SOME TITANIC CLAIMS.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXV, Issue 91, 24 April 1913, Page 7

SOME TITANIC CLAIMS.

OVER £1,000,000 INVOLVED. On Loth sides of TWeLltlarltlc conlkPerable interest attaches to the proceedings which are pending against the. Oceanic Navigation Company, Oh 1 connection with'• the losg ibf lifel'Piltd! property caused by tire foundering ithf|\\ T lpte Star liner Titanic in April laslJ'N ; .('•'■'.■■i.i/l? IHV

■ In addition- toe Several ntest actions in the English courts, claims aggrof! gating nearly £1,250,000 have already been filed in the United States. The'fundamental questions for decision aro (says the Westminster Gazette) whether the company is liable at all, and, if liable, is it entitled to limit its responsibility under the American law for damages to the amount of the passage rand freight money paid for the particular voyage, together with the value of the salvage —about £20,000 in gjlj—or can claimants sue under the British Statute limiting shipowners’ liability for loss of life o £ls per on, and for loss of property to £8 per ton, which in the ease of the Titanic would amount to a sum not far short of a' million sterling. The issue is therefore, of supreme importance. It is not expected’that a decision will be arrived at in the United- States courts before June at the earliest, and probably not even then, while, so far as England is concerned, the situation is further complicated by the fact a clause exempting the company from that on the back of the steerage tickets was a clause exempting the company from damages due to negligence. No claims have been made by -Mrs John Jacob Astor or the family of the ! late Mr Charles M. Hayes, former president of the Grand Trunk Pacific! Railway. t The largest amount, £200,000, is claimed by Mrs Irene Wallack Harris, widow of Mr Henry B. Harris, who was interested in many theatrical ventures, while, in addition,, she asks £SOOO for her own personal effects, including a pearl necklace valued at £2OOO. Mrs Charlotte Cardeza, of Germaustown, s.:eks to recover £35,000 for her wardrobe and other property, the inventory mentioning such items as a pink diamond worth £4OOO, hatpins the cost of which ■ was £IOO, and a white petticoat estimated at £l9. The claim submitted by Mrs Lily Millet, of New York,, for the loss of her husband, the well-known artist, is £20,000 ; and Mrs. May Futrelle, widow of Mr Jacques Futrelle, author, asks too.ooo. Moreover, £20,000 is wanted for the I of an oil-painting entitled “The Circassian at the Bath”; £II,OOO for IiO.GOOFt of moving picture films; £2OOO by the Countess of Rothes for the loss of personal property, including a diamond marquise ring worth £2OO, some old lace, and a set of black lux and ermine furs; and, in the er e of one family, father, mother and four children, that went down with the liner, £30,000 is claimed by the grandparents. •