Curtis

On August 30, 1922, Thomas S. Curtis, hereinafter referred to as the plaintiff, commenced an action on the law side of the District Court to recover damages from the Charles Nelson Company, the owner of the barkentine Mary Winkleman, for personal injuries alleged to have been sustained by him while serving as a seaman on board said vessel. It was alleged that the injuries were caused solely by the negligence of the defendant, its officers and agents.

The suit was brought under section 33 of the Merchant Marine Act of June 5, 1920 ( 41 Stat. 1007 [Comp. St. Ann. Supp. 1923, § 8337a]). This statute provides: “Any seaman who shall suffer personal injury in the course of his employment may, at his election, maintain an action for damages at law, with the right of trial by jury, and in such action all statutes of the United States modifying or extending the common-law right or remedy in cases of personal injury to railway employees shall apply.”

Thereafter, and on February 16, 1923, the Charles Nelson Company, claiming to be the owner of the barkentine Mary Winkleman, filed a petition in the District Court for limitation of liability under the act entitled “An act to limit the…