112.

THE ANNA BECK.

CLAIM NO. 7.

App. B, p. The Anna Beck was a schooner of 36.35 registered Claims in tons. The vessel being owned, at the time of her British seizure, by Thomas H. Cooper, a civil citizen of the Rep., vol. United States, any liability on the part of the United 4. p. 163. States to this claimant is denied.

Case, Am.

30; R., 1040,

31; R.,1040,

line 61.

R., 1040, line In 1887, after a sealing voyage in the spring, she line 60; R., transshipped her skins on the west coast of Vancou1041, line ver Island, and sailed for Bering Sea, carrying ten canoes and one hunting boat, with twenty Indians and six white men. She entered the sea June 28, R., 1041, line and on the 30th lost a canoe. On July 2 the vessel, 44; R., 1041, line 61 having on board 336 seal skins, was seized by the App. B, P. United States revenue steamer Rush, for violation of 151, line 56. the municipal statutes of the United States. She was taken to Sitka, and, with her outfit and cargo, was libeled by the United States attorney for the District of Alaska, an appearance being entered for the vessel on behalf of her master and owner.

App. B. p. 153, lines 12, 20.

Br. Arg., p.

114, line 33.

On October 11, 1887, a decree of condemnation, forfeiture, and sale was entered against the schooner, her outfit and cargo. Subsequently the vessel, a portion of her outfit, and the seal skins seized were sold under the decree by the United States marshal.

By reason of this seizure the Anna Beck became totally lost to her owner.

The schedule attached to that portion of the Argument on behalf of Great Britain relative to the claim of this vessel contains an item for "list of stores on

board the schooner Anna Beck when seized, so far as the captain can recollect." The marginal reference to this item is "R., 1061-62." The part of the Record cited contains a list by Olsen, the master, of stores on board of the schooner at the time of seizure. The total value given by the witness of these articles is $871.30. The item in the Argument is $960.30.

An examination of this list given by the captain discloses that it contains a boat, a stove, and water tanks, which amount, according to the valuation given, to $190, leaving a balance of $681.30. Previous to the part of the Record cited, the following appears in the examination of Olsen :

Q. As to prices, have you a knowledge personally as to R., 1061, line the value of such articles at the time?

A. I had of a few things, but not of the whole list. I had a knowledge of about one-third of the prices before I received a list to the effect that that should be the prices.

Q. Name the articles that you know the prices of ?

A. Boat, boat compasses, tubular lanterns and lantern globes, fish lines, salt, pilot bread, and rice; that is all.

It is claimed, therefore, in view of this statement, that the valuation upon any of the articles included in the list, other than those referred to by the witness

35.

32.

in the statement given, are not evidence of such valu- R., 1141, line ation, and that in so far as James D. Warren, the agent of the owner, disagrees with Olsen in the amount of stores and their value, of which Olsen had personal knowledge, the statement of the latter must be accepted as the better evidence.

35.

36.

The item entitled "slop chest, $95," rests on the R., 1141, line statement of Captain Warren, whose examination shows that he was ignorant of the amount of such property seized. seized. Warren states that there were four R., 1141, line water tanks, and that "some of them were worth $25." R., 1062, line Olsen gives in his list three water tanks. made in the Argument for "four tanks, $100.” Claims appear in the schedule for "four shotguns, $160," and "two rifles, $45." Captain Olsen, in

A claim is

1.

í.

R., 1043, line 34.

App. B, 162, line 20.

reference to the arms on board the Anna Beck,
testified as follows:

Q. What was done with the ammunition and arms of the
Anna Beck after the seizure?

A. The ammunition was left on board in the store locker.
and the guns were taken by the Indians and white hunters,
When our Indians left the Anna Beck in Unalaska they hid
the guns in their blankets in a certain way that nobody saw
them.

Q. These were the eleven shotguns belonging to the ship?
A. Yes; the Indians took them from the Anna Beck on board
the Challenge at the time we left Unalaska. They hid them.
Q. Do you know what became of the guns?

