Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 10.djvu/771

THE LE VERSONS. 759 �regard to what he is reported to have said as to the red liglit, I think the truth must be as stated by bim in bis testimony : that as he was running to get onto the forecastle be sa-w a red light, whieh was the fixed red light of the York Sj^it ligbt-bouse, which bore about nortb- west, and which he then thought was a vessel's light, but that when he got up on the forecastle head he discovered its real cbaracter. �My own impressions as to the weight fairly to be given to the testi- mony which tends to impeach the boatswain have been much strength- ened by the decided views of the circuit judge as to that branch of this case. �Counsel for the schooner have urged that even if it were true that the sohooner's sida lights were not visible, that her sails and hull might have been seen at a distance sufficient to have enabled the steamer to make out her course and avoid getting so close to her. The night was dark, with a olear atmosphere; and the testimony of experts shows that on such a night a vessel without lights should be seen with the naked eye from 300 to 400 yards off. The distance would, of course, vary with the size of the vessel and the spread of her sails. This schooner was almost of the smallest class, and when approach- ing the steamer her sails were rather flat aft. The testimony of those on the schooner shows that she was discovered at the distance at which she might reasonably be expected to be seen by an attentive lookout. It is, however, suggested that had the pilot more diligently employed his glasses in searching for lights ahead, he might have dis- covered the schooner before she was reported by the lookout. It seems to me, however, that the special use of the glasses is rather to more clearly discover the character of an object that has been already discovered. At all events, I do not think that an ordinary steamer, running at a moderate speed in a bay over 1 miles wide, should be condemned for having failed to discover a sailing-vessel without lights merely because there is a possibility that if the officer or pilot in com- mand had been constantly sweeping the horizon with a good pair of glasses, the vessel, even without lights, might have been seen in time to avoid her. In our judgment the steamer bas been shown not to have been in fault, and the libel must be dismissed. �Note. Where there is a great conflict of testimQny the court must be gov- orned chiefly by andeniable and leading facts, if such exisfc. The Hope, 4 IFed. Ee?. £19 ; The Qreat Repullic, 23 WalL 20. And where a witnesa, otherwise iinimpeached, testifies to that which, In its nature, is incredihle, his testimony is iiot necessarily to be belle ved. United States v. Borger,! Fed. KeP,- 193; The Helln R. Coqper, 7 Blatchf. 378.— [Ed. ��� �