Kathleen Ward, Administratrix of the Estate of Charles E. Ward, Deceased, in No. 18703 v. Union Barge Line Corporation, in No. 18704

OPINION OF THE COURT

GIBBONS, Circuit Judge.

This case is before the court on an appeal and cross-appeal from a judgment in an action for damages by the estate and survivors of a former seaman against his employer.

Decedent Charles E. Ward had worked for defendant, Union Barge Line Corporation, as a deckhand and mate for twenty years prior to May 13, 1963. Decedent suffered from rheumatoid arthritis beginning sometime in 1956 or 1957. He received cortisone and other steroid medication for this ailment beginning in 1958. The jury found that he knew himself to be permanently disabled by May 13,…