Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 1.djvu/268

260 FEDERAL REPORTER. �proceeds of sale; and the question was whether, unrl* r snch a Btate of facts, the wages of the seamen, or the claiiii ior sal- vage service, was to be first paid. �Mr. Markkam, for the seamen, cited Pitman v. Ilooper, 3 Sumner, 50; The Massasoit, 1 Sprague, 97; The Isahella, Brown's Adm'y Eep. 96-103; The Sailor Prince, 1 Benedict, 234; The Steamhoat Pilot No. 2, 1 Newberry, 216-217; Smith v.Stewart, Crabbe's Eep. 218; Lewis v. The Elizaheth & Jane, 1 Ware, 35. �Mr. Krause, for salvors, cited The Salîna, 2 notes of case 18, 16 MonthlyLaw Eeporter, 5; Reed v. Ilu.ssey, 1 Blatch. & How. 527; Collins v. Steamhoat Fort Wai/ne, 1 Bond, 484. �Dyer, J., held that the seamen were not discharged from the obligation of their contract of service by the happening of disaster to the vessel ; that it was their duty, so long as their Personal safety permitted, te remain by the wreck and to save as much as possible; and that upon compliance with this obligation the fragments of the vessel constituted a fund pledged for payment of their wages ; that upon ahandonment by them of the wreck the contract between them and the owner of the vessel would be dissolvcd, and that they would then lose their privilege against the vessel and their claim for wages; that as libellants remained by the wreck and did not abandon it until the outfit was removed, their right to wages and their lien continued in force; that under the circum- stances of the case the wages which were earned while they remained on board, and until the vessel was finally aban- doned, did not constitute antecedent wages in a seuse which would postpone them to the claim of the salvors ; and that the proceeds of the outfit must be first applied to the payment of their demands, although it would have been otherwise had they abandoned the wreck before the salvage servise was begun. ��� �