The Federal Reporter. Volume 4: Cases Argued and Determined in the Circuit and District Courts of the United States. October-December, 1880. Page: 88
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FEDERAL REPORTER.
whatever was made of the schooner's course until at the
instant of striking, when, as all agree, she luffed.
This testimony from the respective vessels in regard to the
course of the schooner, and the lights she displayed, appar-
ently so contradicting, can, I think, be reconciled by refer-
ence to the fact, stated by the master of the schooner in the
most positive manner, that the side lights of the schooner
were placed so that when he stood at the stem he could see
both the red and green light at the same time without moving
his head.
This fact shows that it may have been possible for those
on the steamer to see the schooner's red light, as they say
they did, while the schooner's course was held unchanged, as
those on the schooner say was the case. In this way, as I
am inclined to think, an explanation is offered of the testi-
mony, and statements otherwise wholly irreconcilable are
harmonized. But this explanation convicts the schooner of
fault for carrying lights so arranged as to mislead an ap-
proaching vessel in regard to the course she was pursuing.
This fault on the part of the schooner does not, however, in
my opinion, absolve the steamer from fault. The steamer
saw the schooner displaying a green light, and so near that,
according to the testimony of the master of the steamer, it
was not safe to attempt to cross the schooner's bows, accord-
ingly the engine of the steamer was immediately stopped.
But afterwards, and according to the master, as soon as he
was satisfied that he saw a red light, the steamer was started
again at half speed.
This act of starting the engine of the steamer after it had
once been stopped was the immediate cause of the disaster,
for the method in which the two vessels came together indi-
cates that the schooner would have passed ahead of the steam-
ship, although close at hand, if the steamship's engines had
not been started., To start the engine under such circum-
stanceswas a fault. Assuming it to be true that the green
light of the schooner disappeared and her red light became
visible, as the master of the steamer states, such a change of88 "
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Boyle, Peyton. The Federal Reporter. Volume 4: Cases Argued and Determined in the Circuit and District Courts of the United States. October-December, 1880., legislative document, 1881; Saint Paul, Minnesota. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc36333/m1/102/?rotate=270: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.