ACCIDENT INSURANCE.-See INSURANCE, 10–13.
Defects in acknowledgment cannot be cured, and where the require
ments of the statute in these respects have not been fulfilled, it can-
not be cured by testimony aliunde; nor does the statute making
instruments not acknowledged or proved according to law, notice
to subsequent purchasers or creditors cure the defect. Kenosha, etc.
R. R. Co. vs. Sperry, 309.
ADMINISTRATOR.-See EXECUTOR AND ADMINISTRATOR.
1. DIVISION OF DAMAGES.-Where a vessel was injured by the joint
negligence of another vessel and a tug, the damages should be
apportioned between them. The Monitor and Hill, 24,
2. MEASURE OF DAMAGES.-In estimating the damages, the expense of
repairing the mast, and demurrage for the time lost, should be
allowed. Ib.
3. The mast, as repaired, having stood the remainder of the season, and
it not appearing but what it would have continued serviceable, the
expense of putting in a new mast during the next winter cannot be
recovered. Ib.
4. Where a steamer, stranded in the Mississippi river, employs another
less powerful one to assist in getting her off, it is the duty of the
former to see that there are no obstacles or dangers in the place
where the proposed movement is to be made. The Virginia, 48.
5. Where by the joint efforts of both steamers, the stranded steamer is
got off, the general direction and control of the movement being
with her, she is liable for the loss of the other steamer, wrecked in
the manoeuver, and also for the services rendered. Ib.
6. The smaller steamer not having supplied the sole motive power, does
not, under such circumstances, run the risks of salvage service. Ib.
7. DUTY OF MASTER AFTER STRANDING.-After a vessel is stranded
there is still an obligation upon the master to take all possible care
of the cargo. The Ocean Wave, 317.
8. Where a barge is made leaky by an effort to remove her from a sand
bar, it is the first duty of the master to stop the leak, and secure the
cargo from the flow of water. Ib.
9. A shipper should not be required to prove negligence on the part of
a master until evidence is given tending to show that the injury
complained of came within an excepted clause in the bill of lading.
Ib.
10. What constitutes unavoidable dangers of the river. Ib.
11. A vessel propelled in whole or in part by steam, having complied with
the act of February 28, 1871, and the rules of the Board of Super-
vising Inspectors, and the Secretary of the Treasury, by placing on
board a register adopted by said Board and Secretary, which
proved defective and insufficient, and required frequent repairs, is
not liable to seizure for having in use an imperfect register. The
Lac La Belle, 313.
12. By purchasing one of the registers approved by lawful authority, the
requirements of the law were complied with. Ib.
13. LIBEL AGAINST DOMESTIC VESSEL.-Under the twelfth rule in admi-
ralty, as amended by the Supreme Court at the December Term,
1871, a libel can be maintained for repairs and supplies furnished
to a domestic vessel at the home port. The Selt, 344.
14. Obiter, the lien would only attach at the date of seizure. Ib.
15. MORTGAGEE MAY DEFEND.-In the absence of the owner, a mortgagee
may be permitted to appear as claimant. Ib.
16. MEANING OF RULE 12.-The alteration of rule 12 was intended to
place contracts for repairs and supplies for all vessels on an equal-
ity as to proceeding in admiralty, not to abrogate the distinction
between a domestic contract and a maritime lien. The alteration
applies to the character of the process to be used, not to the question
of jurisdiction. Ib.
17. ADMIRALTY RULES.—The rules established by the Supreme Court are
rules of practice, not of decision. Ib.
18. PURCHASE OF SUPPLIES IN FOREIGN STATE.-If the owner of a ves-
sel orders necessary supplies in a port of another state, and the
ship chandler charges them directly to the vessel, without any
special arrangement for payment, he has a lien on the vessel there-
for. The Eclipse, 99.
19. NOTE NOT A WAIVER OF LIEN.-A note taken for the amount of
the supplies will not waive a maritime lien on a vessel unless so
understood at the time. The note must, however, be returned or
surrendered in court at the hearing. Ib.
