Docket No. 280.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
on behalf of
Alfred H. Brodrick, Etta L. Brodrick, and Alfred H. Brodrick as Administrator of the Estate of Carlton Thayer Brodrick, 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 two National Commissioners[a] certifying their disagreement. A brief statement of the facts as disclosed by the records follows:
Carlton Thayer Brodrick, an American national, was a passenger on and went down with the Lusitania. At the time of his death he was 28 years of age and had never married. He left surviving him a father, Alfred H. Brodrick, and mother, Etta L. Brodrick, aged respectively 55 and 57 years. He also left a brother, Richard G. Brodrick, and a sister, Helen C. Brodrick, both of them 18 years of age, on whose behalf no claim is made. These survivors were then and have ever remained American nationals.
The deceased was an American gentleman of the highest type, industriously using his unusual abilities to increase the knowledge and develop the wealth of the world. At the time of his death he was receiving a salary of $10,000 as chief geologist of a mining corporation engaged in the exploitation of Russian fields. He also enjoyed an income from investments he had made from his earnings, which investments on his death passed to these claimants. He diligently pursued research work in his profession, founded a geology school at Kyshtim, Russia, and made liveral contributions of geological specimens and valuable data and information to his alma mater, Harvard University, where now exists a collection of such specimens which bears his name. He gave every promise of developing into one of the world’s foremost mining engineers. At the time of his death he was en route to assist Herbert Hoover in Belgian relief work.
Alfred H. Brodrick, claimant herein and father of deceased, is a successful business man and has accumulated considerable property, from which he derives a substantial income. The only contributions disclosed by the record as having been made by the deceased to his parents were presents of furs, jewelry, and articles of personal adornment of the value of approximately $5,000, which he had from time to time made them on his trips home from Russia.
It affirmatively appears from the record that following her son’s tragic death Mrs. Brodrick suffered a nervous collapse, seriously affecting both her mental and physical well-being and greatly aggravating the condition of what her physician describes as “a weak and nervous heart”. This condition necessitated constant attendance for a considerable period by a nurse trained in nervous diseases and for a time it seemed doubtful whether or not she would retain her mental faculties. Her physician certifies that she has never completely recovered from this shock. The expenses incurred incident to her impaired health have been heavy.
The deceased had with him on the Lusitania personal property and cash of the value of $2,855, all of which was lost.
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) Alfred H. Brodrick and Etta L. Brodrick, his wife, jointly the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000.00) with interest thereon at the rate of five per cent per annum from November 1, 1923, and (2) Alfred H. Brodrick as Administrator of the Estate of Carlton Thayer Brodrick, deceased, the sum of two thousand eight hundred fifty-five dollars ($2,855.00) with interest thereon at the rate of five per cent per annum from May 7, 1915.
Done at Washington September 19, 1924.
EDWIN B. PARKER,
Umpire.
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[a] Dated February 14, 1924.
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