Docket No. 234.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
on behalf of
Martha A. Gretton, individually and as Executrix of the Estate of Thomas Barker, Deceased,
Claimants,
v.
GERMANY.
PARKER, Umpire, rendered the decision of the Commission.
This case is before the Umpire for decision on a certificate of the American Commissioner and the German Commissioner[a] certifying their disagreement. A brief statement of the facts as disclosed by the record follows:
The United States on behalf of Martha A. Gretton, individually and as Executrix of the Estate of Thomas Barker, Deceased, asserts this claim. On May 1, 1915 Martha Anne Barker (claimant herein), then 39 years of age, took passage on the Lusitania to visit her sick mother in England, leaving behind her husband, Thomas Barker (now deceased), a naturalized citizen of the United States, and another daughter, Doris Barker, 14 years of age. In the sinking of the Lusitania off the coast of Ireland on May 7, 1915, the daughter Winifred Barker was lost and this claimant was subjected to exposure and experiences of a distressing nature.
The property which was lost belonging to the claimant and her daughter is valued at $500.00.
On June 30, 1921, the claimant’s husband, Thomas Barker, died. On July 4, 1923, claimant married Michael T. Gretton, also a naturalized citizen of the United States.
Applying the rules announced in the Lusitania Opinion and in the other 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 the terms of the Government of Germany is obligated to pay to the Government of the United States on behalf of Martha A. Gretton individually and as Executrix of the Estate of Thomas Barker, Deceased, the sum of five thousand dollars ($5,000.00) with interest thereon at the rate of five per cent per annum from November 1, 1923, and the further sum of five hundred dollars ($500.00) with interest thereon at the rate of five per cent per annum from May 7, 1915.
Done at Washington February 21, 1924.
EDWIN B. PARKER
Umpire.
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[a] Dated February 14, 1924.
