PORT CHALMERS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 68, 3 February 1862, Page 2

PORT CHALMERS.

AKIiIVAI.P. l'Vb. 1. 6 (i.m.—Lyttflton, ]i.s., from the Taieri. Feb. 1, 7.30 a.m.—City of Hobart. s.s., Darby, from Melbourne, 2Gtb January, with 1-20 p«<vseng;ers ami ufiieral carco. ]'Vb. 2, -.30 li.ni. —Mplboiirur', r.choonor. ."5" tons. Grant, from Melbourne, l-2th January, 4 pnssenyers and general cargo. DKrAKTUKHS. Feb. 1, ") a.m- —Coiiimodore Perry, ship, Williams, for Melbourne. Feb. 1, 11 a.m.—Douati, ship,, Reid, for Callao, in ballast. Feb. I, 5 p.m.—Heather Bell, schooner, Eachcrn, for Newcastle, in ballast. Feb. 1, 5.30 p.m. —Colchesteiv, brig, Prescott, tor Newcastle in ballast.

Captain Darby, of the City of Hob.irt, reports the Mary Roe from 'Melbourne—loo miles west of Salandov island. All well.

The City of Hobnrt arrived on Saturday morning, after a good passage from Melbourne, which pln.ee she left on the '2l)th*\Tan. She brought 123 passengers, including 37 first class, and general cargo. The returns on Tuesday morning.

Vessels cleared for Ota ao from Melbourne —January 13 Mary E. Ifay. 4ii<> tons : Jan. 14, Humboldt, 714----ton s : Jan. In, Versailles, i!G9 tons : Jan. 17, Southern Cross, ;>75 tons : Jan. 21, Bluejacket, 1,4-13 tons: Jan. 2-1. Laiu.'niis; "Water, 959.

"Vessels a-lvcrtisel al. Melbourne for Otago, with dates of sailing :—Tanflary 2S:s.s. Aldinga, s.s. Omen, after arrival of Kn-vlish Mail : Jan. 2!), Mimmie DvVe : Jan. 2S, Eliza ffoddaril ; Jan. 30, (hu-low, arld'llugh Roberis ; Jan. 20, Harriet : Jan. 27, A\7illing Lass : Jan. -2f>, Almeda ; Mary Scott; Eureka ; Seaman's Briile ; Jan. 20, Hydra ; Chariot of Fame.

Seamen's T'aof.s. —An important decision in reference to seamsn's wages has just be»n given by Mr. Hacketfc, in the District Court.. The crew of the steamer Prince Albert, before leaving Otago recently, had. refused to proceed in the ship unless the master increased the wages for which they had signed from £12 to £10 a month. The master was compelled to accede to the demand, as no men were obtainable to replace them, bnt at the same time jua-le a protest in his ship's logbook. On the arrival of the Prince Albert at Melbourne, Mr. Shillinglaw, the Government i'.luppi'ig-:na.ster, refused to sanction the pavmeiit of "tha increased wages, as there was no certificate by the proper authority that the alteration had been made with thn consent of all parties, and referred the case to the Bench. Mr. Hackett ruled that the .seamen's demand was illegal, and had rendered the men who male it. liable to punishment for refusal of duty.— Argus, Jan. 25.

Captain Hughes, of tlie Bonjamin Hcape. appeared at tlie Sandridge Police-court, on th« 23rd instant, to answer a complaint sworn l>y Mr. Macfa-rlane, immigration officer, for breaches of the thirty-fifth section of the passenger net. Jt appeared in evidence tliat the vessel had a lone; paswaye from Otago, and ivaii obliged to put into Ilolwrt Town for provisions. The Bench inflicted a, fine of £25, one-half to go to the passengers. — IJnd.

Tiik Aldtsga.—Tha1 etenmship AMinga .arrived in Hobson's Day about ten a.m. yesterday, brincimr 111 passengers, \™d. H.SSiW. ?>dwt, S^i-. gold-dust. Shu'left Otago late on the 17th inst., and on the fedlowing day put into Invoivaririll, and remained there twelve hours dnrir.™ a licavy v estei'ly gale. She also encountered very heavy weather during- the remainder of her passage.— Ibid.

Mutiny on Board tub " I'eksia," at Brisbane. —The Bi-isbiinc correspondent of the A rgus, writing under date, Jnnrary 8, says:—My last letter concluded with uu ■■:.■ ■•.•■ontil. of a mutiny which had broken out on board the '• Peviia," lying in the bay. The crew had been iiisiiln rd'aate anil unmanageable for some time, and in consequence of a violent outbreak among them, and divers throat.'; uttered by the. most riotons of the set, Captain Smitli felt, unwilling to proceed to sea, and dispatched a telecrram to the. agents, Messrs. Harris and Co., and to the waterpolice magistrate iv iirisbane, requesting assistance. In acknowledgment of tbis siimmons, on application by the njwiits. .Mr. Brown, the police magistrate, with a piirfy ofpulice, accompanied by Lieutenant Seymour and mine of the military, proceeded to the "Persia." on Saturday afternoon, in the Jpwich steamer. An arrest was immediately made, to wliieh no resistance was offered, and eleven of the men wore handcuffed and taken back to town, whtuv they lodged in gaol. They have since bceji !;e:iteiu'ed to tlu-ee months' imprisonment.

