William Howard Taft,
British Columbia Mills Tug Barge Company v…
“ A lookout is for the purpose of seeing and advising those navigating the ship of what is in the way, and the danger on a night like the one here presented an exigency requiring the peculiar services of a lookout quite as much as in a crowded harbor. ”
William Howard Taft,
British Columbia Mills Tug Barge Company v…
“ Dealing with the clause in this case in the same way, we must read it to mean that the tug was not to be held liable for any damage which might happen to the barge or its cargo, while in tow, unless the tug should not render reasonable assistance to the tow in an emergency. As our view of the evidence results in the conclusion that the negligence of the tug in not providing a proper lookout created the emergency, and that the tug did not render proper assistance to the tow in the emergency so created, the tug is clearly liable for the loss. ”
William Howard Taft,
British Columbia Mills Tug Barge Company v…
“ The evidence shows that on the night in question, Bjerre and Johnson were both in the wheelhouse; that the mate was there sometimes, and that a helmsman named Charles Croft was at the wheel. Johnson and Bjerre were constantly conferring as to the course and Bjerre professed to be the lookout. The wheelhouse was 40 feet from the stem, and 18 feet above the deck. There was no forecastle on the bow, and there were some obstructions there, but nothing that a man of ordinary height could not have seen over if at the bow, and there was no obstruction to the sight from the wheelhouse. ”
