The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-04-27
TRIED TO SWAY PUBLIC OPINION IN THE COURTS J. L. Myers, Lusitania Sur vivor, Declares Agents
 Urged Cunard Suit
OFFERED $5O,OOO
 TO CLAIM DAMAGES
Same Proposal Made James Leary, Is Information
 Authorities Obtain

New York, April Exchanges of
 German attempts to use the United
 States courts to influence public opin- | ic following the torpedoing of the
 Lusitania. were made yesterday after noon by Joseph L. Myers, lace inn porter, who lives at No. 1,279 Madison
 avenue.
 | Mr. Myers, who is Lusitania sur vfvor, said a law firm had guaranteed
 him at least $50, 900 if he would pros ecute an action for damages against the failure of the company. to take ad- | equate precautions in crossing the 'blockaded zone.''
 This law firm, whose name was kept secret, had it's main office in some city
 east of Chicago and, according to MT.
 Myers, is in the employ of the Ger
 man government In event the cases
 against the Cunard Co. failed, settle
 ment was to be made with money sup piled from Berlin, according to MT. Myers.
 l MT. Myers made his charge at meeting of the Lusitania survivors yesterday in the Mutual Life Insur- ance building, No. g Liberty street, called to provide some method of con certed action on the part of the sur vivors to recover damages. Before we go any further, I want
 
 MT. Myers demanded as the session opened 1.-TWO of us have been of fered $50 900 to sue the Cunard Co. and go over to a certain side.'' James Leary, No. 404 Eighth avenue, Brooklyn, who admitted later he also had been approached interrupted My CTS. Upon a motion by Myers every one in the room was forced to state. his connection with the meeting.
 At his home last night MT. Myers said to a reporter:
 .sAfter my return to the United of my attorneys, who have since been dismissed by nae.f No ctfon was taken Aat the time. Late in November a young man came to me who said he was in the office of a law firm in. a certain western city, who were asso- ciated with a Chicago attorney com ducting case for woman survivor of the 11usitania- He wanted me to make a statement of my experiences on the Lusitania for use in the Chi cago case.
 saThe man had been sent by James Leary, who was also on the Iusitania, and had been approached for a state ment. I asked my lawyers about the western firm and they said I would be crazy to give them my case. My attorneys professed to be on the in side, said they were advisors of von Bernstorf and DumbaI
 "A few days later, about the nlid- dIe of December, after a, conference with the young man, who had asked me for the Statement and with the chief attorney, who had come to ew York I agreed to sign a contract promising to sue the Cunard people and make the statement. This at torney has been indicted by a Federal grand jury for some sort of German propaganda,s I believe. in connection with a. bomb plot.
 "One-half hour after I had signed the contract, Leary called me up tell ing me not to have anything to do with the western people. tried to get my contract back and after being again guaranteed $50, ,0oO whether won or lost the ,Cunard suit, was fat1y told that could not have my contract. I have made several attempts to re- cover it.
 to begin between 40 and 50 suits in diff ferent parts of the country under the same guarantee that received4''
 Frank Kinnfcutt of Hunt, Hill & Betts, lawyers at No 12O Broadway, outlined at yesterdays meeting the rights of claimants, stating there was a perfect case against the German government. Suits against the Cunard Go. must be filed before midnight, May 6, lest they be made void by the stat ute of limitations, he said