Docket No. 422.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
on behalf of
Marjorie R. Weaver, individually, as Administratrix of the Estate of Edwin W. Friend, Deceased, and as Guardian of Faith Friend, a minor,
Claimants,
v.
GERMANY.
PARKER, Umpire, rendered the decision of the Commission.
This case is before the Umpire for decision on a certificate of the National Commissioners[a] certifying their disagreement.
From the record it appears that Edwin W. Friend, an American national, then some 28 years of age, was a passenger on and went down with the Lusitania. His wife, Marjorie R. Friend, then 23 years of age, to whom he had been married less than one year, survived him. To her was born on September 22, 1915, a female child christened Faith Friend. The record indicates that as a direct result of the great emotional shock sustained by the mother during her pregnancy following the announcement of her husband’s death and the grief and mental anguish suffered by her the child was born and will always remain a defective. The child is not and long has been a patient in the Massachusetts School for the Feeble Minded, her mother paying the bare cost of maintenance at the rate of $364 per year.
The deceased was a graduate of Harvard University and later pursued his studies at the University of Berlin. He was then employed as an instructor at Princeton University for two years and later as an instructor at Harvard. In 1914 he became secretary of the American Society for Psychical Research. His salary and fees amounted to $2,000 per annum. His prospects were bright and he had every promise of increasing his income from his career as a teacher, author, and lecturer. Upon his death his widow was destitute and was taken care of by friends.
The record states that the deceased had personal property with him on the Lusitania of the value of at least $100 which was lost.
Five years after the sinking of the Lusitania Friend’s widow married Eastman A. Weaver, also an American national, a consulting engineer with a modest through comparatively substantial income.
Applying the principles and rules heretofore announced in the decisions of this Commission to the facts as disclosed by the record, the Commission decrees that under the Treaty of Berlin of August 25, 1921, and in accordance with its terms the Government of Germany is obligated to pay to the Government of the United States on behalf of (1) Marjorie R. Weaver individually the sum of ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00), (2) Marjorie R. Weaver as Guardian of Faith Friend, a minor, the sum of ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00) with interest on each of the said sums at the rate of five per cent per annum from November 1, 1923, and (3) Marjorie R. Weaver as Administratrix of the Estate of Edwin W. Friend, deceased, the sum of one hundred dollars ($10,000.00) with interest thereon at the rate of five per cent per annum from May 7, 1915.
Done at Washington October 2, 1924.
EDWIN B. PARKER,
Umpire.
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[a] Dated September 23, 1924.
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