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![handle is hein.slavery/ssactsengr0520 and id is 1 raw text is: THE 4 HARRIET
unusual efforts to assist vesssels in distress, wherever those efforts are successful.
As Mr. Justice Story has said, Salvage is a mixed question of private right and
public policy ; and that has always been the doctrine maintained in this Court.
Considering the value of the property salved, £11,590, the danger to which it was
exposed, and the services rendered by the salvors, I award to the plaintiffs the sum
of £350.
Rothery, proctor for the plaintiffs.
Clarkson for the defendants.
[285] THE HARRIET. March 21, 1861.-Wages-Special contract-17 & 18
Vict. c. 104, s. 189.--The Court of Admiralty has no jurisdiction over a contract
for wages different from the ordinary mariner's contract. The 189th section of
the Merchant Shipping Act, 1854, bars a seaman from recovering wages less
than £50 in the Court of Admiralty, except in the contingencies therein specified.
The plaintiff signed the ship's articles as mate at £5, 10s. per month; he also
verbally agreed with the owner to act as purser, and superintend the ship's
accounts for £4, 10s. per month additional; he served afterwards in both capaci-
ties, and finally claimed £63. Held, that the parol agreement was, in the
circumstances, a special agreement, which the Court could not enforce ; and the
claim, thus falling below £50, was dfsmissed altogether.
[S. C. 5 L. T. 210; 1 Mar. L. C. (Crockford) 152.]
The plaintiff, George Lines, sued the British ship Harriet for wages; claiming
for wages as mate £33, and £30 as wages for superintending the ship's disbursements.
The action was defended by John Rogerson, mortgagee of the ship in possession.
It appeared that on the 16th of November 1859, when the Harriet was lying
at Hartlepool, designed on a voyage to Carthagena in Spain, John Winspear, the
owner of the vessel, verbally engaged the plaintiff to serve as mate, at the rate of
£5, 10s. a month, and also entered into a further agreement with the plaintiff that he
should take the management of the ship's accounts, and superintend the ship's dis-
bursements during the voyage. This latter agreement was not reduced to writing,
and on the ship's articles, which the plaintiff signed on the 19th of November, he
was entered in the capacity of mate at the rate of £5, 10s. per month, receiving at the
same time an advance of the like sum. The plaintiff sailed on the voyage, acting
as mate, and also superintending the ship's disbursements, according to the oral
agreement. On the return of the vessel to this country he was discharged, and there-
upon brought this action. The services of the plaintiff in both capacities were proved
by the owner of the ship, but it was contended by the defendant that the plaintiff
could not recover any wages not specified in the ship's articles, and this being so,
the claim fell within the statutory limit of £50.
The following sections of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1854 (17 & 18 Viet. c. 104),
were referred to in the argument :-
[286] S. 149. The master of every ship, except ships of less than eighty tons
registered tonnage, exclusively employed in trading between different ports on the
coasts of the United Kingdom, shall enter into an agreement with every seaman
whom he carries to sea from any port in the United Kingdom as one of his crew in
the manner hereinafter mentioned; and every such agreement shall be in a form
sanctioned by the Board of Trade, and shall be dated at the time of the first signature
thereof, and shall be signed by the master before any seaman signs the same, and
shall contain the following particulars as terms thereof (that is to say) :
(1) The nature, and, as far as practicable, the duration of the intended voyage
or engagement :
(2) The number and description of the crew, specifying how many are engaged
as sailors:
(3) The time at which each seaman is to be on board or to begin work:
(4) The capacity in which each seaman is to serve:
(5) The amount of wages which each seaman is to receive:
(6) A scale of the provisions which are to be furnished to each seaman
(7) Any regulations as to conduct on board, and as to fines, short allowance of
provisions, or other lawful punishments for misconduct, which have been
sanctioned by the Board of Trade as regulations proper to be adopted,
and which the parties agree to adopt.
LUSN. 285.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.slavery/ssactsengr0520&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)