THE UNFORTUNATE FORTUNATUS.

THE UNFORTUNATE FORTUNATUS.

A SALVAGE CLAIM.

Captain M. McDonald, who returned to Australia by the Ormuz, which touched at Largs Bay on Monday, was, while in England, called as a witness in connection with the action brought by the owners, master, and some of the crew of the Blue Funnel liner Tantalus to recover salvage remuneration for services rendered to the steamer Fortunatus, which, while on her way from Melbourne to Calcutta, via Sourabaya and Singapore, with a general cargo, horses, sheep, and 38 passengers, ran on an uncharted reef off the north coast of Flores Island on April 5, in latitude 8 degrees 14 min. south, and longitude 120 degrees 39 min. east. The court awarded the plaintiffs £5,025. Mr. Justice Bucknill before whom, with two Elder Brethren of the Trinity House, the case was tried on November 14, in giving judgment, remarked, according to an English paper, that the case was not like one of those instances in which professional salvors, who knew all the tricks of the trade, had come before the court, but it was one in which the masters of two British ships found themselves in difficulties and acted with promptitude, skill, courage, and energy. Neither of them had lost his head at any moment. He had read their logs word for word. That of the Fortunatus indicated that the captain of the salved ship realised what was the right thing to do and did it. The Fortunatas had got on one of the reefs off the coast of Flores Island when going full speed ahead and became firmly fixed and wedged. For 12 days the master had done everything a captain could do to get her off. The captain of the Tantalus had carried out difficult and praiseworthy ser- vices in a highly successful way. In the first place he had decided that there was risk to the salving ship and considerable risk and danger to the other ship in that if she had not got off and the weather had  changed one could not tell what would have happened. He awarded to the owners £3,875, gave to the master £400, to the chief officer and chief engineer £150 each, to the second officer and second engineer £100 each, to the third officer and third engineer £75 each, to the fourth engineer £50, to the doctor £30, and to the steward £20.

The Fortunatus, after being refloated, arrived in Calcutta in safety without the loss of any of her live stock. On her way back to Australia, however, she caught on fire and had to be abandoned.