New Britain herald., 1925-07-18
VANDERBILTS GET
 NO DAMAGE AWARD
Suffered No Loss Through
 LuSitania Tragedy

Washington, July 1s.--The United States-German mixed claims com mission has practically completed It's work on the Lusitania case. But six awards of damages remain to be made. The aggregate of damages has been set at s2,25O,0o0.
 The method of determining the damages for the death of American passengers on the torpodoed liner is extremely interesting.
 It had been expected that as AL fred G. Vanderbilt was the richest man among the victims of the Ger man submarine that the award in his case would be the largest of all.
 As matter of fact, the commits sion unanimously decided not to award a cent of damages in the Vanderbilt case.
 The commission took this view of the Vanderbilt claim. His money came to him by inheritance. He had virtually no active business in- terests. No one of his family could come forward and show a direct financial loss from his death. His heirs had the benefit of a large life insurance, Had Mir. Vanderbilt lived 25 years longer there was no expectation that by any personal work on his part his fortune would be Increased. What increase would come in the next 25 years would be by the normal increase in values, such as real estate appreciation or higher prices of stocks and bonds he owned.
 Therefore the commission came to the conclusion it could not award any payment to the Vanderbilt estate.
 The same action was taken in the case of the claim made for the death of Charles Frohman, the the atrical manager The commission dismissed the claim of the Frohman estate on the ground that his estate had not suffered financially from his death, but that the earnings of his various theatrical enterprises were larger after his death than before it.
 The decision in the case of FL bert Hubbard, the writer, is interest ing. The commission awarded the Hubbard estate $59,500. Mir. Hub hard's yearly earnings were very large, but it was pointed out that he was nearing the end of his .pro- ductivc capacity end that his estate would receive a sizable sum in roy alties from his copyrighted works. Had he been a younger man the award would have been larger.
 The awards were made on cold business basis, with no sentiment entering into the matter. The con1- mission otok into consideration the victims age, his personal habits, whether he was addicted 10 liquor and his probable limit of capacity as a money maker,
 The largest damages were given for the deaths Of persons fairly young in years, who earned a large yearly salary as a result of their personal work. Heirs could show readily in these cases that death cut off the expectation of large cash re- turns over a period of years, and this resulted in si2able damages.
 The largest sum, $130,000. was awarded to Mrs. Mary Davls Hop hns Gilm"r for the death of her husband and her father In this case Mrs. GiImer was able to show a di- rect financial loss from the deaths of both.
 In the case Of Charles Klein, the dramatist, it was shown that he had probably several years of productive capacity, in which new plays of his might be expected 10 earn sizable sums, so his estate was awarded $50,00O.
 In the case Of Justus Miles Fore man. the novelist, the commission refused 10 allow the relatives any thing Mir. Foreman, while q we'll known novelist and comparatively young, had not been q great money maker and his heirs could not show that his death had cut them from financial support.
 In the cases of women victims the awards were small or compensation refused altogether. The Hickson sis tcrs, dress designers of New York, were an exception, Their relatives were able to show their earnings had h"cn large, so the commission awarded $14,000 on the joint claim.
 Interest From November, 1923
 In all cases the commission figur- cd out the loss of dollars and cents at their reckoning 10 the relatives of the victim and made that the basis of settlement.
 All these awards hear interest at 5 per cent from November. 1923, when the commission began work,
 Tho Lusitania claims are only part Of the bill that citizens of the United States have against Germany.
 Claims against Germany totaled $2,OOO, 100000, This amount has now heen reduced to about S250,- uoO, 0o0 by the dismissal of 12,000 claims as not equitable or legal.