Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 4.djvu/110

 9 6 FEDKEAL EEPOETEB. �slooj), and was sailing somewhat faster. She was high oui of water, while the sloop's deck was nearly on a level with it. �The chain bobstay of the schooner was parted at the time near the cut-water, and her topmast was broken, so that it came down with the topsail. So great damage could not have been sustained unless these vessels had corne together with considerable violence, and it is unreasonable to suppose that the schooner was the only sufïerer. It is much more likely that this small, low craf t was crushed down by the larger vessel, and that her weight, when thrown upon the sloop, must have foreed her under water, and broken in her deck and sides, as stated by her crew, causing her to leak badly. It is possible that the leak might have been stopped, 80 that she could have been taken into Eockport; but the. wind was in an opposite direction, her mainsail was useless, and, if she had run before the wind, she must have gone to sea, instead of making a harbor. That she was in a sinidng condition, and soon afterwards went down, being heavily loaded with stone, may well be inferred from the fact there is no evidence of her having been seen by any one since that night, although the place of the disaster was one where ves- sela are constantly passing. �In The Rebecca, 1 B. & H. 347, Judge Betts held "that where a vessel injured by a collision is abandoned by her crew and afterwards lost, it is enough to prove that her con- dition at the time appeared to be desperate." Applying this rule to the present case, the libellants have established their right to recover the value of their vessel. "In comingto this conclusion I have attached little or no importance to the great mass of testimouy introduced into this case relating to con- versations with the crew of the sloop after the accident. This description of testimony, although of ten found in actions for collision, has in most cases been held by the court to be entitled to little weight in determining disputed questions of fact appertaining to the navigation of the respective vessels." The Empire State, 1 Ben. 19. Decree for libellants. Albert Maswick appointed assessor. ����