the plaintiffs at such times formed part of such crew and served on Salvage. board the said steamship in the respective capacities, following:William Bennett, John William Johnson, and John Evison, as quartermasters; George Tong, George Short, and Robert Burns, as able seaman; Arthur Brook, as ordinary seaman; Joseph Allen, William Freeman, Henry Brewer, Daniel Levenson, Henry Weatherson, James Dews, and Francis Loosemoore, as firemen; Charles Hope, as leading stoker; and Alfred Cooke, as greaser.

The material facts of the circumstances of the service having been stated, proceed.

11. The owners of the Rosario (the salved ship) and of her cargo have paid to the defendants, and the defendants have accepted, the sum of £750 for the services so rendered to the Rosario, but the defendants, though requested to do so, have refused to pay the plaintiffs their equitable portion of the said sum.

And the plaintiffs claim :

1. A declaration that they are entitled to an equitable proportion
of the said sum of £750.

2. That the defendants be ordered to pay such proportion to
the plaintiffs, together with the costs of this suit.

3. Such further and other relief as the nature of the case may
require.

(Title.)

Statement of Defence.

1. The defendants admit the truth of the first three paragraphs of the statement of claim.

2. The defendants admit that the Navarino fell in with and towed the Rosario to Gibraltar on the occasion in the statement of claim mentioned, but they deny the truth of the statement that the Rosario was lying in the trough of the sea quite unmanageable, and say that the service was performed in moderately fine weather without difficulty or danger to the plaintiffs, and that the service was mainly performed by the Navarino herself by means of her steam power.

3. The Rosario, after the performance of the said service, went to Scotland and did not come within the jurisdiction of this Court, and the defendants, who reside in Hull, did not and were unable to enforce the claim of themselves and the master and crew of the Navarino to salvage in respect of the said service.

4. The crew of the Navarino having made frequent applications to the defendants for the payment of their shares of the salvage in respect of the said services, and constantly importuning the defendants in respect thereof, although the defendants had not received any amount in respect of such salvage, and had not agreed with the owners of the Rosario as to the amount to be received, the defendants determined to purchase their respective shares of the salvage from such of the crew as wished for an immediate payment, and, accordingly, by an indenture dated the 11th day of June, 1875, between the several persons, whose names are thereunto subscribed and seals are affixed of the one part, and the defendants of the other part, the said several persons, parties thereto of the first part, including all the plaintiffs except George Short and Robert Burns, in consideration of the respective sums set opposite to their re

Salvage. spective names in the fourth column of the said schedule, paid by the defendants to the said parties of the first part, each of the said parties of the first part assigned to the defendants all and every the share, right, title, and interest of the said parties of the first part in the salvage or salvage reward and remuneration then due, or thereafter to be due, or paid, or awarded in respect of the salvage services set forth in the statement of claim, with power for the defendants to sue for, receive, and give receipts for the salvage, and to use the Lames of the said parties of the first part. The defendants crave leave to refer to the said indenture.

Towage.

5. The sums so paid to the said plaintiffs respectively other than George Short and Robert Burns were as follows:

£ s. d.

(And so on £1 each.)

6. In the month of March, 1876, the Rosario being about to come within the jurisdiction of this Court, her owners agreed to settle with the defendants for the said salvage, and paid the defendants in settlement thereof the sum of £750 by a bill at three months' date.

7. In rendering the said service, the Navarino was delayed on her voyage, and consumed an extra quantity of coals, and her hawsers were injured, and a loss of about £100 was thereby incurred by the defendants. The master of the Navarino having taken upon himself the responsibility of rendering the service, the defendants have paid him the sum of £125 as his share of the salvage.

8. The defendants legally tendered to each of the plaintiffs, George Short and Robert Burns, the sum of £4 in respect of his share of the salvage before this action was brought, but each of them respectively refused to accept such sums. The defendants have brought such sums into Court ready to be paid to the said plaintiffs.

9. The defendants submit that the sum of £4 so tendered to each of the said lastly-named plaintiffs was and is sufficient, and that the other plaintiffs are bound by the said indenture, and that the sums paid to them respectively thereunder were reasonable and fair.

(Title.)

Reply and Demurrer.

1. The plaintiffs join issue on the 2nd, 8th, and 9th paragraphs of the statement of defence.

2. The plaintiffs do not admit the statements contained in the 3rd and 7th paragraphs of the statement of defence.

3. The plaintiffs demur to the 4th and 5th paragraphs of the statement of defence, and say that the same are bad in law on the ground that the said agreement therein set out is void and inoperative under the provisions of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1854, and on other grounds sufficient in law to sustain this demurrer.

5.

(Title.) Statement of Claim.

1. On the 1st day of April, 1877, the ship L. A., whereof the defendants are the owners, homeward bound, arrived off Southend,

and here the master of the said ship thereupon agreed to engage the Towage. steam-tug E., whereof the plaintiffs are the owners, to tow the said ship up the Thames to St. Katherine's Dock for reward in that behalf.

2. The E. took the said ship in tow, and continued in charge of her until she was placed in the said dock.

3. For the said services so rendered to the said ship as aforesaid there is due to the plaintiffs the sum of £

4. The defendants have refused to pay the said sum of £ the same is still due and owing to the plaintiffs.

The plaintiffs claim :

1. Judgment pronouncing for the claim of the plaintiffs.

and

2. The condemnation of the defendants, and their bail in the
costs of this action.

3. Such further or other relief as the case may require.

(Title.)

Statement of Defence and Counterclaim.

1. The defendants admit the allegations in pargraphs 1, 2, and 4 of the statement of claim, and say further that it was an implied condition of the agreement mentioned in paragraph 1 that the said ship L. should be safely and properly, and with reasonable care, towed to the said dock.

