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Wagon Mound No. 1
The plaintiff, Morts Dock, opererated a wharf for ship building and repair. The defendant's ship, Wagon Mound, was moored 600 feet away. The crew of the Wagon Mound negligently discharged a large quantity of furnace oil into the water. The oil was ignited when cotton waste floating on its surface was ignited by molten metal from welding on the wharf, causing extenstive damage to the wharf and two ships. The plaintiff sued the defendant for negligence. The trial judge made the following finding of fact: "The raison d'etre of furnace oil is, of course, that it shall burn, but I find the defendant did not know and could not reasonably be expected to have known that it was capable of being set afire when spread on water." Judgment was rendered for the plaintiffs and affirmed by the Supreme Court of New Wales. The Privy Council reversed.
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