MARITIME NOTES AND QUERIES:

A RECORD OF SHIPPING LAW AND USAGE.

ADMIRALTY APPEALS.

The Admiralty appeals which were decided by the Court of Appeal this last term have been few in number, and have apparently not given the Court much trouble to determine. Possibly some of them have been taken up as much because of the heavy nature of the amounts at stake as for any other reason, and, as it turned out, three of the four appeals were dismissed. The first was the case of the Coatham and the Kingswood, an almost inexplicable collision in broad daylight at the mouth of the Rio de la Plata. The main question was whether the vessels had been starboard side to starboard side and the Coatham had ported into the Kingswood, or whether the vessels had been port side to port side and the Kingswood had starboarded into the Coatham. In the Admiralty Court it was held that the Kingswood had been the vessel which had performed the extraordinary and fatal manoeuvre, and she was held alone to blame. The Court of Appeal, without calling on the respondents, dismissed the appeal. The second appeal was in the action brought to decide which vessel was to blame for the disastrous collision between the Cromartyshire and La Bourgogne. In the Admiralty Division the French vessel was held alone to blame, and her owners appealed, but, again without calling on the respondents, the Court of Appeal upheld the decision of the Court below. In neither of these cases were any material questions of law raised. The next case was of a different description. Over five years ago the Norwegian barque Ydun, while proceeding up the Ribble, grounded and thereby sustained damage. An action was brought against the Mayor and Corporation of Preston, the plaintiffs alleging that it was by their invitation that

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