The Jesse Williamson, Jr. The Blanche Page and The James A. Burden. be a white head light, in the front of the vessel, at her head, conspicuous, first to be seen, when she is not towing, so there are to be two of them, arranged vertically, one above the other, in the front of the vessel, at her head, conspicuous, first to be seen, when she is towing. The object is, that a tow shall be indicated to other vessels by the lights on the tug, at the earliest possible moment, so that they may give both tug and tow a sufficiently wide berth. For that purpose, the towing lights are to be head lights, and each is to be of the brilliancy and size and in the position of the usual head light. In the present case the tug ought not to have had any light on her flag-staff aft. The two globe lanterns she had aft were not proper towing lights. They were not head lights, and were not calculated to attract attention, and it is not shown that they were of a brilliancy equal to that of the head light. If the tug had had proper towing lights at her head, in the same position with the head light which she did have, it is quite clear that they would have been seen by the schooner as soon as the head light of the tug was seen. That was seen by the schooner a long distance off, and so were the red and green lights of the tug. The fact that the two after lights on the tug were not seen from the schooner indicates that they must have been very feeble lights. The schooner had no proper notice that the tug had a vessel in tow, and the failure to give such notice was a fault in the tug, which contributed to the collision. The barge and the tug, as one vessel, and that a steam vessel, were bound, as between either of themselves and the schooner, to keep out of the way of the schooner, if the schooner, on the one hand, and the barge and the tug, on the other, were proceeding in such directions as to involve risk of collision, although the barge was being towed astern of the tug; and it was the duty of the schooner, as well as her privilege, to keep her course, unless there were special circumstances rendering a departure from these requirements necessary, in order to avoid immediate danger. (The Cleadon, 14 Moore's P. C. C., 92, 97; The Warrior, Law Rep., 3 Adm. & Eccl., 553; The Civilta, 6 Ben VOL. XVII.-8 The Jesse Williamson, Jr. The Blanche Page and The James A. Burden. edict, 309, 319; The U. S. Grant, 7 Id., 195, 204, 205.) The evidence shows, I think, that the schooner did not change her course so as to embarrass the tug or the barge. She cleared the tug and she had no reason to suppose the barge was being towed behind the tug. The lights which the barge had were as feeble to indicate her presence as were the after lights on the tug to indicate there was a tow. The fact that the schooner saw the head light and side lights of the tug and did not see the two lights aft on the barge, indicates that those lights were defective, as a warning to the schooner, either in position, or size, or brilliancy. The obligation resting on the barge and the tug, to keep out of the way of the schooner, imposes on them, as the schooner did not change her course to their embarrassment, the necessity of showing affirmatively that the schooner committed a fault in not changing her course, or that there were special circumstances which required her to do something which she did not do, or to avoid doing something which she did. The libel of the barge sets forth, as a fault in the schooner, that she had no lookout properly performing his duty. The mate of the schooner, with two seamen, Blake and Saunders, were forward on the lookout, when the lights of the tug were first seen from the schooner. The master was aft by the wheel, and a seaman, Frisbie, had the wheel. The schooner was heading east. The mate reported to the master a green light on the port bow way ahead.' In a few minutes he reported it was a steamer showing a white bow light, and green and red lights, coming nearly for the schooner, and then he reported that she had hidden her green light and showed only her red light and her white light. The master then called the mate aft, and he came aft, and then the master went forward himself, telling Frisbie to keep the schooner east by south, which was done. two men who were forward, to get ready to haul aft the main sheet, preparatory to turning Throgg's Point. They started aft, but, before they got aft, the master saw the barge rise up before him. He ordered his wheel hard-a-port, and The master then sent aft the The Jesse Williamson, Jr. The Blanche Page and The James A. Burden. the order was obeyed, but the barge and the schooner collided. The schooner, from the time she sighted the tug, made no change towards the tug and the barge. She changed one point away from them, from east to east by south, and afterwards, by hard-a-porting, she changed more away from them. From these circumstances, and from the way in which the vessels struck each other, it is manifest that the barge was not moving either west or west by north, but was moving crosswise of those courses, to the northward. I am not satisfied, from the evidence, that the master, or any one else on the schooner, ought to or could have seen the barge any sooner than she was seen, or that there was any deficiency in the lookout on the schooner, which contributed to the collision. The libel of the barge also alleges fault in the schooner, in that she did not continue her course to pass the barge on the port hand. If this means, that, after sighting the tug, the schooner changed towards the tug and barge, the evidence shows the contrary. Such libel also alleges that