The Ocean and the Fusing.
Revert or Recistear axp Mzncmants, 1.—The "Fusing" Claims, Those were for—(1)—Value of ship (sunk)
(2)—Value of cargo (wholly lost) soli) Value of passengers! effects. (wholly (4)—Value of European officers' effects (wholly lost), and sol) Value of native aren's effects (wholly Jost)
"Nos. 3 and 5 were by consent of the parties fixed at two-thirds of the amounts originally claimed (Tls. 41,144.04 and Tls. 3,974.64), and they stand accordingly at is, $7,429.36 and Tis, 1,316.43, respectively.
For the cargo (item No. 2), a sum of Tls. 51,043.33 was claimed, but this was altered at the hearing to ls.'49,7 aggregate liability of the Ocea all the various heads of damag by the decree of the Court, limited to £3 a ton, or some Tls. 42,000, it was comparatively a matter of indifference to her how this sum should be apportioned between the several claimants, and accordingly no evidence was brought on her behalf to rebut the estimate of value put on the various descriptions of cargo by the Fusing. Under these circumstances, we have no alternative but to allow the claim to stand as amended, viz, Tis, 49,779.27.
As to item No. 1 (value of ship), this was originally put at Tls. 118,000, but at the hearing it was reduced to Tls. 101,351.16. Here, again, yo rebutting evidence was offered by the Ocean—for the same reason—nor was there even any cross-examinatic The evidence furnished by the Fusing on this Joint, however, was not of the nature proper was confined solely to the cost of the vessel for determining, questions of this ind. as made up of her original cost (without any deduction), added to the cost (without any deduction) of the various improvements that had been subsequently effected in her, Thi of course erdly any criterion at all; she may have been originally a very dear purchase, and the so-called improvements may have been no improvements at all, or they may have been nothing more than' attempts at remedying original defects in her construction. As was pointed out in a recent case, the true test is, unless the peculiar circumstances of any particular case require departure from the c, her value in the market immediately prior to the collision; and evidence of this kind ought to have been supplied by ber owners. In the absence of any such evidence we decline to look at the estimate they make. The merchants consider the amount for which she was insured (Ts, 60,000) as a full value to put om her.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.