20. The fact that the vessel is in a foreign port is prima facie evidence of
a necessity for the credit of the vessel. Ib.
21. An insurance company is liable to the legal holder of a policy, though
the person who procured it had, by mistake, ordered it cancelled.
Marsh vs. Northwestern National Ins. Co. 351.
22. The fact that the premium had not been actually paid is no defense
against a bona fide holder. Mutual accounts have, in such case, the
effect of payment. Ib.
23. A man who buys and ships for a firm in another city, whose funds
are used, the profits or loss to be divided, and each shipment to be
a distinct venture, is not a partner, and the firm can sustain a libel
on a policy indorsed to them, without prejudice from his orders or
mistakes.
24. DUTY OF CARRIER.—It is the duty of a carrier by water to provide a
sea-worthy vessel. A barge for carrying wheat must be tight, strong
and sound. Kellogg vs. La Crosse, ete., Co., 496.
25. The carrier is bound to know the condition and strength of his
vessel. Ib.
26. The leaking of a barge is notice of her unseaworthiness, and the
carrier attempting to proceed on the voyage with her is liable for
the loss of the cargo. Ib.
27. DELIVERY BY CARRIER-WHAT CONSTITUTES.-Where a cargo of
wheat is shipped in bulk, to be delivered under a bill of lading to
a consignee who has charge of an elevator at the port of destina-
tion, it is not a sufficient delivery to moor the barge at the dock
of the elevator during bad weather, without notice to the con-
signee. Germania Ins. Co. vs. La Crosse, etc., Co., 501.
28. CUSTOM.—An alleged custom so to moor barges, leaving them to be
taken charge of by the elevator, does not discharge the carrier. Ib.
29. CONDITION OF CARGO.-The carrier must show satisfactorily that the
cargo was in good order on arrival at its destination. Ib.
ASSESSMENT.-See BANKRUPTCY, 99-123-STOCKHOLDER, 5–25.
ASSIGNEE.-See BANKRUPTCY, 52-58, 65, 69-70, 151-3.
ATTORNEY.-See PRINCIPAL AND AGENT.
BAILMENT.-See COMMON CARRIER.
1. NO JURISDICTION IF AMOUNT REDUCED BELOW THAT SPECIFIED IN
THE ACT.-The District Court has no jurisdiction of an involuntary
case in bankruptcy, unless it appears on the trial that the debtor, at
that time, owes debts provable under the act exceeding the sum of
three hundred dollars, and is indebted to the petitioning creditors
in the amount of two hundred and fifty dollars. This is true even
though the debtor, at the time of the filing of the petition, was
indebted to exceed those sums. When his indebtedness, by subse-
quent payments, is reduced below those sums, the court loses juris-
diction. In re Skelley, 260.
2. DEBTOR MAY DISPROVE ALL MATERIAL ALLEGATIONS.-The latter
clause of the forty-first section of the act was intended to allow the
debtor to disprove on the trial all the material allegations of the
petition. Ib.
3. PAYMENTS-PROOF ALLOWED ON GENERAL DENIAL-Payments
made by the debtor to the petitioning creditors are material facts
on the issue on denial of bankruptcy, and the debtor can introduce
evidence of such payments without a special traverse of the amount
of his indebtedness. Ib.
WHEN WAIVER OF ACT OF BANKRUPTCY.-The receipt
of such payments by the petitioning creditors to an amount suffi-
cient to reduce this indebtedness below the minimum established
by the act, must be considered as a waiver of the alleged act of
bankruptcy. Ib.
5. COSTS CANNOT BE ADDED, TO GIVE JURISDICTION-NOR COUNSEL
FEES.-The petitioning creditors cannot add the costs paid and
incurred by them to their debt in order to raise it above the juris
dictional limit. Such costs are not a part of their debt. The
debtor must owe them two hundred and fifty dollars or they have
no right to make costs. Nor can the creditors add counsel fees to
their debt. Ib.
