ORANGES EX MOANA

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 127, 22 February 1921, Page 6

ORANGES EX MOANA

CONDITION OF A SHIPMENT SUBJECT OF ACTION FOB DAMAGES A claim for <£lBl3 3s. Id. damages, made by Laery and Co., Ltd., of Wellington, and’ the Century Mercantile Company, of Berkeley, California, against the Union Steam Ship Company was heard in the Supreme Court yesterday by Mr. Justice Hosking and a. jury of twelve. Mr. M. Myers appeared for the plaintiffs, and Mr. C. P. Skerrett, K.C. (with him Mr. P. Levi), for the Union Steam Ship Company. The plaintiffs, in their statement of claim, alleged that on January 19, 1920, tho Century Mercantile Company shipped aboard the Union Steam Ship Company’s Moana, at San Francisco, one thousand boxes of oranges for carriage to ’Wellington. The shipment was made upon the joint account of the plaintiffs. Another shipment of five hundred boxes was made "upon the joint account of tho plaintiffs, or, alternatively, was made as a consignment to Laery and Co., to be disposed of . . . on account of the Century Mercantile Company.” The defendant, plaintiffs alleged, delivered the shipments in a greatly damaged condition, as the result of which the firstshipment had to be sold at a loss of 111152 Is. 6d-, and the second at a loss of 4:661 Is. 7d. Plaintiffs further alleged that the refrigerating chamber in which the goods were stowed was provided with only one thermometer; that this Ms not correctly recording -the temperature of the chamber; that there was no space between the tiers of cases to allow a proper circulation of air in the chamber; that the chamber was not maintained during the voyage at a sufficiently low temperature for the safe carriage of the goods. For the damage to the one shipment plaintiffs claimed £1152 Is. 6d.; for the damage to the other, £661 Is. 7d. The statement of defence alleged that the boxes of oranges were shipped in apparent good order and condition, but that the oranges, or a considerable number of them, were too mature, or were otherwise unfit to bo carried on tho voyage and arrive in good condition at Wellington. Each of the bills of lading or contracts between the shipper and the defendant company as to the carriage of the oranges contained a provision that fruit, vegetables, and all perishable goods were taken only at the risk of the shipper, owner, or consignee, and also a .provision that the defendant company should not be liable for loss or damage from the effect of decay. The oranges were carried in a proper and suitable refrigerating chamber in all respects in accordance with the contracts entered into. The defendant company denied that the oranges were delivered in a greatly damaged condition. and claimed that if any of the oranges arrived in an over-ripe, decayed, or defective condition, such condition was due to the natural process of ripening or decay. The allegations made in the statement of claim as to conditions in the freezing chamber were specifically denied by the defendant company. The company finally submitted that according to the bills of lading the claim for loss or damage must be calculated on invoice cost, and must in no case exceed the net value at the port of shipment at the date of shipment. In the course of the day the Court heard a good deal- of evidence. At the time of adjournment the plaintiff’s case was not concluded.