The Chattahoochee

Citations

• 173 U.S. 540
• 19 S. Ct. 491
• 43 L. Ed. 801
• 1899 U.S. LEXIS 1459
• 2005 A.M.C. 1197

Syllabus

<p>The Golden Rule, a Canadian topsail schooner with twelve sails, all of which with a small exception she was carrying, was sailing off Nantucket Shoals at a speed of seven knots an hour, in a fog so dense that the hull of another vessel could not be seen more than a few hundred feet off. The Chattahoochee, an American steamer, came up at an angle in the opposite direction with a speed of ten or twelve lcuots an hour. The schooner was sounding a foghorn, and the steamer a steam whistle. When the steam whistle was heard on the schooner she kept on her way at full speed. When the foghorn was heard on the steamer, order was given and obeyed to stop and reverse, and the wheel was put hard-a-port. Upon seeing the schooner the steamship engines were put at full speed ahead, for the purpose of clearing it; but a collision took place, and .the schooner sank almost immediately. The sunken vessel had a valuable cargo on board. It was held below that both vessels were in fault for immoderate speed, and the District Court,'ruling that the damages should be divided, made a decree respecting such division which was modified by the Court of Appeals as hereafter stated. Held:</p> <p>(1) That there can be no doubt as to the liability of the steamer, and, as no appeal was taken on her part she is estopped from denying that liability here;</p> <p>(2) That the schooner, also, -was proceeding at an immoderate speed, and was properly condemned therefor; and the cases bearing upon the question of what is immoderate speed in & sailing vessel, under such circumstances, are cited and reviewed;</p> <p>(3) That the Court of Appeals did not err in deducting half the value of the cargo from half the value of the sunken schooner, and in limiting a recovery to the difference between these .values; and in reaching this conclusion the court cites-and reviews several cases, in deciding which the act known as the Harter Act has been con.sidered and applied.</p>