Agricultural Insurance

Suit for general average contribution. Jurisdiction.

On defendant’s motion to dismiss plaintiffs’ petition, the motion was granted and the petition dismissed, in an opinion per curiam, as follows:

Pee ouRIam : Plaintiff and one hundred forty-four other plaintiffs sue for general average contribution from the United States for the expense of extinguishing a fire on the SS. Winslow Homer on which defendant, with others, had shipped certain goods.

Defendant defends on the ground that the district courts have exclusive jurisdiction for such a cause of action under the Suits in Admiralty Act, as…