Hunt

An able seaman, August Hunt, was killed February 23, 1917, by falling from a beam *438 to the deek of the hold on board the steam schooner Mandalay, of 226 tons net register, owned by the libelee, while that vessel was undergoing repairs in a dry dock at the Moore Shipyards in San Francisco Bay. His daughters brought a suit against appellee, the owner, in the superior court of Alameda county, Cal., alleging negligence in the installation and maintenance of the beam from which deeedent fell and that the death of their father resulted from that negligence, and claiming damages in the sum of $50,000. The vessel was worth $15,000, and this proceeding was instituted in admiralty to limit the owner’s liability. The District Court held that there was no liability and entered its decree accordingly, from which this appeal is taken.

There is no substantial disagreement as to the facts. Two seamen only were aboard at the time of the accident, the deeedent, Hunt, and George Mattson. They had been .ordered forward to get two pine timbers from the forehold to be used as stanchions in making the repairs. They went forward, Mattson descended into the hold and bent a rope to one of these…