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THE GREEN BAG
Attorney Henry B. Swope in Pittsburgh in the fall of 1873. Mr. Swope died in the following spring, and Knox continued his studies with Swope 's successor, David Reed, and' was admitted to the bar in January, 1875, "when he was twenty -one years old. He became Assistant United States Attorney under Mr. Reed, and remained in that post for about a year and a half, when he' resigned and entered upon private practice in part nership with James H. Reed, a nephew of his preceptor, thus establishing the wellknown firm of Knox and Reed. In the practice which was thus initiated and which speedily grew to large proportions, Mr. Knox was actively engaged until he became Attorney General of the United States in President McKinley's cabinet in April, 1901. It is a curious and interesting fact that the tonnage passing through the port of Pittsburgh is greater than that of any other American port, or was thirty years ago, although that does not mean that the admiralty business of the courts was greater. The volume of river business, however, was the final word in the develop ment of a great inland water traffic, and consisted for the most part, then as now, of an immense tonnage of coal passing down the Ohio and Mississippi to the river towns all the way to New Orleans, and there was also a large local and through passenger business. The experience of Mr. Knox as an Assistant United States Attorney brought him frequently into ' the United States courts, and this fact with his acquaintance among river men and shipping interests along the Monongahela and Ohio turned the admiralty business of that region in this direction. Within a year or two after the formation of his firm he was the recog nized expert of the Pittsburgh bar in admiralty and maritime matters, and tran sacted a large business involving collisions, contracts of marine insurance with the various liens for wages, materials and supplies. One case raised an interesting
point on "deviation," that is a detour from the direct route of a voyage, and against the ordinary rule that a deviation made the vessel owner a general insurer to the shipper against all marine risks, Knox established an exception based on the custom of the Ohio and Mississippi trade to "tie up" en route and cruise back along certain reaches of the river with one barge to pick up local freight. That was held by the Supreme Court of the United States to be a necessary and reasonable custom under the circumstances, and a loss by sinking due to striking a hidden obstacle during this process was a risk of loss or damage contem plated by the shipper in his contract of shipment and was not a forbidden deviation. The business of Mr. Knox's firm grew very rapidly, and accurately reflected the marvellous industrial and material growth of Pittsburgh. Five years after the firm began business they were among the recog nized leaders of the bar. In ten years and thence on, their business was among the very largest law practices of the country. The 'practice which came to them was always general in its nature, and it was almost wholly local that is, concerning and representing persons and interests resident and located in Pittsburgh and actively engaged in the important affairs developing there. The work of the firm consisted of the private business of individuals and estates, matters of contract and the con struction of wills, the business of manufac turing concerns, firms and limited partner ships, the business of banks and of one or two small local railroads built to enforce competition against the great systems and strong interests centering at Pittsburgh. The gradual substitution of the corporate form for the limited partnership form of the business of different clients brought some corporations into the firm's clientage, and the Carnegie Steel Company were their clients under a contract to try all of that company's cases in the Allegheny County courts.
