligence any where, there was no evidence to show that he in particular was chargeable with it. Indeed upon the evidence, he must be taken to have acted in obedience to the orders of the master. Under such circumstances, it would be the master, and not the steersman, who…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Noble & Palmer v. PaddockNew York Supreme Court · 1838
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- Johnson v. LightseySupreme Court of Alabama · 1859
- Foster v. HollySupreme Court of Alabama · 1861
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