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191834653New York 1918. Original printed front wrapper with wrapper title as issued. 45 1 blank pp. Disbound lacking rear wrapper light rubberstamp on blank portion of wrapper. Else Very Good. Inscribed on front wrapper "To Mr. Arthur H. Masten with the warm regard of Julius M. Mayer." <br/><br/> The Cunard Steamship Company sought an adjudication that it was not liable for the horrific deaths and personal injuries suffered when a German U-Boat sank the Lusitania in 1915. Judge Mayer concludes after examining the evidence "The proof is absolute" that the "illegal act" of the German submarine commander targeting a civilian and unarmed vessel caused the tragedy. Germany acted in violation of a "simple humane and universally accepted principle" of international law that such a bedrock rule "would not be violated." <br/> Judge Mayer thus holds that the Cunard Company is not liable for the deaths and injuries. However he says "it is not to be doubted that the United States of America and her Allies will well remember the rights of those affected by the sinking of the Lusitania and when the time shall come will see to it that reparation shall be made for one of the most indefensible acts of modern times." Mayer formerly New York's attorney general was born and raised in New York City a graduate of CCNY and Columbia Law School. According to the Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle 22 September 1922 Mayer was one of only two Jewish United States District Judges. unknown books
1915WRCAM42260Folkestone England 1915. 12pp. Pen and ink on letterhead of Coman's Hotel 21 & 23 Castle Hill Avenue. 15 lines per page approximately 750 words. Quarto. With typed transcript. Old folds large pinhole in top center margin. Old envelope of Lewis-Clark Hotel Lewiston Idaho with "Allan Beatty's letter" in ink. Fine. In a half morocco and cloth box leather labels. A dramatic and detailed account by a survivor of the sinking of the Lusitania. Allan Beattie eighteen of Winnipeg travelling Second Cabin with his mother Grace was sitting on the hurricane deck when the ship was struck. <br> <br> "I got an awful smash in the back from the water and was thrown about thirty feet on my face. I got up and ran down stairs people were pouring up from the decks below and I caught sight of Mother. I ran up to her and kissed her goodbye then I lost her for a while.I thought to myself I haven't much of chance if I don't get a life belt so I thought a minute and then rushed down to my own stateroom and grabbed my own belt.I had to hang on the side of my bed to get a hold of it. The lights were practically all out." <br> <br> He gave away the first life belt he found then went down three decks to his stateroom to get his own life belt. Returning topside despite "a pretty hard time" he met his mother again. <br> <br> "She says 'I am not nervous I don't think there is much danger do you' I replied that 'It looked about as bad as it could' and I told her to take my life belt but she refused I made her put it on after promising that I would get another. I kissed her goodbye again and just as I got the top straps of her life belt tied the boat went down. I was sent sliding the whole width of the deck." <br> <br> Allan was flung free and was soon picked up by a life boat. He describes how the boat soon became perilously crowded. When another boat was located survivors were shifted across. In due course his boat was rescued by the Flying Fish and the survivors were brought to Queenstown. Beattie whose first name is given as "Allen" in the NEW YORK TIMES list of survivors writes his correspondent: "Mother is gone and altho we have not heard of her I don't think that she can be alive." <br> <br> Beattie appears to have been one of the Lusitania survivors who were profoundly traumatized by the incident. He was rejected from military service because of poor eyesight and was reported to have suffered a series of breakdowns beginning in 1920 and was unable to hold steady employment. <br> <br> A remarkable detailed narrative by a survivor of one of the most notorious maritime disasters of the 20th century written in the immediate aftermath of the event by a young man whose actions show proof of calmness in the tumult. hardcover books
