Nathan Clifford

“ Taken as a whole, the proofs afford full satisfaction that the schooner did not change her course until all hope of avoiding the collision was gone.
Great conflict exists in the testimony as to the course of the propeller; but the best conclusion that can be formed from it is, that she was to the windward of the schooner. Both the lookout and the master of the schooner first saw the dim red light of the propeller nearly ahead over the starboard bow. Conceded fact is, that the propeller ported her helm; and, if so, she must have headed across the bows of the schooner. ”

“ Cross-examination is the right of the party against whom the witness is called, and the right is a valuable one as a means of separating hearsay from knowledge, error from truth, opinion from fact, and inference from recollection, and as a means of ascertaining the order of the events as narrated by the witness in his examination in chief, and the time and place when and where they occurred, and the attending circumstances, and of testing the intelligence, memory, impartiality, truthfulness, and integrity of the witness ”

“ Corresponding charge of the propeller against the schooner is, that she did not hold her course; but the latter charge cannot be sustained, because it is not supported by the weight of the evidence, except so far as it relates to the change made at the moment of collision, which is not a fault that will avail the other party.
Rules of navigation are obligatory from the time the necessity for precaution begins, and continue to be applicable as the vessels advance, so long as the means and opportunity to avoid the danger remain ”