Stephen Johnson Field

“ We agree with the Circuit Court that neither pilot nor master of either vessel could have been taken by surprise at the meeting of the vessels, as each must have been that the courses adopted and pursued necessarily led to it, and also that those courses were deliberately pursued by the pilot and master of each with the purpose of compelling the other vessel to change her course. ”

“ From the injuries received she was unable for several weeks to assist herself, and required constant attention, suffering all the time intense pain. At the trial in the District Court, more than a year after the accident occurred, she could not move without pain, and it is the opinion of the surgeon who attended her that she is permanently disabled. ”

“ We have looked into the evidence presented by the parties with much care. As in nearly all collision cases, it is, in some respects, conflicting, but, in our judgment, shows that both vessels were in fault. The collision occurred in open day, between the hours of ten and eleven in the morning. The weather at the time was clear, and that vessels were in full sight of each other from a distance of several hundred yards until they collided. The Washington was moving at the rate of twelve miles an hour, going down the river, about two hundred yards from the piers on the New York side. ”