Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 10.djvu/152

 leO FSDEBAIi BEfOIiTKIi. �PosEY V. ScoviLLE and others.* {Ovrauit Court, E. D. Louisiana. December 22, 1881.) �1. NEaLioBNCE — Steam-Boat— Explosion of Boileh. �The explosion of a boiler of a steani-boat, causiag injuries, is 'prima fade efvidence of negligence. �2. Samb — Samb— Same. �Failure to have boiler tested, as a new boiler, after one sheet had been con- demned as burnt and had been replaced by a new sheet, was negligence. Kev. St. } 4418. �3. Same — Chaetbb-Partt— Liability of Ciiabtebbbs. �The charterers being the owners of the vessel, pro hac vice, at the time of the explosion, were responsible for their negligence. �In Admiralty. �The Bonnie Lee was a passenger and freight steam-boat, making regalar trips on the Mississippi and Red rivera, between New Or- leans and Shreveport, Louisiana ; was owned by Noah Scoville, and was being run, under charter, by the New Orleans & Eed Eiver Transportation Company. Jelierson B. Posey was the second clerk of the boat. On August 7, 1880, in accordanee with the usual pub- lic advertisements, the Bonnie Lee left New Orleans, bound for Shreveport. Between 7 and 8 o'clock on the night of the ninth of August, 1880, when near Lenoir point, on Eed river, about 85 miles fi:om its mouth, the boiler exploded. Posey at the time was sitting 1 n the boiler deck, and was, by the exnlosion and the f alling timbers, so injured that he died a few hours after he was taken from the wreck, whicb sank, almost immediately, in 35 feet of water. His widow, in her own right and as tutrix of their minor child, brought this libel inpersonam against the owner, the charterers, and the master 0^ the boat for damages. It appeared that the boiler was found to be burned, and one of the sheets was taken out and replaced by a new one on the day the boat left New Orleans, the seventh of Au- gust, 1881, but after this was done the boiler was not tested. It also appeared that on the night of the eighth of August the boiler was found to be leaking so badly that they were compelled to stop the boat and caulk the boiler. The defences are stated in the opinion of the court. There was a decree by the district court in favor of libel- lants for $2,500, and the New Orleans & Eed Eiver Transportation Company appealed. �*Reported by Joseph P. Hornor, Esq., of the New Orleans bar. ��� �