Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 2.djvu/256

 DUNLIP V. BTEIMBOAT BSLIANOB. 249 �DuNLAP V. Stbamboat Remancb, etc. �(Circuit Court, D. Oeorgia., 1880.) �Carmers op Passbngbrs— Liabilitt op. — Carriers of passengers are not insurers of the aalety and lives of their passengers, but are bound to th» exercise of the utmost knowledge, skill and vigilance. �Bteamboat— Explosion dp Botiar — NEauGBNCE. — The explosion of the boiler of a steamboat causing injuries is prima fade evidence of negli- gence. �Negligencje — Insufpicient Evidence to Rebut. — Evidence in this case considered, and held not sufficient to remove the presumption of negli- gence arising from the fact of the explosion of the boiler of the boat. �In Admiralty. �B. R. RicJuirds and H. C. Cunnîngham, for libellant. �Lester e Ravenel, for respondent. �WooDB, C. J. The Eeliance was a passenger and freight Bteamboat, making regular trips by the middle route between Jacksonville, Florida, and Savannah, Georgia, On Septem- ber 3, 1878, about 10 o'clock p. m., she left Jacksonville, bound for Savannah. On that trip the libellant was a pay passenger. Between 11 and 12 o'clock on the night of that day, as the Eeliance was going up the St. Mary's river, one of her boilers exploded. The resuit of the explosion was to throw overboard her other boiler and to break in the lower forward saloon. �At the time of the explosion the libellant was sitting on the port side of the upper deck. He was thrown upwards by the explosion and fell upon the deek 10 or 12 feet from wherehe had been sitting at the time of the explosion, His right leg was broken at the neck of the trachanter, and his elbow and hand were bruised. He was taken to a hospital in Savannah for treatment, and for weeks suffered great pain from his in- juries. As a resuit of the fracture he was crippled for life, his injured leg being shortened about an inch and a half. �The libellant was an Episcopal clergyman, and at the time of his injuries aged 37 years, and wasof sound bodilyhealth. At the time of the explosion William Moultrie, first engineer ����