Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 10.djvu/568

 OO6 FKDeRaL BEPOiiTEB. �The Sandbingham, �{District Court, E. D. Virginia. January 31, 1882. ~ �1. AdMIRALTT PrACTICE — CONFLICTING TeSTIMONT. �Where the testimony of the libellant and the ship's offlcers confllcts, and one of the offlcers of the ship is not examined on the points in dispute, that circum- stance goes to the discredit of the ship's offlcers. �2. Same— Testimony of Expebienced Mahikebs, Grade op— Wbatheb Re- �ports oF Signal Service. �The testimony of experienced mariners, of approved credibility, as to the character of the weather, and the practical eiiect of the wind and ocean swell, or other such facts occurring at sea under their own observation, is a higher and more reliablc grade of evidence than the weather reports of the signal service from observations taken on land, aud will be preferred by the court in passing npon such facts. �3. SAI..VAGE — Elements of Amount Awabded. �The amount awarded as salvage comprises two elements, viz., adequate remuneration given by way of compensation according to the circumstances of each case ; and a bounty given to the salvor for the purpoae of encouraging similar excrtions in future cases. The relative amounts of each of tliese ele- ments given depend on the special facts and merits of each case. �4. Same— Ingredients dp Service. �In addition to the six main ingredients of which a salvage service is com- posed, as announced in the case of The Blackwall, 10 Wall. 1, the court will take into vlew, as an important consideration, the degree of success aohieved, and the proportions of value lost and saved ; and will award a higher propor- tion, eveu on large values, in cases where both ship and cargo are saved with substantially slight injury, than in cases where only the ship or only the cargo, or only portions of it, are saved. 3. Same— Award of — What Included in Estimatb of Value. �A ship on a voyage from Galveston to Liverpool was wrecked at the Virginia capes. Both ship and cargo were saved by salvors, and enabled to complete the voyage. One-half the gross freight to be carned on arriving at Liverpool was included by the court in estimating the value of the property saved. 6. Same— One-Foukth Combinbd Value of Vessel and Cargo and Half of Freight Awarded. �A steamer worth, with her cargo and freight, $200,000, was strandcd on Cape Henry, within 100 yards of the shore, where the currents of the Ohesapeaiie bay, encountering those of the ocean, are often verydangerous. Salvors, with a large force of vessels, wrecking apparatus, and men, after a week of hard and dangerous labor, in which the highest degree of skill was shown, succeeded in getting off both vessel and cargo so successfully as to allow them to proceed on their voyage after repairs to the ship. One-fourth of the combined value of the vessel and cargo, and of half the freight, was awarded as salvage. �I \ Admiralty. �Sharp e Iliighes, for libellant. �Walkc e Old, for rtspondents. ��� �