The Stratford Evening Post. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1913. THE TITANIC CLAIMS.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVII, Issue 1, 2 September 1913, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1913. THE TITANIC CLAIMS.

J ho derision recently given in London against the Oceanic Steam Navigation Company in the action brought by the representatives of steerage passengers "’ho perished with the Titanic on the ground that the form of ticket exemptling the owners oi the ship from blame for negligence on the part of their

servants was illegal, because it had nut been approved by the Board of I fade, was stated to be causing a good deal of controversy in shipping circles when the mails left. It,is call-

ed to mind that when questioned on the subject in the House of Commons last year Mr Buxton said he was not , satisfied that the wording of the pas-

senger contract would relieve the { owners from responsibility. The case ' will, of course, be reviewed by the! Court of Appeal, and if the ruling is I upheld, it is believed that something like £700,000 will be available for dis-| tribution among the various claim-! ants, an amount calculated at £lsl a ton of the gross register of the Ti-1

tanic. Already judgment has been given in the United States dismissing the petition of the Oceanic Steam Navigation Company to have its liability limited under American law, according to which no more than £20,000, the value of the property salved after the wreck—namely, fourteen lifeboat;;

plus Iho freight and passage money’, paid, could be recovered. The Judge |in the Federal District Court of Xev,- 1 York held that the British statutes i wore applicable to the losses sustain-'] jed through the foundering of the 1 liner, as the vessel was British, and ( had never even been within the tern- ( torial limits of the United States. ' ■This decision is also to be made the i |subject of appeal, and it is considered ' > fhv those who have looked into the!

matter carefully that it will probably be several yearn yet before the issue is finally determined. The American actions alone cover a total, according to one writer, of nearly £3,500,000.