TITANIC CLAIMS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 91, 17 April 1913, Page 8

TITANIC CLAIMS.

.:■' a. - ... t OVER £1,000,000 INVOLVED. s r • On both sides of the Atlantic consider--5 able interest attaches to the proceedings which are pending: against the Oceanic i Navigation Company, in connection with ? -the loss of life and property caused t by the foundering of the White Star I liner in AprH last. r In addition to several test actions in c fhe English courts, claims aggregating ,_ newly £1.250,000 have already been , filed in .the United States. .The fundamental questions for de- _ cision are (says .the " Westminster Gazg . ette") whether the company is liable at i all, and, -if liable, is it entitled to limit Hs responsibility under the American law for damages to the amount of the passage and freight money paid for the " particular voyage, together with the ' value of the salvage—about £20,000 in can claimants sue under the • British statute limiting shipowners' liability for loss of life to £15 per ton, and for loss of property to £8 per ton, which in the case of Hie Titanic would amount to.'a sum not far short of a i- milHon 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 t not : even then, while, so far as England , is concerned, the situation is further . complicated by the fact that on the r back of the steerage tickets was a clause . exempting the company from damages l due to negligence. > No claims bave been made by Mrs. . John Jacob Astor or the family of• the i late Mr. Charles M. Hayes, former . president of the Grand Trunk Pacific i, Eailway. i' ' 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, j while, in addition,' she asks £5,000 for 'her own personal effects, including' a pearl necklace valued at £2,000. ". Mrs."Charlotte Cardeza, of Gennanstown, seeks to recover £35,000 for ber wardrobe and other property, the inventory mentioning: such items as a _ pink diamond worth £4,000, hatpins the ' cost of' which' was £100, and a white petticoat estimated at £19. • -The claim submitted by Mrs.- Lily • Millet, of New York, for the loss, of her ■ husband,' the well-known artist, is i £20,000.:, and Airs. May Futrelle, widow > of Mr."Jacques Futrelle. author, asks i £60,000. J: Moreover, £20,000 is -wanted for the • loss of jan oil-painting entitled "The '_ Circassian at the Bath"; f 11,000 for ; 110,000 ft. of moving picture films; • £2,000 by the Countess of Rothes for - ihie loss of personal property, including • a •Samond marquise ring worth £200, ; » some oM. _ace, and a set of black fox. - and ermine furs; and, in <6he case of' i; one family,' -father, ; mother, - and four <• <hiWje.ii, >B_at went down *wit_i the liner, v £30.000 is claimed by the grandparents. 1'- •- -' . ' :^y.