Docket No. 2199.[a]
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
on behalf of
Selina E. Candlish and the Estate of John Candlish, Deceased,
Claimants,
v.
GERMANY.
PARKER, Umpire, rendered the decision of the Commission.
This case[b] grows out of the death of Arthur Candlish, a passenger lost with the Lusitania. It should have been presented and considered in connection with Docket No. 239, which the National Commissioners certified to the Umpire for decision and in which awards were made on February 21, 1924. More than three months thereafter this claim was for the first time presented to this Commission. The record in this case will be considered in the light of the record in Docket No. 239.
Arthur Candlish, son of John and Margaret Candlish, was born at Preston, England, November 9, 1881. He married Ellen Gardner July 14, 1909. Through naturalization he became an American citizen on October 3, 1911. There was no issue of this marriage.
Arthur Candlish, 33 years of age, and his wife, Ellen, then 30 years of age, were passengers on the Lusitania. He was lost. She survived, suffering from personal injuries. The decedent had been employed as a “mill hand” in textile mills. The only dependable evidence in the records with respect to his earnings is in the affidavits of the paymasters of two mills for which he had worked. The first of these places his earning at approximately $9 per week and the other at approximately $11.50 per week. His widow, Ellen Candlish, testifies positively that the decedent used his earnings in his and her support, and did not contribute to the support of the other members of his family.
John Candlish, the father of the decedent, married the present claimant Selina E. Candlish September 18, 1887, when his son Arthur was nearly six years of age. There were born of this second marriage two daughters, both of whom are married. John Candlish became an American citizen through naturalization on November 27, 1908.
At the time of Arthur Candlish, he and his wife did not constitute a part of his father’s household. The records negative the existence of any intimacy between the two families.
John Candlish, who survived his son Arthur, died October 19, 1920. This claim is now put forward on behalf of Selina E. Candlish as the mother of Arthur Candlish, deceased, and also on behalf of the Estate of John Candlish, Deceased. It is contended on behalf of Selina E. Candlish (1) that she has in the death of her son, Arthur, been deprived of contributions which he made to her and which he would have continued, in increasing amount, to make to her had he lived, (2) that because of the great love and affection which she born her only son his death caused her to suffer great physical pain and mental anguish and wrecked her health, which had previously been good, to her great pecuniary damage, (3) that the “shock and grief he suffered as the result of the cruel and wanton manner in which our son met his death” resulted in the death of her husband, John Candlish, to her great pecuniary damage, and (4) that there were lost with her son cash and personal effects of a substantial value, to her pecuniary damage.
The stepmother of the decedent, now old and infirm, is made to say “That at the time of the death of my said son he was contributing ten dollars per week towards my support out of his weekly earnings”. The records indicate that those earnings were used by the decedent for the support of himself and wife and amounted to from $9 per week to $11.50 per week.
Elsewhere this stepmother is made to say that her husband, John Candlish, was not in good health “prior to the time our son was killed”. But in another affidavit she is made to say that “Prior to the sinking of the Lusitania my husband was in the best of health”.
In another affidavit this stepmother is made to say that because “of the mental and physical suffering and shock which I sustained as a result of the death of my son, Arthur Candlish” her health, which had previously been good, was wrecked. The testimony of the doctor attending this claimant is to the effect that “she is almost totally incapacitated by reason of severe varicose ulcers of both lower extremities.”
Elsewhere in the record this claimant is made to say that “my son had with him money to the amount of $2000 – $3000 which was lost together with his baggage, clothing and jewelry to the amount of $1000”. The surviving widow, who accompanied the decedent on the Lusitania, itemized her husband’s property which was lost and placed a value on each article, the aggregate being $202.
The present claim will not be dignified by further relating in detail the inconsistent, conflicting, and wholly improbable statements with which the instant record abounds. Suffice it to say that it is entirely without merit. It is obvious that words have been put into the mouth of the infirm and inexperienced claimant and into the mouths of other witnesses in a deliberate effort to mislead this Commission. The crudeness alone of this attempt of private counsel abundantly insures its failure.
The awards heretofore made by this Commission on February 21, 1924, in Docket No. 239, the United States of America on behalf of Ellen Candlish, individually and as Administratrix of the Estate of Arthur Candlish, Deceased, are reaffirmed.
Applying the rules announced in the Lusitania Opinion and in the other decisions of this Commission to the facts in this case 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 not obligated to pay to the Government of the United States any amount on behalf of Selina E. Candlish or on behalf of the Estate of John Candlish, Deceased.
Done at Washington January 30, 1925.
EDWIN B. PARKER,
Umpire.
—-
[a] See Docket No. 239, pages 381 – 382, ante.
[b] Certified December 17, 1924, by the National Commissioners to the Umpire for decision.
You must log in to post a comment.