Wandtke

This appeal is from the decree of the District Court which allowed and approved the findings and conclusions of the Commissioner in determining that appellee Arthur Oakley was not a captain or master of the boat or scow Mary E, but merely an operator, engineer, or stevedore, and as such entitled to priority over certain other claimants.

The Mary E was a motorboat of 67 gross tons, 48 net tons, 60.1 feet in length, 25.8 feet in width, 6.2 feet in depth, and the crew as required called for but one man.

The Mary E was engaged in transporting freight between San Francisco and San Rafael with a crew consisting of the said Arthur Oakley and two stevedores. Oakley received monthly wages of $160, which was $25 per month more than the wages of each of the other two men. The testimony disclosed that the reason he was employed was that, in addition to being an engineer, he was able to do the work of a stevedore.

The following facts were found by the Commissioner and adopted by the District Court as its findings:

The relation of the various parties to the controversy further appears from these facts: On January 16, 1933, the libelants Alma Anderson, Walter Anderson, and Alfred…