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![handle is hein.slavery/ssactsengr0447 and id is 1 raw text is: 558 THE WESTMINSTER 1 W ROB. 229.
the words nature of the voyage must have such a rational construction as to
answer the main and leading purpose for which they were framed, namely, to give the
mariner a fair intimation of the nature of the service in which he was about to engage
himself when he signed the ship's articles. Looking at the tenor of the articles in the
present case, I am of opinion that the terms which are used give him no intimation
whether he is to winter in the frozen regions of the north, or perform an easy service
in the luxurious climate of Naples or Trieste. 1 am yet to learn that such com-
prehensive ambiguity is necessary for the purposes of trade ; and if not necessary,
I cannot believe that a just construction of this statute will impose any such grievance
upon the seaman. I am not disposed to narrow its interpretation in cases where the
exigence or convenience of commerce call for an extended latitude of construction ;
but I am inclined to say that this statute does not warrant an arbitrary extension
of terms not required for the interest of the owner, yet so vague and indefinite as to
deprive the ma-[229]-riner of all the benefit intended to be conferred upon him, when
the legislature ordained that some information should be conveyed to him of the
extent of the obligation into which he was about to enter. For these reasons I am
of opinion that the statute does not confer upon these articles a validity which they
certainly would not have possessed if framed before the statute passed.
I must therefore pronounce sentence in favour of the claim set up by the mariners
in this case, and, as a matter of course, with costs against the owners ; and I cannot
but lament that, considering that these persons have suffered a wrongful imprison-
ment, though innocently, on the part of the owners, it should have been deemed
necessary to carry on the controversy in this Court.
Wages pronounced for with costs.
THE WESTMINSTER. May 4, 1841.-Salvage awarded upon a quantity of tea saved
from a stranded vessel. Suggestion that the service was a mere transhipment
of cargo overruled. Where cargo at all requires assistance to remove it into a
place of safety, the service assumes the character of a salvage service. Vessel
subsequently brought into port under a separate agreement with the salvors.
Attempt to exclude from the terms of the agreement some tin on board at the
time, serving as ballast, not sustained. Agreements for the salvage of the ship,
irrespective of the cargo on board at the time, not allowed by the Court. Where
such agreements are proved, Court will refuse to pronounce any salvage due.
[Referred to, The Elton [1891], P. 265.]
This was a claim for a salvage remuneration, promoted by the Margate Steam
Packet Company against the consignees of a cargo of tea, and the owners of a quantity
of tin, which it was alleged had been saved by three steam-vessels belonging to the
company, when the Westminster was driven by stress of weather on the rocks
in Palm Bay, to the eastward of Margate, upon the 22nd of November last.
On behalf of the M. S. Company it was set forth in plea : That the master of the
Westminster, when his vessel had grounded upon the rocks, engaged the services
of the Royal George, the Royal William, and the Adelaide, to unlade the
cargo and [230] convey it to London ; a stipulation being made at the time, that
in consequence of the value of the steamers, the company to which they belonged
should be remunerated' according to the services rendered and the risk encountered ;
that a portion of the tea on board the Westminster, amounting in value to the
sum of £35,977, was transhipped on board the steamers, and conveyed to the East
India Docks; and upon the 7th of December, the Westminster, having the tin on
board, and which had never been removed, was towed up to London by the Royal
George, under a separate agreement made with the master of that vessel. It was
also represented that the value of the steamers amounted to £30,400 ; that one of
the steamers had been employed in the service for the space of six days, another
for four days, and the third for three days, and that the crews on board the several
vessels consisted of fifty-eight persons.
For the consignees of. the tea, Phillimore and Addams.
For the owners of the tin, the Queen's Advocate.
For the salvors, Jenner and Harding.
Judgment-Dr. Lushivgton : This vessel was bound to the port of London from
Singapore, with a very valuable cargo on board, consisting of tea, and also of some
tin used principally as ballast, when she unfortunately met with bad weather in](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.slavery/ssactsengr0447&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)