Docket No. 2203.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
on behalf of
Joseph L. Myers,
Claimant,
v.
GERMANY.
PARKER, Umpire, rendered the decision of the Commission.
This case is before the Umpire for decision on a certificate of the two National Commissioners[a] certifying their disagreement.
Joseph L. Myers, an American national, then 48 years of age, was a passengers on the Lusitania and suffered severe personal injuries when it was destroyed. This claim is put forward on behalf to recover the damages which he sustained resulting from such personal injuries and for the value of personal property belonging to him which was lost with the ship.
There is some confusion between the sworn statement of the claimant and that of the only physician and surgeon – a Frenchman – whose testimony is presented and also that of the other witnesses, in describing the injuries suffered by claimant. But that claimant did suffer very severe bodily injuries, which completely incapacitated him from attending to any business during a period of several months, there can be no doubt. One leg was broken, and one arm bruised and lacerated. He remained in a hospital for four weeks before he was able to journey to Paris, his destination, and thereafter was confined to his bed three additional weeks. Not until three months from the date of the infliction of his injuries was he able to get about and it was some time thereafter before he was able to give much attention to business. There are statements in the record indicating that his health has been in some measure permanently impaired.
The whole business life of the claimant had been devoted to the manufacture, importation, and sale in the United States of laces, silks, and dress trimmings. The evidence with respect to the claimant’s earnings prior to his injuries is meager and unsatisfactory. Here again there is some confusion in the record. One witness states that “The firm of Angelo & Myers was a very prosperous business”. It appears, however, that this business, which was incorporated with claimant as its vice-president, had only been launched early in 1915, and claimant was sailing for the purpose of arranging for the importation of merchandise to fill orders taken and to be taken in the United States. Claimant testifies that because of physical incapacity he was unable to make such arrangements and as a consequence the business failed.
Notwithstanding these inconsistencies in the record, it is reasonably apparent that the claimant had a fair earning capacity, that because of his injuries he was unable to give attention to business for a period of some months, and that he paid substantial amounts to surgeons, physicians, and hospitals and for nursing, and incurred other expenses in his efforts to regain his health and strength.
The value of the personal property belonging to the claimant, including some jewelry, which was lost with the Lusitania, has not been very satisfactorily established. In one affidavit filed by the claimant he volunteered to procure and file and affidavit of a jeweler with respect to the value of one article for which a claim is made, but this has not been done. On the record as it stands the Commission assesses the value of claimant’s property which was lost and the amount of the medical and other expenses to which he was put at $4,000.
Applying the rules announced in the Lusitania Opinion and in the other decisions of this Commission to the facts as disclosed by the record herein, 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 Joseph L. Myers (1) the sum of fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000.00) with interest thereon at the rate of five per cent per annum from November 1, 1923, and (2) the further sum of four thousand dollars ($4,000.00) with interest thereon at the rate of five per cent per annum from May 7, 1915.
Done at Washington January 14, 1925.
EDWIN B. PARKER,
Umpire.
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[a] Dated December 17, 1924.
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