S. M. Nearly twelve hours at the average speed of five knots; fast enough for a vessel in tow.
A. S. Did you arrange with the steamship-master as to towage? (ij.
/
S. M. I did before starting, having found his demand of one hundred pounds reasonable enough; you will find a memorandum to that effect among the papers.
A. S. How did you manage to keep the ship afloat while unloading? Were the pumps kept working the whole time?
S. M. Certainly not. Directly upon my arrival I had the bottom (2) visited by a diver (3), who succeeded in stopping the leak (4) provisionally.
A. S. Did he find the damr^e to be heavy ?
(1) Towage (da to Tow « rimorchiare ») è il prezzo del rimorchio.
(2) Bottoni, che letteralmente significa «fondo» è altro nome per lo scafo della nave.
(3) Diver (dal verbo to Dive « tuffarsi» ) Palombaro.
(4) to Stop a leak Chiudere una vena d'acqua,
152 i S3
S. M. Not very, only a couple of plates (1) will have to be removed and new ones fitted in their place; the work may be easily done-in two days at most in the dry-dock (2).
A. S. Judging in the face of facts, as rela ted by you and as resulting from the documents offered, there is no doubt that the case is one of general average (3) as to jettison and towing, while such outlays as you met and will meet with for stopping the leak and repairing the hull in dock, will have to be borne by the ship as particular average.
S. M. Why so ?
A. S. Well, my dear captain, you know as well as I what are the distinguishing features of general and particular average, according to law and custom.
(1) Plates Le lamiere colle quali sono formati gli scafi delle moderne navi in ferro o acciaio.
(2) Dry-dock Vedi dock pag. 171 nota 1.
(3) L'avaria si distingue in « generai - generale o cornane » e « particular - particolare » La prima è la spesa o danno volontariamente incontrato a scopo della salvezza comune, e che perciò deve essere ripartita fra le tre parti interessate : nave, carico, nolo La seconda è il danno che colpisce separatamente uno di questi enti, senza che vi concorra la circostanza della salvezza comune, e che perciò deve essere interamente sopportato dall' ente colpito.