A. Well, they were partly lost. I think there may be
three or four returned to the station of Captain Warren.
They went to Victoria with the Indians, but they arrived_in
Sitka. Some were lost on the way down, because the In-
dians went home in three canoes from Sitka.

On April 19, 1888, the United States marshal sold the 336 seal skins seized, and subsequently, the fixed ammunition and five compasses, which sales were confirmed by order of the United States district court. App. B. 171, In the cases of the other vessels in 1887, the arms, App. B, 178, which were seized, condemned, and sold, are mentioned in the order confirming the sales by the marshal.

line 22.

line 54.

R. 1061, line

47.

App. B, 119, line 23.

It is therefore claimed that there is no evidence that the firearms belonging to the owner or hunters were ever actually seized by the United States.

The item for sealing boat, cooking range, and flag are included in the list given by Captain Olsen.

The item for "premium of insurance paid, $572.28," refers to Exhibit No. 64 (G. B.), claims Nos. 6, 7, 9, and 10, from which it appears that the policy was canceled from July 21, 1887. The owner had had the benefit of his insurance up to July 2d, the date of seizure, and therefore this item should be reduced to the amount of premium for twenty days.

For the items "bedding," "estimated value of articles which were doubtless on board which can not be specifically mentioned," and "expenses at Sitka, $100," there is no evidence to support the claim.

The item for "personal expenses in connection with such seizure and claims, $250," is presumably based upon the following testimony of Captain Warren:

Q. And personal claims have been made of $200. To what R., 1143, line do they relate?

A. That would be a proportion of my own personal expenses made in each of the cases.

It is shown that these personal expenses were incurred in the preparation of the claim for presentation at Ottawa.

The charge of $750 for "counsel and other legal expenses in and about the claims arising out of the seizure" is based upon no evidence that there was any agreement of any kind by the owner or his agent to pay Belyea for services, or that the owner paid such charges or became liable for them.

44.

The item for "sealing boat and outfit, $140," is unwarranted, as it appears by the evidence that the Indians of the Anna Beck took it when they started R., 1043, line for Victoria, the presuption being that it was returned to the owner.

The item "337 skins at $6.50 each, $2,190.50," being for a larger sum than would have been realized by their sale on the market at Victoria when the vessel would have presumably arrived there if she had not been seized exceeds the damage which the owner sustained by their seizure and condemnation to that extent.

A claim is made for $19,500 for "balance of catch for the remainder of the season" of 1887. The claim is in the nature of future profits, which can not be recovered in any event, since the vessel was totally lost to her owner. The law which governs in such cases has been already discussed.

66.

The items for "value of vessel, $8,000," and Ante, p. 310. "expenses and hardships of crew, $13,000," and the Ante, p. 319. personal claims of Olsen and Keefe have received full consideration at another place in this argument.

R., 1360, line

10.

THE ALFRED ADAMS.

CLAIM No. 8.

This claim was presented to this High Commission on the affidavit of William H. Dyer, who was captain of the schooner on her voyage in the Bering Sea in the year 1887.

The schooner entered Bering Sea July 10, 1887; was seized on the 6th day of August by the commander of the United States revenue-cutter Richard Rush, and ordered to Sitka, there to be surrendered to the persons representing the authority of the United R., 1363, line States at that place. The crew consisted of captain, mate, 2 seamen, cook, and 21 Indians.

49.

The commanding officer of the United States steamship Richard Rush caused to be taken from the Alfred Adams the following property: One thousand three hundred and eighty-two seal skins, 7 doublebarreled shotguns, 3 Winchester rifles, 2 singlebarreled muskets, and a small amount of ammunition of practically no value.

There is no evidence in the record that the Alfred Adams continued her sealing voyage after being seized, but her captain stated in the affidavit, read into the Record, that he refused to obey the instrucR., 1360, line tions of the boarding officer of the Rush to proceed to Sitka, and instead started for Victoria, arriving at that port on the 31st of August.

64.

British

ar

gument, p.

Moritz Gutman is the owner of one-half of this 47, line 29 claim, and Alexander Frank, an American citizen, is the owner of half thereof.