The Martha Davis

DE TI AVEN, District Judge.

This is a libel filed by the United States to recover damages sustained by the United ¡átales steamship Patterson in a collision which the libel alleges was caused by the negligence of the master and crew of the bark Martha Davis. It appears from the evidence that on March 9, 1898, the Patterson was lying at a safe anchorage in the bay of Han Francisco, undergoing repairs to her engines, which had been tafeen apart, and were still in that condition, and therefore at the time entirely useless as a means for propelling the steamer, but she was otherwise in seaworthy…