Canada Sugar Refining Co. v. Insurance Co. of North America

Citations

• 175 U.S. 609
• 20 S. Ct. 239
• 44 L. Ed. 292
• 1900 U.S. LEXIS 1709

Syllabus

<p>Tills is a case where the owners of a cargo of sugar hajl insured the same in the Atlantic Mutual Insurance Company, on and before April 29, 1893, at and for the sum of $166,145; and had, on April 29, 1893, insured the profits on the Cargo against total loss only in the sum of $15,000 in the Insurance Company of North America. On July 6, 1893, the ship, while on her voyage, stranded on the coast of Newfoundland, became a total loss, and the voyage came to an end. The master, representing all concerned, contracted with local fishermen to give them one half of the sugar they could save. On July 8, 1893, the insurers of the cargo, having been notified of the disaster, took charge and possession of the remnants of the cargo, and purchased from the salvors the portion which, under the agreement with the master, was theirs. The sugar was then transported by a vessel chartered by the insurers, and on their account, to Montreal. The value of the sugar that reached Montreal was about $20,000, and the expenses, salvage charges and the additional freight from Newfoundland to Montreal, paid by the Atlantic Mutual Insurance Company, exceeded $11,000. The insurers on the cargo settled with the refining company as for a total loss under its policy for $166,145, and the sugar saved was turned over to the refining company in part settlement of that sum on the basis of the average pro rata policy valuation. The value of the entire cargo on April 29, 1893, when the insurance on profits was effected, was alleged in the libel and admitted in the answer to have been about $181,000. The insurance company contested its liability upon the policy on profits on the ground, chiefly, that the receipt by the libellant of a portion of the sugars, viz., about $20,000 in value, prevented the loss from being total within the terms of the policy. Held</p> <p>(1) That the saved remnants of the sugar were taken exclusive possession of by the agents of the Atlantic Mutual Insurance Company, were by t