154
boundary of twoStates, pi'otslicensed byeither may beemployed.
Statute II.March 2, 1S37.
Extended forthree years.
Act of March2,1831, ch. 62.Act of July 14,1832, ch. 230.Act of June 7,1834, ch. 45.
Application.
Statute II.March 2,1837.
Persons enti-tled to allot-
be lawful for the master or commander of any vessel coming into orgoing out of any port situate upon waters, which are the boundarybetween two States, to employ any pilot duly licensed or authorized bythe laws of either of the Stales bounded on the said waters, to pilotsaid vessel to or from said port; any law, usage, or custom, to the con-trary notwithstanding.
Approved, March 2, 1837.
Chap. XXIII. — An Act to extend for a longer period the several acts now in forcefor the relief of certain insolvent debtors of the United States .
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of theUnited States of America in Congress assembled, That the act entitled“ An act for the relief of certain insolvent debtors of the United States, ”passed on the second day of March, one thousand eight hundred andthirty-one, and an act in addition thereto, passed on the fourteenth dayof July, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two, and an act to reviveand amend the said acts, passed on the seventh day of June, one thou-sand eight hundred and thirty-four, be, and the same are hereby ex-tended and continued in force for three years from and after the pas-sage of this act.
Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the provisions of the saidseveral acts shall apply to cases of insolvency which shall have accrued[occurred] on or before the first day of January last.
Approved, March 2, 1837.
Chap. XXV. — An Act to provide for the adjustment of title and final dispositionof the four reserved sections in the tract of country allotted to the TombecbceAssociation for the encouragement of the cultivation of the vine and olive,lie it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of theUnited States of America in Congress assembled, That all persons who
shoal outside of the point, among the east breakers. The gale increased to a hurricane, and forcedthe vessel on her beam ends, and her masts and bowsprit were cut away. The master and crew de-serted her to save their lives- After various fruitless efforts to save her, the libellants, all pilots of theouter harbor of Mobile , two days after she was stranded, and while yet in great peril, succeeded : andshe was brought up to the city of Mobile by them, towed by their pilot boat, assisted by a steamboatemployed by them. On a libel for salvage, the district court of the United States for the district of Ala-bama allowed, as salvage, one-third of 15,299 dollars and 58 cents, the appraised value of the brig andcargo. The owners oi the brig and cargo appealed to the supreme court. By the Court —A pilot,while acting within the strict line of his duty, however he may entitle himself to extraordinary pilotagecompensation for extraordinary services, as contradistinguished from ordinary pilotage for ordinary ser-vices, cannot be entitled to claim salvage. In this respect he is not distinguished from any other officer,public or private, acting within the appropriate sphere of his duty. But a pilot, as such, is not disabled,in virtue of his office, from becoming a salvor. On the contrary, whenever he performs salvage ser-vices beyond the line of his appropriate duties, or under circumstances to which those duties do not justlyattach, he stands in the same relation to the property as any other salvor: that is, with a title to com-pensation to the extent of the merit of his services, viewed in the light of a liberal public policy. Ho-bart v. Drogan, 10 Peters, 108.
Seamen, in the ordinary course of things, in the performance of their duties, are not allowed tobecome salvors, whatever may have been the perils, or hardships, or gallantry of their services, insaving the ship and cargo. Extraordinary events may occur, in which their connexion with the shipmay be dissolved, de facto, or by operation of law; or they may exceed their proper duty, in whichcases they may be permitted to claim as salvors. Ibid.
It is not within the scope of the positive duties of a pilot to go to the rescue of a wrecked vessel, andemploy himself in saving her, or her cargo, when she was wholly unnavigable. That is a duty entirelydistinct in its nature, and no more belonging to a pilot than it would be to supply such a vessel withmasts or sails, or to employ lighters to discharge her cargo in order to float her. It is properly a salvageservice, involving duties and responsibilities, for which his employment may peculiarly fit him ; but yetin no sense included in the duty of navigating the ship. Ibid.
This was a case where the libellants acted as salvors, and not as pilots. They had, at the time, noparticular relation to the distressed ship. They proffered useful services as volunteers, without any pre-existing covenant that connected them with the duty of employing themselves for her preservation.The duties they undertook were far beyond any belonging to pilots; and precisely those belonging tosalvors. Ibid.
Suits for pilotage on the high seas, and on waters navigable from the sea, as far as the tide ebbs andflows, are within the admiralty and maritime jurisdiction of the United States . The service is strictlymaritime, and falls within the principles already established by the supreme court in the case of theThomas Jefferson , 10 Wheaton’s Rep. 428, and Peyroux v. Howard, 6 Peters’ Rep. 682. Ibid.