Charente S. S. Co. v. United States

BRYAN, Circuit Judge.

The steamship Chancellor collided with a government wharf at the quarantine station near the mouth of the Mississippi river. It is agreed that the wharf was damaged to the extent of $1,700, and, in an action at law, the United States recovered judgment for that amount against the owner of the ship.

Liability of defendant was denied by the answer on two grounds: First, that the damage was caused by a sudden gust of wind, and therefore was the result of an inevitable accident; and, secondly, that the ship, at the time it collided with the wharf, was in charge of a compulsory…