Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 9.djvu/735

 720 FEDERAL REPORTER. �There are abundant and obvious reasoas for requiring, in cases of a defence like the present, clear proof of a plain agreement, made with due consideration for the seaman, and with full knowledge on his part, before a court of admiralty will feel justified in allowing the reward, -which the maritime law giv.es for personal merit and upon grounds of public policy, to be diverted from the hands of those who perform the labor to the pocket of him who owns the ship. In this case there appears to me a total absence of such proof a8 the law requires, and therefore there is no other way but to adjudgethe libel- lants entitled to share in the salvage under consideration. �Inasmuch as it appears that the libellants are the only persons whose claims have not been paid or adjusted, there only remains to determine the share of $2,643.93, admitted to be the gross amount of the salvage, proper to be awarded to the libellants. In view of all the circumstances I am of the opinion that $150 is the proper allowance to be made to the libellant Enos, and $100 the proper allowance to the libellant Cavanagh. �A decree will accordingly be entered in favor of the libellants, respectively, for the above-named amounts, and they must recover their costs. ��� �