Nathan Clifford

“ Other defences failing, it is quite common to set up the defence of inevitable accident. Most collisions are inevitable at the moment they occur, but the primary rule is that precautions must be seasonable, as all experience shows that in order to be effectual they must be seasonable, and if they are not so, and a collision ensues in consequence of the delay, it is no valid defence to say that nothing could be done at the moment to prevent the two vessels from coming together. ”

“ Few cases arise where there is less difficulty in answering such a defence or in pointing to the antecedent error than in the case under consideration, as it is quite clear to any one acquainted with the rules of navigation that it was a rash act for the steamship with her two tugs, one on her larboard side and the other on her port side, to attempt to pass between the Gladiator and the wreck, even if the space between those objects was somewhat wider than the three steamers abreast, which, to say the least of the proposition, is very doubtful. ”

“ Courts, under such circumstances, may estimate the damages without a reference, or they may send the cause to a commissioner for that purpose, in the exercise of their discretion. [1] Pursuant to that rule the Circuit Court estimated the damages without a reference, and found the amount to be four thousand six hundred and ninety-seven dollars and forty cents, with five per cent. ”