Docket No. 592.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
on behalf of
Frank I. Proctor, Executor of the Estate of Florence Nightingale Stevens, Deceased, Harold Brockway Stevens, and Estate of Charles Henry Stevens, 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 National Commissioners[a] certifying their disagreement.
Charles Henry Stevens, an American national, 57 years of age, was a passenger lost with the Lusitania. He was survived by a widow, Florence Nightingale Stevens, then 54 years of age, and a son, Harold Brockway Stevens. At two places in the record the decedent’s vocation is given as “shoemaker”, but the statements made by his widow are to the effect that he was a dealer in antique furniture. There is no evidence in the record with respect to the income and earnings of the decedent save that of his widow, whose statements are inconclusive. In an affidavit purporting to have been made by her on August 24, 1916, it is stated that Harold Stevens, son of the decedent, was to some extent dependent upon the decedent for support. In another affidavit purporting to have been made by her on September 13, 1923, it is stated that this son was not dependent upon his father for support. The record as a whole is meager, unsatisfactory, and unconvincing.
It appears, however, that the widow of the decedent was left destitute, physically unable to earn her own living, and that neither her son nor her brothers or sisters made any contributions whatever toward her support. Her son Harold, a claimant herein, who was 34 years of age at the time of his father’s death, did not communication with his mother for many years and for a long period she did not know whether he was alive or dead.
Dr. Frank I. Proctor, the employer of the decedent’s brother, maintained Florence Nightingale Stevens from July 1, 1915, until her death on February 13, 1924. The advances of funds made to her by Dr. Proctor aggregate more than $4,000. Mrs. Stevens left a will naming Dr. Proctor as her executor and directing that he should be reimbursed for the amounts advanced by him for her maintenance and support and that the residue of her property should be divided among the enumerated members of her family.
Applying the rules announced in the Lusitania Opinion and in the other decisions of this Commission to the meager facts as disclosed by the record herein with respect to the earnings of Charles Henry Stevens and the value of his personal effects lost with him, 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 Frank I. Proctor, Executor of the Estate of Florence Nightingale Stevens, 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 further decrees that the Government of Germany is not obligated to pay to the Government of the United States any amount on behalf of the Estate of Charles Henry Stevens, Deceased, or Harold Brockway Stevens.
Done at Washington January 30, 1925.
EDWIN B. PARKER,
Umpire.
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[a] Dated January 5, 1925.
53281°–25—-35
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