Whitehouse

On September 17, 1904, the Johnston Lighterage Company was under contract with the Nome Fuel Company to transport fuel oil from the ship Rosencranz to the shore at Nome, Alaska. Its engagement was to bring the lighters or barges used for carrying the oil from the ship’s side to the beach, and to furnish men for the crafts. In pursuance thereof, it employed the defendant, being the plaintiff in error, to do the towing with his tugs; and the Nome Fuel Company, the consignee, also employed defendant to convey the oil from the barges to shore. The plaintiff was the e'mployé of the lighterage company upon the barges. The defendant used a pump for conveying the oil to shore, which was operated through means of an engine, and a derrick erected for handling a large iron pipe, 6 inches in diameter, and about 60 feet in length, extending from the shore seaward to the barges, with an elbow at right angles at the outer end, and a further extension of 6 feet. The derrick was adjusted to a stationary post, or mast, as it is termed, set in the ground, on the beach near the water’s edge, and the engine was stationed farther in shore, so as to make its distance from the barges, while being…