Salvage is not allowed on the clothing left by the master and crew on board the vessel which they abandon, but this should be re turned free of charge; The Rising Sun, 1 Ware (378) 385, Fed Cas. No. 11,858; or for saving from a wreck, bills of exchange or other evidences of debt, or documents of title; The Amethyst, Davels, 20, Fed. Cas. No. 330.
The wearing apparel of passengers is not liable for salvage services ; 3 A. & E. 490; this extends only to apparel with the usual changes for the voyage and not to trunks in the hold ; Heye v. North German Lloyd, 36 Fed. 705.
Wreck was formerly limited to those por tions of ship or cargo which are stranded. But by the Merchant Shipping Act, 1854, it includes jetsam and derelict, and, In salvage law, it Includes any part Of a ship or cargo aground or afloat ; Kennedy, Civil Salv. 53.
The right to Salvage for saving life depends upon something—ship, cargo, or freight—hav ing been preserved ; 8 P. D. 117; and such salvage can be recovered only against the party to whom the property belonged ; 15 P. D. 146; i. e. from the ship if the cargo was lost ; or from the cargo, If the ship was lost. The value of the property salved is the limit of recovery ; 2 P. D. 157. Life sal vors may claim against the property salved, although its preservation was not due to sal vage services; 2 P. D. 145. Taking passen gers from a burning vessel at sea is not the subject of salvage under the British act; L. R. 3 A. & Eccl. 487.
The liability to pay salvage Is not confined to the actual legal owners of the property saved, but extends to those who have an interest in the property, and whose interests have been saved by the placing of the prop erty itself in security; 15 Prob. Div. 142.
A tug being partly in fault in colliding with a schooner, is not entitled to salvage for towing the schooner into port ; The Min nie C. Taylor, 52 Fed. 323 ; The Pine Forest, 129 Fed. 700, 64 C. C. A. 228, 1 L. R. A. (N: S.) 873.
Bar to salvage claim. An express explicit agreement, in distinct terms, to pay at all events, whether the property shall be saved or not, a sum certain, or a reasonable sum, for work, labor, and the hire of a vessel In attempting to save the property, is in consistent with a claim for salvage; and when such agreement is pleaded in bar and proved, any claim for salvage will be disal lowed ; The Independence, 2 Curt. C. C. 350,
Fed. Cas. No. 7,014 ; 2W. Rob. 177. See The Excelsior, 123 U. S. 40, 8 Sup. Ct. 33, 31 L. Ed. 75. An agreement fairly made and fully understood by salvors, to perform a salvage service for a stipulated sum or pro portion to be paid in the event of a suc cessful saving, does not alter the nature of the service as a salvage service, but fixes the amount of compensation. But such an agree ment will not be binding upon the master or owner of the property unless the court can clearly see that no advantage has been taken of the party's situation, and that the rate of compensation agreed upon is just and rea sonable; The )Emulous, 1 Sumn. 207, Fed. Cas. No. 4,480.
A contract for salvage of a stranded ves sel will not be set aside unless the master has been fraudulently induced to sign, or the amount Is unreasonable, even if after the contract Is made the amount of work neces sary to free the ship is grossly dispropor tioned to the stipulated contract price; The Elfrida, 172 U. S. 186, 19 Sup. Ct. 146, 43 L. Ed. 413. A custom In any particular trade that vessels shall assist each other without claiming salvage is legal, and a bar to a demand for salvage in all cases where it properly applies; 1 W. Rob. 440. See supra. Forfeiture or denial of salvage. Embezzle ment of any of the goods saved works a for feiture of the salvage of the guilty party; The Boston, 1 Sumn. 328, Fed. Cas. No. 1,673; and, in general, fraud, negligence, or care lessness in saving or preserving the prop erty, or any gross misconduct on the part of the salvors in connection with the prop erty saved, will work a total forfeiture of the salvage, or a diminution of the amount; 1 W. Rob. 497; 3 id. 122; 2 E. L. & E. 554; Tome v. Dubois, 6 Wall. (U. S.) 548, 18 L Ed. 943; [1892] Prob. 58, 70. Salvors rescu ing a derelict property are bound to care for its preservation while they retain possession; Serviss v. Ferguson, 84 Fed. 202, 28 C. C. A. 327.