The Coalville times. [volume] (Coalville, Utah) 1894-1923, 1902-01-17

FUNNY WAR CLAIMS.
-Four hundred and ninoty-nve per-
sons. firms and corporations want ST.
100000 from the United States for
damages done to their property In
Cuba during the last instruction
against Spain. Tho last claims have
been filed with the Cuban claims COM
mission aud an examination OF them
shows that most OF them think the
United States will pay high prices for
low commodities. Tho largest single
one Is N.i77, 69S.S5. which was present
ed by a Cuban sugar company incor-
porated under the laws OF the state OF
New York. From this sum the claim
runs down to $1,000 or 5000. although
such small amounts are the exception,
the average claim. not counting those
filed on account OF the disaster to tho
battleship Maine. being between $780,
900 and S25O.00O Most OF the claim
ants evidently think Uncle Sam Is
about the easiest picking" the world
ever knew. The statements they have
tiled with the commission setting forth
the damages they have suffered might
well rank as humorous literature. An
examination OF some OF them furnish
IS more entertainment than MARK
Twaln's" sketches. The Cuban mule
must have been a table delicacy be-
fore and during the late lnsurreotlon,
judging from the value placed on him
by the patriots who wish TO dip their
hands into Uncle Sans pockets, Every
COW must have made an American
Jersey look mean II we are TO accept
the values placed on them. The
fences separating one plantation from
another must have been silver plated.
The huts which the native workmen
inhabited must have been furnished
with Brussels carpets and mahogany
bodsteads and equipped with onyx
mantelpleces and porcelain bath tubs.
although the Cubans were not notorl-
Gus for their bathing propensitles.
And the sugar cane-lt was the finest
quality, just ready to be harvested and
marketed at a handsome profit. II
must have contained chocolate creams
and bon bons. placed there by the
lavish hand of bountifu nature But
valuable as were the crops. the beasts
OF burden and the other adjuncts OF
n well-kept Cuban plantation, they
were cheap compared with other
things for which damages were claim
ed. For example, man who was ar
rested during the insurreotion because
he could not. give satisfactory ac-
count Of himself 10 the Spanish au-
thoritles calculates that the wear and
tear on his dignity and peace OF mind
could not be remedled or repaired for
less than 100000. or course the Span
lsh prisons where American suspects
were lodged pending an investigation
Of their cases were not models OF COM
fort and luxury. but many a respect
able citizen can be found who would
sleep there and keep company with a
fow Cuban rats and bats for less than
SO 900 a night. Many claims have been
filed for alleged false imprisonment,
and one for less than $40 900 is an ex-
ception. Here is an itemized state
ment OF claim filed by an American
citizen who was arrested because he
was suspected OF being in collision
with the insurgents outside OF Havana
a short time before the United States
and Spain went to war: For Inn
prlsonment and refusal to hold COM
municatlon with the American consul
general. $4,000: for mental and physi-
cal suffering and indIgnltles. $4,000;
for permanent mental and physical in
| jurles, $4,000; for defamation OF
character $4,000: for extra expense on
account OF imprisonment to obtain re-
lease, or cash expended. $1,000; total.
| 100000. a man with name decided
ly Spanish averrlng that he was nat
uralized In tho city OF New York who
asks for $4,000 damages for the al
legged ruinntlon OF what must have
been a verltable Garden Of Eden in the
province OF Mantanzas, puts down his
mules at $3.50 each and every horse on
tho plantation at the same fgure,-
81. Louis Republic,