The Whitaker
District Court, D. Massachusetts
This was a suit in rem, against the brig Whitaker, to recover a salvage compensation for services rendered to said brig. It was brought after the decree of the court dismissing the libel in the case of The Whitaker. The services for which compensation was sought, were the same as set forth in the former suit [Case No. 17,524], and the libel-lants were the same, except that the men who labored under Otis, now sued in their own names.
Read the full summary
This was a suit in rem, against the brig Whitaker, to recover a salvage compensation for services rendered to said brig. It was brought after the decree of the court dismissing the libel in the case of The Whitaker. The services for which compensation was sought, were the same as set forth in the former suit [Case No. 17,524], and the libel-lants were the same, except that the men who labored under Otis, now sued in their own names. The respondents relied mainly upon their contract, as before, and set forth, in their answer, that they were, and always had been, ready to pay the sum of $900 to…
1Opinion of the Court
SPRAGUE, District Judge,
held that the vessel was in a condition to be the subject of salvage service. The men who labored under Holbrook, in attempting to launch the vessel, were not salvors, inasmuch as the services by them rendered had no tendency to relieve her from peril, and did not at all contribute to her ultimate safety; that the men who succeeded in relieving her were entitled to salvage compensation, unless the nature of the contract, under which they labored upon her. displaced their claim: that an agreement to relieve a vessel in peril, for an agreed compensation, is binding upon…
2Cited by2 opinions
- The RoanokeSupreme Court of the United States · 1903
- The ChoteauU.S. Circuit Court for the District of Eastern Louisiana · 1881