The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1900-01-21

tie that will begin February l are Martin
Y. Races. administrator and lare st cred
itOr of Harry G YOCum. John II. ZuH-
bOlin. trustee of the estate of Florence Il.
iocum, the United States Casually Com
pany. the Royal Arcanum and Mrs. Julia \.
Pomeroy an aunt, am Miss Francis L.
Cole. grandmother of Florence Il. Iocum,
and her heirs, both living at Los Angeles:
Cal. and Countess Nettic :. Scanavi OF
Vienna, Austria. and Gertrude NJ. Harris.
her sister. daughters of Captain Lloyd u.
Harris of ST. Louis.
The Insurance companies are not active
In the litigation. ana their bills of inter
pl"ddcr We're filed simply for the purpose
OF getting out of the legal maels'rom.
They have asked TO be permitted To pay
the insurance money into court. to be sub
JeCt to the future order Of the court
The question Of sUryiyorshIp. from the
very nature uf tn" case, is the most i'm
p"rtant one involved. II Harry e. Nucun
survived his daughter. then he died leav-
lns an estate Of 81 go in life insurance
funds. which. after the payment Of his
obligations. would go To his heirs at Law.
II, on the other hand, tho daughter sur
vivei the father. the money would pass
10 her. and from her to her heirs.
Where persons perish in 4 common ca
la!nity Of the nature that cost the lives OF
the passengers on the Pau! Jones, tn" law
IL not definitely settled in this country.
Under the civil law, the presumption was
that the stTUuge survived. Under the COM
mon law, however. this rule does not OBJ
tain. and as the exact moment OF death
cannot be ascertaiEed, the law treats II as
Il tdft lllltlt~~lIlE tG lEtti. anu ~ '-Ili;tN
both deaths to have occurred at the same
time
In this country the common law generally
obtains, and in view Of this fact. il is prob
able that the court viii treat the death Of
Florence Il. iOcum and her father as hdV-
ing occurred simultaneously.
Theories OF Law.
1t viii BE- cOntcuded, however. by the
heirs of Florence yocum that there il proof
establishing. if not positively. certainly by
strong circumstantiai evidence, mat she
survived her father. 1t VIII b" claimed ny
them that the wreck was caused by the
bursting Of the boiler. that II. {. NoCum'S
berth was Immediately adjoining the boiler
room. and that his death must have been
herths in the forward cabin. and were not
injured by the explosion.
II will further be contended that the girls
procured one OF the yawl boats and sought
land by that means. and were later drowned
by the caps ziug of their boat. Upon what
evidence these claims are based Is not
known. Nothing has ever been found 10
clearly establish the exact cause OF tn"
wreck or the manner uf the death Of the
persons. Some pieces OF wr"ckase We're
found floating along ncighbDTlnE shores
several weeks after the wreck is supposed 4,
have occurred. but whether this wreckage
was detached from the hun of the yacht
by explosion or by the action of the waves.
has always been merely u matter of con-
lecture.
Another course has been suggested that
may be feasible. ard serve 80 an instance
NI'ft n filitl4 VI q y A'NfFAAFa't' 80
the disposition Of a large estate. As before
stated. under the commOn. where W per-
sons lose their lie In 4 common calamity
ard it cannot he definitely determined which
survived the other, the law treats it as n
fact not susceptible of proof. and presumes
the death of both to have occurred stimuli
taneOuSly.
The civil law. however. takes into con-
sideratiOn age. health. physical endurance
and the like, and pTeSumeS that the one
who from the nature of things in reason
ought to he the strongest and best equipped
to defend his life will survive longest.
In Missouri the comm law prevails, but
in Louisiana. the jurisdiction in which the
deaths of both II. &. NOcum and his daugh
ter are presumed to have occurred. the
CorpOrated In the Code Napoleon. which.
when that State was French territory. was
in force there, and remains in force to the
present time in many respects.
The estate in controversy Ia altogether
personal property and by fiction of law
personal property follows the person. 50
while in fact neither n. &. YoCum nor his
daughter ever had actual possession of the
money. in contemplation Of law. il was in
Louisiana at the time of the death. The
heirs of Florence r. Yocum claim that as
she was younger and of strong. robust and
healthy constitution. she is presumed to
have survived her father. and by the law
of the land where the accident occurred is
entitled to the fund.
Hundreds of other points will he made at
the trial and the opinion is generally enter
tanned by the counsel for the respective
sides that the case will 20 down 10 history
as one of the cause Celebre' of American
jurisprudence.