The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

■the' MARINE RECORD.' * marine law. I A MATia' CLAIM 1H8MIHSKU. United State,) District Court, Philadelphia. Judge Butler on ilii! »i|i Inst. OlsilnVscd the libel of Robert Hnskcll.tiguinst the Ainw con brig Tiilly'IIo. " '■ Haskell liml been the second mute of Ibo Tally Ho mid Ills complaint was us lollows: Ho had shipped nt Farnutidliiii, Florida, on board tho brig for a voyage to Trlniili; anil buck to port In the United States north of Capo Hiittrits. tic alleged that about April 1st, 1883, While asslst'ng in discharging the vessel! cargo or' lumber at Trinidad he In¬ jured his bnek'and was taken 111 with a fever. He remained on board,. for a time during which lie was treated' Villi medicines by Captain McKowen. Still III, lie wa», he unitl, finally sent ashore by the mate who told him lliufrhe wo\ild be met by the Captain who would tuko him to a doctor. When lie got ashore ho found time tho captain Jiad been to the Consul's *ofllci*..and had cleared l lie vessel. Haskell then took n cab, over¬ took the captain, brought hlin back tn rlie Consul's ollieo and the result ol t4io confer dice was that the captain gave hlin $10 » ill) which to buy medicine anil promised to come back for hlin before the vessel sailed. The plaintiff then went ton doctor and while there he was Informed Hint the vessel had sailed. He went to a boarding limine and n day or two alter placed himself In (he hbs- pltal for treatment where he remained about a neck. After Ills dlschaigo be remained on the Island and In Itarbadvs for several mouths and Dually succeded in reaching Philadelphia. • . ,-, The above Is In substance the story told by ll'iskelf. His claim amounted to,$1195.40 ol which $195.40 was for wages for the time he was. Idle and $1,000 represented his dam¬ age in loss of clothing, money expended for hoard, anil compi'iu-ailon for the alleged indignities put upon liiin. Captain MeKoweu'iiSliiteiiielit was a point¬ ed denial ol iiioh of [he allegation's of the. plaiiujn", The captain denied Mint Hiukell hud Injured Ins, buck while discharging cargo at Ti'lnjdnd, asserted that his ailments re¬ sulted Iroin pre-existing physical infirmities, the result of .age and a feeble state of health", that he sympathized with the man, and would willingly have brought htm back, lilt that Haskell Insisted on being illsdliarged and went ashore agulnit the older olihe mate; and that Ilnally Mhen he found that Huskell persisted in being discharged he eon. untvd and gave him $10 because he was. penniless. In view of this explicit denial the Ameri¬ can Consul at Trinidad was written to In order to see II Ha-kell's statements would bo confirmed. The reply ol the Consul sustained the position of Captain McICowon. He leported tl at Haskell had insisted upon his discharge and had flatly rclused to go In the vessel. The doctor in the hospital at Trinidad was also written to and he answered that there never had been such a man In the hospital. Under these adverse statements the claim of the plaintiff broke down and as his consul did not make his appearance when the case was called In Court, the Judge dismissed the libel. U.LEO.AI. 8A1.K OP SHIP. Pons Tribunal of Commerce, The Adolph v. the Fonciere Company.— Alter a collision between ihe Adolph mid tlte French shlt^Fi'inande, oil the coast of America, In 1880, In which the latter ui sunk, the Fonciere <'ompany, which had partly Insiued the Ferualide, pretending that the Adolph was In-lau1t, had that ship seized In poit of Xcw Voik, in which it had taken refuge, and then sued the owner, M. Wallenbeig, In the Southern District Cum t of New Yor(£, to recover lor the loss of the Fernande. Judgement was given against tho claim; the Fonciere Compiifiy'lodgod an appeal; bpt before It could be beard paid the costs and abandoned the action, thus accept¬ ing the judgment. • But In the meantime the Adolph had been sold under the seizure, and for tho prejudice thus cauBed to him M. Wallenberg, tho owner, now sought to re¬ cover from the Fonciere Company a sum of 00,000'f as damages. The Fonciere answered that the claim "as bused solely on th« de¬ cision of the Southern District Court of New Yoik, which did uol possess the authority ' of a judgment in Parts and asked