WIRE RUSTED DURING TRANSIT

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21907, 7 October 1936, Page 4

WIRE RUSTED DURING TRANSIT

CASE BEFORE APPEAL COURT

(PRESS ASSOCIATION TELEGRAM.)

WELLINGTON, October 6.

In March last year the Canadian Highlander, brought from Halifax to Wellington, a shipment of about 100 tons of bright nail wire, but when it was landed here the wire was all more or less rusted, and for this reason a very large quantity was unusable. The Auto Machine Company brought a Supreme Court action for £BBI against The Canadian Government Merchant Marine as owner of the ship, to recoup it for the damage to the Wire. The Chief Justice (the Rt. Hon. Sir Michael Myers) held that rust or corrosion was one of the matters for which, by the bill of lading, the shipping company was excused from liability, unless it was shown that there was negligence on its part which really caused the damage. He considered, however, that proper care had not been exercised in the stowage of the wire, and that the Auto Machine Company was entitled to recover damages, the exact amount of which was to be assessed later.

It is from this judgment that the Canadian Government Merchant Marine is appealing. After the hearing of legal argument, the case was adjourned by the Court of Appeal until to-mor-row.