Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 6.djvu/549

 THE JOHN A. BEREMAN. 537 �h ave corne to the folio wing concluBions upon the questions of fact in dispute : �1. That there was a sufficient depth of water in the dock to allow the schooner, with her depth of 13 feet, to enter and float with entire safetj at high water. �2. That the dock was sufficiently dredged, and that there •was no such unevenness or inequality in the surface of the hard bottom of the dock, and no such accumulations of mud, as to make it unsafe for this vessel to lie on the bottom at low water. �3. That the evidence ia uot sufficient to satisfy me that a log or stick of timber was imbedded in the dock, which would have caused the in jury to the schooner. �4. The bill of lading, signed by the master, and accepted by the respondents' agent in Philadelphia, contained the memorandum, "Plenty water." This was relied upon atthe hearing, though it is not charged in the libel. But conceding this to be open to the libellants, and that it is in effect a war- ranty of the sufficiency of the depth of water in the dock for the schooner, I yet fiud, in view of the understanding of the parties, when the bill of lading was signed, and the usage of coal vessels arriving in Boston to take the ground at low water when lying at coal wharves, that there was no breach of the warranty. �Upon ail the foregoing issues of fact I find for the respond- ents. But upon another ground, in my opinion, the respond- ents are less fortunate, and this accident may be attributed, in part at least, to their want of reasonable care. It appears that the schooner, on her arrivai on the 28th, anchored in the stream opposite the respondents' wharf. The next day one of the respondents came to the end of the wharf and beckoned to the schooner to enter the dock. At that time the tide was at its f uU height, and if the schooner had started at once she would have reached her berth in safety. But a con- siderable time was consumed in getting her anchor, and no special haste seems to have been made by those in charge of her; at ail events, valuable time was lost, and she did not Tcaoh the spot where she first grounded until the tide had ��� �