theFrencli Tribunal to examine tlio facts, afresh and declared Hint the Adolph was In fault in the collision. Subsidiarily the Fonciere Com¬ pany argued that even ln'id It not been jiistilh'd In milking th'e seizure It hud caused no prejudice to M. Wallenberg, as another seizure wiis subsequently inado bn January 13, 1881, at the suit of the crew for the re. covery of tlielr wages, and that claim alone was the cause of the sale of^he Adolph. It also called into Ihe suit 11 other Insurance companies, In whose .behalf tho Foriolere Companynlleged that It hud acted as well us for itself. The Tribunal, nftcr recapitulating, thd facts, said that, as the action before was not brough f to obtain the execution of the Judg- ment given nt New York to- the -pioflt of Wallenberg, the"Fonciere Company- had the less right to crltl else that judgment which was given after an Interlocutory hearing be¬ tween tho captains of the Adolph and the Fonciere, which hitler after having notified an appeal qn-llie Oth of December, 1880, ■iiliscqucntly acquiesced In the judgment by the payment of the costs, and withdrew its appeal on the 20th May 1881. 'that being the respective positions of the parties" at New York and Hie judgment given, the Tribunal was of opinion tbat'thp Fonciere Company hiii nut justified III seizing the Adolph on the 15th of Iiecember, 1880, -a. d In present¬ ing to the competent authorities on the Oth of December following an application for authorization to sell the ship. It was no doubt true that the crew of the Adolph, to secure the two years' wngea that wore due to them, also madeon the 13th January, 1881, a demand for the seizin ti of the Adofbh, and obtained on the 3d March fgllowipg, by right of their privileges payment of the sums due | to them; but these circumstances did not prove that the sale of the ship, that took place on the 21st February, was effected on tlu.' denugid of the crew. It was, on the. con¬ trary, proved by the documents and evidence betoie the Tribunal that the sale wus made at The diirmud of the Fonciere Company, which after rashly seizing tho ship on tho lBtli of September, 1880, only liberated It oir| the 20th May following, thus keeping In¬ active lor eight months, first the ship Itsell, and then the portion ol the price of It re¬ maining after payment of tlle crews wages. The Tribunal,- therefore, judged that the Foncieie Company caused to Wallenberg a prejudice of which reparation was due, con¬ demned llietoriner to the payment ol 30,0001' dauiiige8, Next, \vltli regard to the claim of the Fonciere Company against the other 111' surers. The Fonciere did not prove that It was authorised to Institute proceedings at New York, on behalf of the other insurers In common with Itself, or that it over possessed any right or powers to take such a step. Although It was admitted that the Under¬ writer's Committee at Bordeaux transmitted to its representative at New \Tork Instruc¬ tions similar to thuse of the Fonciere, It re¬ sulted on the oilier hand, from the docu¬ ments put in, that tlio Instructions from the Bordeaux Insurers were confined to the ex¬ ercise of the rights sub-tltuted for those or the captain of the Fernando. The Fonciere Company could not therefore, make the other companies share In a responsibility that cou- cenned itself alone. Judgment accordingly, the Fonciere Company to bear all the costs. GENERAL NEWS. De I.esseps has been Invited to undertake the completion ot the canal which la to make St. Petersburg a seaport and Independent of Croustaill. ' =- Tho Newfoundland sailing steamer Bear has bceli sold to the American Government lor llie cuildug Gieely lelief expedition. Its age, tonnage and build are the same as the lost Proteus, The tunnel under the Mersey at Liver¬ pool Is almost finished. " Meanwhile little or no progress Is being made on the under¬ ground passage between New York und Jer¬ sey City. The Maritime Exchange bus adopted a memorial to Congress recommending a less severe penalty than death for the crime of wlmully caBtlngaway a vessel whore only property Is affected, as a conviction under tho preteut law Is almost Impossible. Geologists assert that If Ihe continents and the bot.om of the ocean were graded down to a uniform level the Whole world would be covered