James Moore Wayne

“ When they answered the respondents, they at the same time filed a lible against the owners of the ship, propounding substantially the particulars of what was in their answer to the libel-so much so, that we will not repeat them; indeed, there is no addition to it, nor will it be necessary to set out again the articles of their answer to the libel filed against them, for they are a repetition of their own original libel, except in one particular, upon which the controversy was made exclusively to turn by the counsel on both sides in the argument of the case before us. ”

“ Benzell, a cooper of forty years' experience in New York, in coopering casks of lard from New Orleans yo New York, and who coopered this cargo upon its arrival, says the casks were of a good quality, except being slack-that is, hoops started; hoops were loose upon the casks; does not think there is any quality in lard to injury casks, except it will, when liquid, tend to shrink them; it requires a great deal of care in such a case; pressure increases the difficulty from heat, conduces to press upon the joints, and produces leakage ”

“ It is alleged that the loss of this shipment was sixty thousand pounds less that the quantity shipped. It must be admitted to be too large for it to be brought under the rule which exempts the carrier from liability for the ordinary evaporation of liquids, or for leakage from casks, occurring in the course of transportation. The implied obligation of the carrier does not extend to such cases, any more than it does to a case when the liquid being carried, if it shall be conveyed with care, is entirely lost from its intrinsic acidity and fermentation, and bursting the vessel which contains it ”

“ I coopered this cargo for libellants, Woodruff & Henning; when the cargo was discharging, two coopers under his direction, one at gangway on deck, the other in the hold of the ship; he saw the lard in the hold before delivered; the hoops were very loose, and the barrels were leaking from sides and heads; intensely hot below; considerably hotter than on deck; leakage from shrinking of packages; the lard was liquid; that tends to shrink; staves and hoops become loose; only chime hoops were nailed; barrels were well stowed; does not think it possible to stow better ”

“ There is no proof of leakage or loss from them by that exposure, than there would have been if those barrels had been put on board of the ship in the bad condition in which they were sent to the levee. Dix, who made freight engagement in behalf of the shippers, says it was expressly agreed that the lard should be taken on board of the ship as soon as the same was sent to the vessel, to avoid exposure to the sun; and he testifies that the casks containing it were in good order when they were delivered ”

“ M. Henning, survivors of the firm of James E. Woodruff & Co., eighteen hundred and thirty-eight dollars eleven cents, with interest from the fourteenth of August, eighteen hundred and fifty-four, for the freight, with primage and average accustomed, of a large quantity of lard which was carried in their ship, in barrels and tierces, from New Orleans to New York, for which the master of the ship had affirmed for the shippers in two bills of lading ”