Graff v. Parker Bros. & Co., Inc. The Lavinia

BORAH, Circuit Judge.

This is an appeal from a final decree of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas dismissing an admiralty action to recover death benefits under the provisions of the Texas death statute. Vernon’s Ann.Civ.St.Tex. art. 4671.

Oliver J. Graff, the decedent, was drowned in the Houston Ship Channel on the night of September 5, 1949, when a 30 foot ferryboat on which he was the operator and sole occupant collided successively with the Tug Lavinia and the lead barge of her tow. Following this accident the widow and surviving heirs filed a libel for…