Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 8.djvu/862

 848 FBDEBAIi BSPOBTBB. �A. Hoyt and her tow had then stopped, and made no such aherr across the stern of the other tow. Such a movement would have been wholly uncalled for by the situation in which the George A. Hoyt was, and, being without apparent motive, the evidence from the cii- cumstances of the case greatly strengthens the direct testimony on this point. And the testimony of these witnesses from the S3'racu8e and her tow can, without difiSculty, be reconcHed with the rest of the proofs upon the supposition that the effect which they saw and testi- fied to was eaused by the movement of their own tow instead of that of the tow of the George A. Hoyt. Just before the vessels came tbgether, the pilot of the Syracuse seems to have stopped his engine againsjbut too late to arrest the forward movement of his tow, and it had no tendency to check its swing towards that of the George A. Hoyt, if, indeed, this second stoppage did not aggravate the effect of the westward swing of his tow. �The evidence does not warrant the allowance of the amendment of the libel. prayed for. The libel, if amended as proposed, would be contrary to the evidence ia this particular allegation, for upon the proofs the Syracuse did not keep on, or any where near, the eastern bank of the river. The amendment cannot, therefore, be allowed. Nor is it satisfactorily explained how the error in the libel occurred. �In conclusion, it is only necessary to say that none of the faults charged against the George A. Hoyt are proven, and that on the evi- dence the collision was eaused solely by the reckless and careless navigation of the Syracuse, in keeping on, at full speed, in this nar- row part of the river, and attempting there to pass the Geres, whUe the river was so obstructed by the George A. Hoyt and her tow, and the two schooners and the Geres and her tow, that this manoeuver could not there be safely or prudently accomplished or attempted without serious risk of collision with one or another of those vessels. It is suggested in argument that tiie George A. Hoyt was not stopped soon enough. This is not charged in the libel as a fault against her. It is, perliaps, inconsistent with the libel. But it is not sustained by the evidence. The proof is that she stopped promptly on the first appearance of danger. �Libel dismissed, with costs. ��� �