Jones v. Coal Barges

GRIER, Circuit Justice.

The subject of dispute proposed by the libel, is a collision between two coal barges loaded with coal. They are not ships or vessels in the maritime sense of the terms. They do not take' out a coasting license. They are generally *951mere open chests or boxes of small comparative value, which are floated by the stream and sold for lumber at the end of their voyage. A remedy in rem against such a vessel, either for its contracts or its torts, would not only be worthless but ridiculous; and the application of the maritime law to the cargo, and hands employed to navigate her,…