Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 3.djvu/812

 through which there are six bolts. The bolts in this instance were tapering, with the holes made to fit them, and were intended to be driven in and the nuts screwed further down, so as to tighten them up if they should work loose, The testimony of ail the experts—marine engineers, quite a number of whom were examined on both sides—shows that if these bolts become at ail loose there is an observable difference in the noise made by the working of the shaft, which is at once perceptible to an attentive engineer. It is insisted, on behalf of the steamer, that as the testimony shows that no such noise or jar was noticed, either previous to her anchoring at Newport, at the end of her last voyage, or when she started on the voyage to Baltimore, and not until she had been at least 36 hours at sea, it is evident that the bolts must have been tight when she started, and that this must be presumed, even though there is no testimony that the bolts were specially examined just previous to her starting.

The chief engineer, who had been on the steamer for six months, testified positively that the machinery was in good order at the end of the previous voyage, and that when the steamer started for Baltimore the machinery gave no evidence of being out of order, and that the least perceptible loosening of the bolts would have been noticed by him as soon as the machinery was in motion. The ordinary presumption is that a ship is seaworthy and her machinery in good order when she undertakes a voyage. The respondents, to rebut this presumption, endeavor to show that the machinery broke down soon after she got to sea, without any sufficient stress of weather or any extraordinary circumstance to account for it. On the voyage to Baltimore the steamer was carrying ballast merely. The weather was moderate for 24 hours, and during that time the machinery worked well. Then ensued a strong gale, with heavy seas, and the steamer being light her propeller was constantly lif ted clear of the water, and meeting no resistance it revolved rapidly, commonly called racing, and when it struck the water again its velocity was suddenly checked. The effect of this, constantly repeated, was to bring an irregular strain upon the shaft, tending to loosen the bolts