The Atlas

THOMAS, District Judge.

On January 19, 1901, six large barges, several of them covered, and all laden, lay across the end of the North Central pier in the Atlantic Basin. The barge Altoona was next to the pier, and the barge farthest out was the Atlas. The Altoona sustained all the vessels, as she alone had lines to the pier. She had out several lines, but one 4-inch line ran from the cleat on her extreme stern to the string piece of the side of the dock, some 50 feet from the end, although there was an iron spile and an upright put at that place on the dock for the purpose of making fast,…