the schooner took or kept such a course that she collided with the barge. The evidence shows that she changed her course away from the barge, as soon as she sighted the barge, and that there was no fault in her in not seeing the barge sooner. The libel of the barge also alleges, that the schooner was in fault because she did not change her course by porting, when she was hailed from the barge. It appears that she heard no hail, and it does not appear that she ought to or could have heard any hail which the barge made, and it is shown that she did port as soon as she discovered the barge. The answer of the tug and the barge contains no averments as to fault in the schooner, which are not covered by the foregoing observations. In the suit against the tug and the barge, there must be a decree for the libellants against both vessels, with costs, with a reference to ascertain the damages. In the suit against the schooner, the libel is dismissed, with costs." This Court found the following facts: "About half-past seven o'clock in the evening of November 2d, 1875, a collision occurred in the East river, near Throgg's Neck, be The Jesse Williamson, Jr. The Blanche Page and The James A. Burden. tween the schooner Jesse Williamson, Jr., owned by the libellants in the second suit, and the barge James A. Burden, in tow of the tug Blanche Page, both owned by the libellant in the first suit. The evening was clear, but dark, and the moon had just set. The wind was heavy from the northward and westward. The schooner was loaded with coal and on a voyage from Port Johnson, New Jersey, to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Her crew consisted of a captain, mate, three seamen and a cook. Her regulation lights were properly set and burning. The tug was on her way from New Haven to New York, and towing the barge astern, by a hawser at least seventy or eighty fathoms long. The length of the barge. was one hundred and twenty or one hundred and thirty feet. The lights of the tug were as follows--a white head light forward; a red light on the port side; a green light on the starboard side; and two white globe lanterns on the flag-staff aft, hung one above the other. The lights aft were not of a character to be visible on a dark night, with a clear atmosphere, at a distance of five miles, and were not otherwise constructed, or fixed, as mast-head lights. The barge had two white globe lanterns hanging one above the other from her flag-staff, burning dimly, but no other lights whatever. The speed of the tug, with her tow, was five or six miles an hour, and that of the schooner somewhat more. The usual course from the East, around Throgg's Neck, is southwest by south to the Point, and then around the buoy to west-northwest. In this case, the tug, when she rounded the buoy, hauled a point, or a point and a half, further north, on account of the wind. The schooner was steering so as to make Throgg's Point as close as she could with safety, because, when she rounded the Point, she would be compelled to come up more into the wind. She had on deck her captain, mate, and three seamen. The mate was on the lookout and the two seamen were forward with him. The captain was aft and the third seaman was at the wheel. The mate, on the lookout, saw and reported the green light of the tug off the port bow, then the white head light, then the red light, and finally the green The Jesse Williamson, Jr. The Blanche Page and The James A. Burden. light shut out. No other lights were seen. After this the captain called the mate aft and went forward on the lookout himself. Soon after getting forward he sent the seamen to tend the main sheets, on rounding the Point. The schooner passed the tug port to port, at a safe distance, and steadily kept her course. The red light of the schooner was seen from the tug about the time of passing the buoy. This was when the tug's lights were first discovered from the schooner. The vessels could not then have been more than a mile apart, if as much as that. The red light of the schooner was alone seen from the tug. Immediately after the seamen were sent aft, the captain saw the hull of the barge loom up close by, out of the darkness, and angling across the schooner's bow. He saw no lights. This was the first time that the barge, or anything on her, had been seen from the schooner. The wheel was at once put to port, but not in time to avoid a collision. The schooner struck the barge on the port side, fifteen or twenty feet forward of the stern. The blow knocked down the stanchions and joiner work, which caught fire from a stove. The barge was partially burned and sunk, with her cargo on board. As soon as the man at the wheel of the barge saw, by the way the schooner was coming, that a collision was possible, he ported his wheel, and then, when the schooner lapped the barge, starboarded it, hoping to swing the stem off. The commissioner's report as to damages is supported by the evidence. Rule IX of the Rules and Regulations of the supervising inspectors appointed under the authority of the Act of February 28th, 1871, (16 U. S. Stat. at Large, 440; Rev. Stat., secs. 4,405 and 4,412,) is as follows: 'Steam vessels, when towing other vessels, shall carry two bright white mast-head lights vertically, in addition to their side lights, so as to distinguish them from other steam vessels. Each of these mast-head lights shall be of the same construction and character as the mast-head lights which other steam vessels are required to carry; and, in addition to the lights herein referred to, when engaged in towing canal-boats and barges, or both, as is customary on the Hudson and other |