6. WHEN COSTS ALLOWED AGAINST DEBTOR.-In this case, the respond.
ent, having been guilty at the time of the filing of the petition,
was ordered to pay all costs up to the time of filing his denial.
except the docket fee. Ib.
7. INSURANCE COMPANY.-A fire insurance company is clearly within
the scope and provisions of the bankrupt law. In re Merchants
Ins. Co., 162.
8. APPOINTMENT OF RECEIVER-ACT OF BANKRUPTCY.-The appoint-
ment by a state court of a receiver to take possession of the
property and assets of the corporation is "a taking on legal
process" within the meaning of the thirty-ninth section of the
bankrupt act. Ib.
9. STATE PROCEEDINGS NO OBJECTION TO JURISDICTION.-It is not a
valid objection to the jurisdiction of this court that the proceedings
in the state court were in accordance with a general statute of the
state, and part of its organic law, and that the state court had first
obtained jurisdiction of the parties and subject matter. Such a
construction would effectually defeat the operation of the bankrupt
law. Ib.
10. Nor is it a valid objection that the state statute under which the pro-
ceedings were instituted is not an insolvent law. If the fact of
insolvency exists, and the corporation is within the provisions of the
bankrupt law, this court has exclusive jurisdiction, and the fact
that the state law does not purport to relieve the bankrupt from its
debts, cannot be urged as a reason why the state court should hold
the assets and administer the estate. Ib.
11. JURISDICTION IN BANKRUPTCY EXCLUSIVE.-Though the proceedings
in the state court may have been within its powers and jurisdiction,
yet, when the fact of bankruptcy intervenes the exclusive jurisdiction
of this court attaches. Ib,
12. INSOLVENT CORPORATION SHOULD FILE PETITION.-When the corpo-
ration found itself insolvent, it should have at once filed a volun-
tary petition in bankruptcy, and failure so to do, and acquiescence
in the proceedings against it by the state court, is itself an act of
bankruptcy. Ib.
13. PAYMENT OF GROUND RENT ACT OF BANKRUPTCY.-The payment by
the corporation, when actually insolvent, of the rent necessary to
preserve a valuable lease, is an act of bankruptcy; and although
such payment was judicious and made in good faith, and such an
act as would have been authorized by this court, these facts do not
change the character of the act under the law. Ib.
14. MARRIED WOMEN-COMMON LAW RULE RELAXED.-The common
law rule that a married woman cannot enter into o-partnership,
or make any valid contract, has been much relaxed, and the rule in
equity now seems to be that she may hold, control, and dispose
of her separate property, incur liabilities on the strength of it,
and that it may be subjected to the payment of her debts con-
tracted in or about the management, improvement, or purchase of
such property. In re Kinkead, 405.
15. ILLINOIS RULE.-In Illinois, a married woman retains control of all
the property, real or personal, which she had at the time of her
marriage, or acquired thereafter from any person other than her
husband, and may make contracts in regard to the same, which can
be enforced either at law or in equity, to the same extent as if she
were sole. Ib.
16. MAY ENGAGE IN TRADE.-She may also engage in trade with her
husband's consent; and it seems, even without such consent, using
her own property, and may bind herself by all contracts she makes
in her business. 1b.
17. BE A PARTNER-EVEN WITH HUSBAND.-She may enter into a co-
partnership, even with her husband. Ib.
18. CONTRIBUTE HER SHARE.-Where a man and his wife held them-
selves out to the world as partners in trade, it will be presumed,
in the absence of proof, that she contributed her share of the
capital, and that her time, skill, and earnings went into the
business. Ib.
19. PARTNERSHip Creditors FIRST PAID.-When, in such case, the firm
become bankrupt, the partnership creditors are entitled to be paid
out of the partnership assets in preference to an individual creditor
of the husband. Ib.
20. MAY BE ADJUDGED BANKRUPT.-Such a partnership can be adjudged
bankrupts, and it seems, the wife may also be individually adjudged
bankrupt. Ib.
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