2. The defendants deny that a sum of £ is due to the plaintiffs as alleged in paragraph 3 of the statement of claim.

3. The defendants say that at a time when the said steam-tug E. was in charge of the L., and as the vessels were proceeding up St. Clement's Reach with about 150 feet of tow rope between the said vessels, the said tug and ship came in sight of a ship or vessel the M.

4. The wind was then south-west, the tide flood running from two to three knots an hour; the M. was under sail and beating up the river and standing over on the port tack heading to the northward and westward.

5. The E., without receiving orders from the pilot, ported her helm and attempted to tow the L. ahead of the M.; but in so doing the stem of the L. struck the M. amidships on the starboard side, and the L. was in consequence thereof greatly damaged.

6. Such damage was caused by the negligent navigation and management of the E., and in consequence of acting without the orders of the pilot, and was a breach of the said contract entered into between the master of the steam-tug E. and the ship L., and releases the defendants from payment of the said sum of £

7. And by way of counterclaim the defendants repeat the allegations contained in paragraphs 3, 4, and 5 of the statement of defence. The defendants claim :

1. A declaration that the defendants are entitled to the damage
occasioned to them by reason of the said collision.

2. The condemnation of the plaintiffs, and their bail in such
damages and in costs.

3. That the accounts and vouchers relating to such damage
should be referred to the registrar, assisted by merchants,
to report the amount thereof,

Collision.

4. Such further or other relief as the nature of the case may require.

(Title.)
Reply.

The plaintiffs join issue upon the defendants' statement of defence and counterclaim.

Collision (Sea).

6.

No. 11 (J. A.).

(Title.)

Statement of Claim.

1. Shortly before 8 a.m. on the 9th of December, 1874, the brigan tine Katie, of 194 tons register, of which the plaintiffs were owners, manned by a crew of eight hands all told, whilst on a voyage from Dublin to St. John's, Newfoundland, in ballast, was in latitude about 46° N., and longitude 40° 42′ W., by account.

2. The wind at such time was about W. by S., a strong breeze, and the weather was clear, and the Katie was under double-reefed mainsail, reefed mainstaysail, middle staysail, lower topsail, reefed forestaysail, and jib, sailing full and by on the port tack, heading about NW. N., and proceeding at the rate of about five knots and a half per hour.

3. At such time a steamship under steam and sail, which proved to be the screw steamship American, was seen at the distance of three or four miles from the Katie, broad on her port bow, and steering about E. or E. by S. The master of the Katie not having been able to take observations for several days, and her chronometer having run down, and the said master wishing to exchange longitudes with the American, caused an ensign to be hoisted, and marked his longitude by account on a board which he exhibited over the port side. The Katie was kept full and by, and the American approached rapidly, and attempted to pass ahead of the Katie, and caused immediate danger of collision, and although thereupon the helm of the Katie was put hard a-port and her mainsheet let go, the American with her stem struck the Katie on her port side, almost amidships, cutting her nearly in two, and the Katie sank almost immediately, her crew being saved by the steamer.

4. The American improperly neglected to keep clear of the Katie. 5. The American improperly attempted to pass ahead of the Katie. 6. The American improperly neglected to ease her engines, and improperly neglected to stop and reverse her engines in due time. The plaintiffs claim :

1. That it may be declared that the plaintiffs are entitled to the damage proceeded for.

2. That the bail given by the defendants be condemned in such damage and in costs.

3. That the accounts and vouchers relating to such damage be

referred to the registrar, assisted by merchants, to report the Collision.
amount thereof.

4. Such further and other relief as the nature of the case may
require.

(Title.) Statement of Defence.

The defendants say as follows:

1. The American is a screw steamship, of 1368 tons register, with engines of 200-horse power nominal, belonging to the port of Liverpool, and at the time of the occurrences hereinafter mentioned was manned by a crew of forty hands all told, laden with a cargo of general merchandize, and bound from Port-au-Prince in the West Indies to Liverpool.

2. About 8.5 a.m., on the 28th of November, 1874, the American was in latitude 46° N., longitude 38° 16′ W., steering E. by S. true magnetic, making under all sail and steam about 12 knots an hour, the wind being about SW. by S. true magnetic, blowing a strong breeze and the weather hazy, when a vessel, which afterwards proved to be the brigantine Katie, was observed on the American's starboard bow about four miles distant, bearing about SE. by E. true magnetic, close-hauled to the wind, and steering a course nearly parallel to that of the American.

3. The American kept her course, and when the Katie was about three miles distant, her ensign was observed by those on board the American run up to the main, and she was seen to have altered her course, and to be bearing down towards the American. The American's ensign was afterwards run up, and her master, supposing that the Katie wanted to correct her longitude or to speak the American, continued on his course, expecting that the Katie when she had got sufficiently close to speak or show her black board over her starboard side, would luff to the wind, and pass to windward of the American.

4. The master of the American watched the Katie as she continued to approach the American, and when she had approached as near as he deemed it prudent for her to come, he waved to her to luff, and shortly afterwards on his observing her to be attempting to cross the bows of the American, the helm of the latter was immediately put to starboard, and engines stopped and reversed full speed; but, notwithstanding, the American with her stem came into collision with the port side of the Katie a little forward of the main rigging.

5. The American's engines were then stoppod, and when the crew of the Katie had got on board of the American, the latter's engines were reversed to get her clear of the Katie, which sunk under the American's bows.

6. The Katie improperly approached too close to the American. 7. Those on board the Katie improperly neglected to luff, and to pass to windward of the American.

8. Those on board the Katie improperly attempted to cross the bows of the American.

9. Those on board the Katie improperly ported her helm before the said collision.