Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 3.djvu/407

 400 PBDBBAIi EBPOBTKR. �was seen, It îs claimed, on the part of the steamer, that tHe tug gave no signal previous to giving these two whistles, wbich' she heard and answered just before the collision. The proof, however, is, I ihink, satisfactory that before giving these two whistleS) and when the two vessels were considerably further apart, and just before the man in charge of the tug star- boarded his wheel to cros the bows of the steamer, he gave a signal of two whistles, which were not observed on board the steamer, and to which the steamer made no reply. Although the fîve witnesses from the steamer testify, with great posi- tiveness, that they were watching the tug, and heard no such signal, it is positively testified to by the man at the wheel of the tug, and he is corroborated by three impartial and intelli- gent witnesses from the schooner, which was then a little nearer to the tug than the steamer was. �The master of the schooner had a good opportunity to ob- serve the tug. He noticed her when she blew the first two whistles. He observed that she immediately began to changa her course and draw in towards the Ward's island shore. He observed that the steamer did not reply. The distance between the steamer and the tug, when this first signal was given, can- not be determined with certainty. The testimony on that point is conflicting. I think the weight of the testimony ia that they were from an eighth to a quarter of a mile apart. It appears to have been about the time or very soon after the red light was seen from the steamer, and just about the time the steamer was lapping the schooner. �It is objected by the learned counsel for the steamer that the change of course on the part of the tug cannot have been when the vessela were so far apart ; and it is thought to be demonstrated that this is so, because the course of the tug was only about 150 feet on the port hand of the course of the steamer, and, although the tug kept on her starboard wheel ail the time, after changing, she made only just distance enough to port to come up to the line the steamer was on be- fore the collision. Hence it is argued that she can have run only a very short distance under her starboard wheel. The demonstration, however, fails for want of certainty in the ele- ����