with water a mile deep, so much greater Is tho depression' of the ocean biid "i than-the olevallon of the existing land. The tonnage tux is not such a source of revenue but that It could bo removed with ndvuntantirge tootir maritime Interests. The amount collected during' the last fiscal your from 7,445 vessels was $1,320,500:80. Of this 2,000 American vessels paid $2(12,020.20 and 5,340 foreign vossols $1,067,081.00. Boston Advertiser: It seems Idle to talk uf admitting foreign bulltshlps to American registry, when our United States laws will not nllow us to sail tho ships already under pur flag on a paying basis. It Is not so much In Ihe first cost us In the running expenses of our vessels, that ir roduetlon Is mdst need¬ ed. • ' Tho City of Columbus has been carefully examined by a wrecker on behalf of the In suraiice companies und It Is ascertained that the hull and machinery are so badly dam aged that raising tho wreck is" out of the question. The hull appears to have been broken In two lit a point near the foremnst. Baron A. de Rothschild Is having built one of the largest steam yachts that wusevercoii- structcd. She Is 240 feet long und 27 feet beam; her engines arc expecied to develop 1,400 horse power, and the speed expected is fourteen and ouc-hnlf knots. She will be ready for sea by June, and her name will be Eros, . . Captain Felder,of tho steamer Prlnz Clarg, on trial for several days in the United States Circuit Conn, New Orleans, for falling to provide sufficient food (or his emigrant pas¬ sengers, from Palermo, was acquitted by Ihe jury. The evidence went to show that the shortage was from a stress oHveuthei4 und un unusually long voyage, but that he had been generous to the emigrants at his own expense. In the Senate on the 20th of January Mr. Conger presented a bill to quiet and confirm the title lo certain lands in Saginaw Bay, Statoof Michigan. The bill relates loan island In tho Bay known as Mulsou island. It is owned by the Jeromes and has been In their possession since 1854 Since the sur¬ vey was made there have been accretions and marsh formations which luae caused valuahla additions to the island, and It Is rb give title t« the owners of tile laud to these additions that tho bill was Introduced. It was referred to the committee on public lands. In the Senate on the 20th of January Mr. Conger presented a memorial ol II. '1. Young, ofMurlno City, and other citizens, asking for a survey of tho Si. Clair river and bunks,,to the end that the filling in of the canal may be prevented, etc., etc. The memorial sets forth that the St. Clair river Is one of the groat commercial highways of the United States; that It Is being greatly Injured as.a navigable stream by the wash¬ ing away of the banks from Algonac to Port Huron, which wash causes bins and shoals along the banks and entries a big deposit to the lower end oTv the Hats, canal and main channel entering Lake St. Clair,' also out in¬ to the lake, thereby filling it up and injur¬ ing It at a highway. The niemorlid asks for a survey to determine the facts set forth and tell hpw injury may be avoided: The me¬ morial was rel'eired to the committee on commerce. A scheme has been.presented to the Porte by a certain Mr. de Leon, representing American' InlereEts, which Is destined to re¬ place Admiral Inglefleld's'project of con¬ necting the Mediterranean and the Red seas by submerging Palestine. It conslsts-of tho construction of u ship railway, which, start¬ ing Irom El Arlsh, on the Mediterranean, would have Its .terminus at Akaua, on the Red Sea. 'i he actual cost of the line, as It would pass lliiougliji flat country, would not union nt to an exaggerated Bum, although the expense of keeping up the permanent way, coiiBcquont upon the transport over It c-f vessels of heavy tonnage, may be so great us to redder competition on even terms with Its Suez rival somewhat dltlloult. In the event of a successful Issue of the present ne- gotlatlaus Mr. de Leon Is likely to be re¬ warded by the American Government with u high diplomatic post at Constantinople. J. T. Moulton, of Chicago, Tfio elevator builder, will probably commence work on both elevators Immediately.