Salvage Claims for Uf.capturt:.—A • V'risnon by the Judge of the District, Court of New York «.>:i a question of salvage for re-capture, is i.'f coiisidorabl,.. importance in the existing state of on>- relations with the American States, and of the conflict now jiurin;.' in that country. A bids, named the Cub:'., a North American vessel carrying the Federal t'o-'X, and la-lo;i with a cargo on British account, whs some time sine-? captured by the Southern privateer the.1 Suni •',;>■. Before, however, the Slimier couK cmvcv her jh-jzi-into p.irt, the master and crew of the Cuba, xuecee io s in reevturinj: that vessel, and in lakinjr her to Nev York. Tlie question then arose as to whether Kilvajrn had been earned. No douht seemed to exist that R'.sch was the ease, so far as the ship was concerned; but the London underwriters of the cargo objected, that the matter of the Cuba. h:;iu# part owner, could no! recover salvage even for the cargo, bcemise, in the capacity of part owner, he had contracted to brina; tliu cargo forward to England, and that, even in effecting the rescue from the Southern privateer, ho was only fulfilling his contract. This argument, which, it i.; obvious, could nut touch the cluiin of the crew of the Cuba to salvage wit; fully considered by Judge Shipman, who decided tl:at the fact of the master of the Cuba being »>art ovuer did not in any way affect his right to salvage, inasmuch as, under the cirev instance?., his contract with the shippers was virtually suspended, and the risks incurred in the re-capture were not of a character ever contemplated in the charter-party. The judge awarded accordingly, as salvage, two-fifths tiie value of the cargo ; an.! further decided that, the cios-tr, be borne by t!>e roiuainiii'/ ■three-fifths—the ship to bo charge! r'ateably, to which there appears to have been no objection on the part of the co-owners. Judge Shipnian's Tecisiou is, we apprehend, based upon a;i Act of Congress of the 3rd March, 1860, which provides that in all cases of recapture of ships or goods belonging to persons resident within and under tl.e_ protection of fhe Unite!1, States, the same not having been condejined v.:< prize by competent authority before the recapture, Bhall hn restored on payment of salvage of one-eighth of the value, if recaptured by a public ship ; and If the recaptured vessel shall appear to have been :-et forth and armed as a vessel of war before such capture, or afterwards, and before the recapture, then the -salvage to be one moiety of the value." liy tlih lav.', the validity of salvage claims for recapture of vessels or goods belonging to American citizens, or residents in the United States, is clearly admitted, though the apportionment of the salvage is not that .decreed by the New York District Court in the case under consideration ; and the principle of the American statute in this regard is in strict conformity with that of the British law of salvage, which recognizes the right of recaptors to salvage to the e:;te.it of one-eighth of the " beneficial interests in the whole recaptured property," when the recapture is effected by. ships of the .Royal Navy, and one-sixth when it if. by private ships. But, by our hr.v, salvage is not confined to recapture, and such seems to bo Judge .Shipm.'iii's interpretation of the American law. Rescue, which is one form of recapture, has been admitted" to form good and indefeasible ground for salvage claims. The leading case upon it in our law fcooks is that of the Two Friends, reported in "I Koh. 271, when the rescue was effected, as in the Cuba, by ■the rising of the captured evews against the captors, and when Lord Stuwell unhesitatingly gave salvage. The nnisier and crew of the Cuba would seem, therefore, according to the law of both countries, as settled by the most eininent decisions, to be entitled to salvage, and we think Judge Shipman was right in over-ruling the point raised by the underwriters against the salvage claim of the master of the Cuba, on the ground of part ownership. The ship and cargo when rescued, were actually in the hands of the .captors. The contract under the charter party, or under ihe ship's article., whereby the master and .crew were bound to render every aid fur the protection of the ship and cargo, was suspended. They were, to all intents and purposes, strangers who had •effected a rescue, and as such, entitled to the reward for their services. It is quite true that the cargo of the Cuba, if taken into a southern port, on being identified a* the property of a neutral, would have been re.stored, though tlie*ship belonging to the Northern States would have been confiscated. But the rescue of ship and cargo, both saved from the chances of war, was, therefore, good ground for salvage, and that is the view which would be taken of such a service by i.!ie courts of either couutry. Such a decision as that ii\ the case of the Cuba,.. whatevtr^may bo its effect upon underwriters, cannot fail to afford encouragement to masters and crews of vessels who .happen to be placed in positions where they can '.effect the rescue of ship or cargo. . It cannot be too generally known that, for such a service, they are entitled to salvage by the law both of America and JJn"land, and that the claim will be allowed by the triEunals of both countries. — Maritime Register. *