Melville Fuller

“ As between these vessels, the fault of the Victory being obvious and inexcusable, the evidence to establish fault on the part of the Plymothian must be clear and convincing, in order to make a case for apportionment. The burden of proof is upon each vessel to establish fault on the part of the other. ”

“ If so, it was not unreasonable and unseamanlike, I think, for the Horton to keep on as she did. By the time that two ship's lengths were passed over by the two vessels approaching each other,-that is, the time of the second blast,-the collision was inevitable. It seems to me that the judgment of the president, and the advice of his trinity masters, was too severe. It was requiring men to do what no man ought to be expected to do under such strange circumstances. ”

“ The question, therefore, always turns on the reasonable inference to be drawn as to a vessel's future course from her position at a particular moment, and this greatly depends on the nature of the locality where she is at that moment. ”

“ If at any time two vessels, not end on, are seen, keeping the courses to be expected with regard to them, respectively, to be likely to arrive at the same point at or nearly at the same moment, they are vessels crossing, so as to involve risk of collision ”

“ That was an appeal from the decision of the supreme court for China and Japan, sitting in admiralty, in which the steamship Normandie was alone held to blame for a collision which took place between her and the steamship Pekin in the river Whangpoo on April 3, 1896. The case was thus stated by Sir Francis Jeune, delivering judgment in the privy council: 'At Pootung point the Whangpoo makes a sharp bend towards the south,-returning, indeed, on its course, at something more than a right angle ”