New Britain herald., 1915-09-16
BRITAIN SEIzES
 AMERICAN GOODS
Several Million Dollars Worth of
 Products Forfeited to Crown

Products Forfeited to Crown
 WERE ENROUTE TO GERMANY Judgment of Prize Court Is That
 Meat and Rubber Was Destined for.
 Teutonic Enemy-Leavc To AppeaI Given By Sir Evans.
 London, Sept. 16, 3:33 D. m.-The British prize court today condemned the greater part of the American pro- ducts forming the cargoes of four steamships. The products, valued at several million dollars. are declared ] forfeited to the crown.
 i The judgment was delivered by Sir l Samuel T. Evans. president of the court. It involves the cargoes of the Norwegian Steamships Kim, Alfred Nobel, Bjornstjerne-Bjornso and | Fridland. All the goods on these ves- 1 sels, consisting principally of Amer | ican meat products, are confiscated with the exception of a small propor- i tion which the court released to 1 claimants. The case has been pending for sev- eral months. The steamships were l seized last November. and although efforts were made by the American owners to obtain an early trial the British authorities set the hearing for June. The hearing closed last month S,.I day. .....
 Carrying Much Goods.
 In a lengthy judgment Sir Samuel said it was plain these ships were carrying towards Copenhagen, when captured, more than thirteen times the amount of goods which, under normal circumstances. would have been taken to that port. That fact gave practical and overwhelming as- surance that the goods were intended to find their way to Germany, aI- though of course. it did not prove conclusively that they were destined for an enemy of Great Britain.
 One circumstance throwing light on the real destination of the goods, Sir Samuel said, was that the ex- portation of lard by one American
 
 three weeks after the outbreak of the war was twenty times more than. in periods of peace. As to tins of canned meat, he said, it had not been shown they had been sent to Denmark in any great quantity before the war yet hundreds of thousands were on the way when the vessels were captured. These tins, it seemed, could not have been meant for any persons other than German soldiers.
 Consignment of Rubber.
 Referring to the consignments of rubber, described as gum, the presi- dent said: 'I have come to the con- clusion that gum is not a true com mercial description for rubber and that it was used in the ships mani fests in order to avoid the difficulty which would result in its capture by belligerent. Any cOncealment of this sort will, while I sit in the prize court, weigh heavily against those who adopt such courses.
 ''Neutrals are expected to conduct their neutral trade during the war without false papers and with candor and belligerents are entitled to ex- pect from neutrals 8 frank course of conduct
 Allows One Claim.
 Sir Samuel allowed one claim of Danish manufacturer for a quantity of rubber, wkick he said, had been shipped in good faith for use in his factory. Another claim was disal- lowed.
 The meat cargoes, shipped for the most part by the great American packing companies and valued by them at s15,0OO.00O were found by the president to be destined, except for some small items, not for con- sumption in Denmark but for delivery in Germany. He held that their eventful destination was the German government, for the use of its naval and military forces. To rule other wise, Sir Samuel said, would be, "to allow ones eyes to be blinded by theories and technicalities.'
 Disanowed Sixteen Claims.
 The court disallcwed sixteen claims including those of the Morris, Ar mour, Hammond, Swift and Sulzber- ger. It allowed eight claims, in- cluding that of the Cudahy company l of Chicago. The others were Danish ] consignees.
 Sir Samuel gave leave to appeal, l fixing security for the costs at $25,- 900, divisible among the appellants. l He also gave the crown attorneys | leave to appeal in the cases of the Cudahy and other claims which were | allowed.
 CHILD HIT BY AUTO.