Robert Howes petitions to be compensated for the loss of his slave named Tom. He hired Tom to work as a fireman on board the steamer Red Chief for $35 per month. Howes informs the court that, while Tom was involved in an exchange of cargo between the Red Chief and the steamer Judah Touro, "the staging between the two boats gave way and the said boy was precipitated into the river and was drowned." Howes believes that the workers aboard the "Red Chief" were negligent because the plank was not hooked securely. He claims that Tom was "about thirty years of age in good health, strong, athletic, full six feet in height, and of the full value of Fifteen hundred dollars." Howes prays that the court issue a writ of provisional seizure allowing him to take possession of the steamer and sell items from it to compensate him for his loss.
Result: Provisional writ granted; set aside; bill amended; non suit; appealed; reversed.
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Repository: University of New Orleans