—Duluth Times, January 27. EARLY REMINISCENCE OF LAKE ONTARIO.. Sjieisial to the. Marine Rteori, • • : DurnoiT, Fobruary 4. The earliest statistics bearing upon the history of Lake Ontario cannot bo very-defr. likely arrived at, save that It was first pen¬ etrated and floated over as early ai 1635, by a party of Frenchmen under Cartlor, whloh will answer tho purposo of a starting point, Those early voyagers wore bent upon mis¬ sionary purposes', and have but little or no Interest hi "tlio navigation proper on that lake, and with tills point In view there may bp expected, hero and there, omissions which otherwise might be.brought forth. •'," The Bailing of Father Laealle, from Fort Frontcnoo In 1078, In a brlgantlne, the namo . of which is not given, and the further con¬ tinuation of his voyage, In 1070, from above the falls In the Griffon to Green Bay, may be only briefly noted for the present. In 1780 John Fellows, Of Sheffield, Mass.,' crossed Lake Ontario wjth a boat (name not given), freighted with supplies, and did well with his cargo. Tills craft, which waB sub¬ sequently sold to Judge Porter, it Is stated, was the llrst craft which floated the waters - of the grout lakes from tlie American side. The tirst American merchant vessel built on Lake Ontario was at Hunford's- Lnndlng, three miles below Rochester, In 1798, by Ell Granger, of thirty tons burden, und was called the Jemima. From this period, and jip to the commencement of the war of 1812, quite a number were built Including the fol¬ lowing: Schooner Fair American, Captain Augustus Ford; schooqer Gcnassee Packet, Captain Obed Mayo; schooner Diana, Cap- lain A. Montgomery; schooner Collector, Captain Samuel Dixon; schooner Experi¬ ment, Captain C. Holmes; schooner Charles and Ann, Captain Theoplillus Pease;schoon¬ er'Dolphin, Captain Wm. Vaughan; brig Oneida, built for war purposes; also schoon¬ ers Gold Hunter, Ontario, mancW'acketi Lark, Eagle, Mary, Farmer, Two Brothers and Cumbria. The Fair American, above noted, was built at Oswego for the North¬ west Fur Company. The Ctimbrlu wus built on an Island at the lower cud of Lake On¬ tario, and before complftlnn,, was taken to Lewlston and sold to Porter, Barton & Co. Captain Aflgustus Ford, on the American - side, was one oUhe oldest, If not the senior, navigator on that lake, commencing In 1800. He wasliorn In 1772 and lived to he upwards, of 80 years of age. He irfcd at Sackett's Har¬ bor. On the Canada side of Lake Ontario, 4ul80B, among others the following British vessels were commissioned : Schooner Lprd Nelson, uftcrwards called the Scourge* Roy¬ al 'icorge, Pi luce Regent, Earl of Molra, Slmcoe, Earl and Duke, Growler, Duke of, Gloucesicr, Pert and Asp. All the forego¬ ing vessels were from 70 to 100 tons burden. Soon after the war of 1812 others woro put afloat, notably the schooners WoolseyvRam¬ bler, Farmer's Dunghter, Triumph and Commodore Perry, which entered Into tlio curiylng trade of that lake. Henry Eukford was In those days a prominent shipbuilder. In 1810 a company was formed fortbe construction of a steamboat at Sackett's Har¬ bor, and a | etltlon to that end was presented to the New York-legislature. Early In 1817 the slemner which was called the Ontario performed her flrBt trip In command of Cap¬ tain Mallaby, U. S. N. She was 237 tons burden; boilers 17 feet long und 3^ feet di¬ ameter; cylinder 20 (nelics by 3 feet stroke and 21 horso power. Her tlrst undertaking was to perform weekly trips between Og- densburg and Lewlston, hut In July of that year, her owners finding It did not pay, ex¬ tended Hid time to ten day trips, the fine through being $15, wltlwi speed not exceed¬ ing live miles per hour. She coiitluuod ply¬ ing until 1832, when siie was dismantled at Oswego. The British on the opposite shore at Fronteiiac, now Kingston, had also built . a steamer called flic Froiitouac, which be¬ gan minnlng the same year as the Ontario. In 1821 the steamer Martha Ogden was built at Sackett's Harbor, and was sailed by Captain Daniel Reed until 1832. Septomber ' 12th she was wiecked in u gale at Stony Point. She left Oswego on the afternoon of that date, then In command of Captain Win* Vaughan, and was soon after struck by a heavy southwest gale. Being unable lo re¬ turn to Oswego, she,was headed for Sackett' Harbor, and-ln the meantime sprung aleak.§ Her Arcs were put out and her sails resorted