Levi Woodbury

“ The material averments were, that the schooner on the 18th of that month, in a fog, got ashore on the north breakers of the bar at the entrance of the port of Galveston; that the libellant, seeing her danger and signals of distress, assisted in getting her off, and saving the vessel and cargo; and the libel then prayed that all persons interested therein be notified to appear and show cause why the libellants should not have a decree for such money or such proportion of the property saved as is a just compensation for their salvage services. ”

“ In case of an individual claiming for others in admiralty, the rights of each person or firm represented are supposed to be contained or covered in separate decrees, or separate portions of one decree, as each owns separately, and, if not thus considered, one may have to pay, or be made to suffer, for another. Oliver et al. v. Alexander et al., 6 Peters, 143; Stratton v. Javis et al., 8 Peters, 11.
Here the decree relating to the schooner was against persons, not appearing to be owners of any part of the cargo, and, as before shown, was entirely inadequate in amount to give us jurisdiction. ”

“ It follows, then, that, as no one person, either in his own right or in the right of some other person or firm, and as no one lot of the goods, or owner of the vessel, was subject by the decree to pay as much as $2,000 in salvage, the appeal must be dismissed for want of jurisdiction. ”