Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 3.djvu/822

 JANNBY ». THE TUDOR COMPAKY. 815 �were obliged to incur expense in rebagging the cutcli. The libellants, in their libel, admit "that it is true that cargoes of cutoh are liable to auffer, and usually do suffer, by their own nature, a certain loss of weight and shrinkage duriag the voyage from Calcutta to Boston, made at the time of year that this voyage was made," but they aver that "an extreme allowance for such loss of -weight upon the voyage, suppos- ing the cutch to have been properly received, stowed, trans- ported, and delivered by said vessel, would have been 3 per cent, of the quantity received." They claim that the excess of the shrinkage in this case, above 3 per cent., -was caused in part by bad stowage, and in part by unusual and improper meansusedin hoisting out the Cutch from the hold and land- ing it on the wharf. Assuming that a shrinkage of 5 per cent, in weight is an excessive and extraordinàry shrinkage in a cargo of cutch, on a voyage in the hot months, froïn Calcutta to Boston, which is by no means clear upon the evidence, I am unable to corne to the conclusion that the shrinkage in this case was owing to detective stowage. It was stowed in the customary manner, on the bottom of the ship's hold. There was some evidence that the bags were piled tu tiers, somewhat higher than is usual. But it was not shown that any practice existed in this respect which amounted to a custom, and I cannot find upon the evidence that this circumstance contributed, in any appreciable degree, to the shrinkage. �It appears that, owing to the inherent character and quai- ity of the article itself, cutch always suffers a greater or less loss from evaporation on a voyage from Calcutta, depending upon the condition it is in when received, and the tempera- ture of the weather during the voyage, and that it is liable to sof ten and run ■ through the meshes of the bags, when ex- posed to a temperature which is inevitable in the hold of a , vessel on a voyage of several months in hot weather. When this cutch was received on board the Iceberg, at Calcutta, it had become somewhat softened from a voyage of 1,500 miles, from Singapore, and was rebagged at Calcutta in consequence. ����