M'Dermott v. The S. G. Owens
U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Eastern Pennsylvania
M’Dermott claimed a lien for labour and services as a stevedore in loading and storing the cargo of the vessel S. G. Owens, while lying at one of the wharves of Philadelphia, previous to proceeding on a royage to California; and the question was whether, admitting the vessel to be a foreigB vessel, he had such a lien under the general maritime law. As a domestic^ vessel, it was admitted he had no lien. The case was a hard one upon the stevedore.
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M’Dermott claimed a lien for labour and services as a stevedore in loading and storing the cargo of the vessel S. G. Owens, while lying at one of the wharves of Philadelphia, previous to proceeding on a royage to California; and the question was whether, admitting the vessel to be a foreigB vessel, he had such a lien under the general maritime law. As a domestic^ vessel, it was admitted he had no lien. The case was a hard one upon the stevedore. The persons who employed him had become insolvent, and had transferred the ship and cargo, all ready for sea, to the present owners, who took it with…
1Opinion of the Court
GRIER, Circuit Justice.
The argument of the libellant’s counsel is ingenious, but it wants the support of authority. No decision or dictum has been brought to the notice of the court which would justify them in treating this as a maritime service. It does not follow because sailors once performed these duties now better executed by landsmen, that therefore they should have the mariner’s lien on the vessel. “The services are performed on a contract, which is neither made at sea nor for a service to be performed at sea; both were in the port of Philadelphia, and within the county of…
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