The claim was rejected.

The chief basis on which a claim is settled is the injured earning capacity of the claimant. Take, for example, a man who earns his living by writing cards, making a week at the occupation. His hand is fractured in a streetcar accident, which makes the writing of cards a permanent impossibility, instead, he is compelled to accept a job as a watchman in a public building at the rate of $12 a week. Thus his earning capacity is reduced by $8 a week for the rest of his life, which the company assumes as its responsibility. It now becomes necessary to estimate the number of years the man will live beyond his present age which is thirty-two. His life is calculated by a series of tables, known as the Carlisle tables, showing the life span of the average person under normal conditions. It now becomes evident, however, that the man has a bad case of tuberculosis and is not expected to live very long. Since there is no known method of figuring the length of time a person will live with tuberculosis, a sure and equitable adjustment in this case is almost impossible.

In the case of a person who is killed in an accident, his relatives or estate may sue for damages, and this must be done within a certain time prescribed by law in various parts of the country. One year after death is the usual time limit, and two years after injury in the case of a living person. 