Tyson

The libel charges that a quantity of rice in bags was shipped from San Eraneiseo to Santiago. It was transshipped from the ship to certain barges in the harbor, and -while it was being so transshipped a storm came up, driving the waves and rain against the rice, so that a large quantity of it was damaged. The libel then charges the issuance of a policy of insurance by the respondent.

It appears that the respondent, by chemical analysis, determined what part of the rice had been injured by sea water, and for that part it either paid or stands willing to pay. . Respondent, however, refused to pay for the rice'injured by the rain, on the ground that damage by fresh water does not constitute a peril of the sea. The question is thus squarely presented by the exceptions to the libel as "to whether or not that damage was due to a peril of the sea. The question is absolutely new, so far as the industry of counsel goes, and I myself have examined it, and find no ease parallel to it, and therefore it must be resolved in accordance with general principles and the nearest authority bearing upon the matter.

It is conceded, of course, by everybody, that damage by the wind or waves is among…