Opinion

Rees v. United States

  • 134 F. 146
  • 1904 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22
Court
District Court, N.D. California
Filed
Mar 30, 1904
Status
Published
Author
Haven
On the bench
Haven
Cited by
2 cases
Authority
More cited than 55.3%

The opinion

DE HAVEN, District Judge.

Personal property of the United States on board of a vessel for transportation from one port to'another is liable to a lien for salvage services rendered in saving it. The Davis, 10 Wall. 15 , 19 L. Ed. 875 . It also seems to be the rule that the master and crew of one vessel may recover salvage for services rendered the master of another vessel belonging to the same owner. Lewis v. A Lot of Whalebone (D. C.) 51 Fed. 916 ; The Colima, 5 Sawy. 181 , Fed. Cas. No. 2,996. It would seem to follow, therefore, that the fact that the Justin and the Yosemite-were both owned by the United States is not sufficient to deprive the libelants, who were members of the crew of the Justin, of their right to salvage compensation for services rendered by them in saving from the wreck of the Yosemite the personal property of the United States mentioned in the libel. I do not think the service in fact rendered' by the libelants was of a very high order of merit. Indeed, there was very little, if any, personal danger connected with its performance; and an award of $500, to be divided among the libel-ants and intervener pro rata, according to the monthly wages received by each, will be ample compensation for the service rendered.

Let such decree be entered.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

A word about cookies

We need a few to keep you signed in and the library working. The rest help us see which pages people use and where they get stuck. They stay off unless you say yes.