Henry Billings Brown

Name: The Martello v. The Willey — Opinion of the Court
Author: Henry Billings Brown

The Martello v. The Willey — Opinion of the Court

Summary

“The Martello v. The Willey — Opinion of the Court”, is a work by Henry Billings Brown. It explores elements such as fog, horn and Martello.

Quotes from The Martello v. The Willey — Opinion of the Court (Henry Billings Brown)

Henry Billings Brown, The Martello v. The Willey — Opinion of the Court

“ The gist of this is that, while the horn was sounded at intervals of from one to two minutes, and the steamer was to the leeward of the barkentine, but one blast was heard, while three signals of the Martello's whistle were heard upon the barkentine. Now, if the barkentine had been provided with a more powerful horn, it appears to us not only possible, but probable, that more than one blast would have been heard, and the steamer thus apprised of the course and distance of the bark, and of the fact that she was approaching her upon a course that would carry her across the bows of the steamer. ”

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Henry Billings Brown, The Martello v. The Willey — Opinion of the Court

“ The Willey is also charged to have been in fault, not only for excess of speed, as to which we express no opinion, but for a failure to provide herself with a mechanical fog horn, as required by article 12 of the revised international regulations, which reads as follows: 'A steamship shall be provided with a steam whistle or other efficient steam sound signals, so placed that the sound may not be intercepted by any obstructions, and with an efficient fog horn, to be sounded by a bellows or other mechanical means, and also with an efficient bell. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Henry Billings Brown, The Martello v. The Willey — Opinion of the Court

“ It is apparent that the reason the regulations prescribed a horn blown by mechanical means is that a louder and more prolonged blast can be blown by that method than by the power of the lungs. The evidence is undisputed that the officers of the Martello heard but one blast of the Willey's fog horn before she hove in sight, and that this (her appearance) was only a minute or two after hearing the horn. The finding is that, 'about forty minutes after discharging the pilot, the horn-one blast of a sailing vessel-was heard on the starboard bow. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Henry Billings Brown, The Martello v. The Willey — Opinion of the Court

“ The necessity of instantly stopping, or at least of a reduction of speed to the lowest point consistent with the maintenance of steerage way, in the presence of an unknown danger, is one which the masters of steam vessels are slow to appreciate; but the courts have had occasion to enforce it so often it can, as a matter of law, be no longer considered doubtful. The sound of a fog horn upon either bow, if the blast be such as to indicate that the approaching vessel is upon a course crossing that of the steamer, is obviously such a danger. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Henry Billings Brown, The Martello v. The Willey — Opinion of the Court

“ Div. 80, which was a case of collision between the bark Pansewitz and the screw steamship Love Bird, is directly in point. Two blasts of the fog horn were admitted to have been heard upon the steamer. Counsel for the bark argued that, if the steamer had stopped when she first heard the trumpet, there would have been no collision, and hence that the absence of a mechanical fog horn did not contribute to the disaster. On the other hand, it was argued for the steamer that when she first heard the trumpet of the bark she was so near to her that it was impossible to avoid her. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Henry Billings Brown, The Martello v. The Willey — Opinion of the Court

“ While it is possible that a speed of six miles an hour, even in a dense fog, may not be excessive upon the open ocean and off the frequented paths of commerce, a different rule applies to a steamer just emerging from the harbor of the largest port on the Atlantic coast, and in a neighborhood where she is likely to meet vessels approaching the harbor from at least a dozen points of the compass. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Henry Billings Brown, The Martello v. The Willey — Opinion of the Court

“ Such has been the construction given to the statute both in this country and in England. The Love Bird, 6 Prob. Div. 80; The Wyanoke, 40 Fed. 702; The Catalonia, 43 Fed. 396; The Bolivia, 1 U.S. App. 26, 1 C. C. A. 221, 49 Fed. ”

Henry Billings Brown

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