AFTERMATH - The Lighthouse - page 62

for trying to get what he could under the circumstances. His son was still a relatively
young man with plenty of working life ahead of him and had died during the course of
his work.
Coming to the case of Mrs Macarthur and her two children, again the accountant
showed an understanding of the plight she was in and he pressed the Commissioners
to be magnanimous towards her and the children. The report stated that Donald Macar-
thur's circumstances came under Scale III in the warrant which was: 'Any other hired
person employed in a public department.' 15
There was a reservation to any award, however, as the regulations stated that if the
service of the deceased was less than five years at the date of death/injury, any award
to a widow would take the form of a gratuity not exceeding one half of a year's salary
and emoluments. Macarthur had actually been employed for less than a year and his
widow was therefore still eligible to receive one half of the salary he had earned up to
the date of his death - amounting to £26 10 s 5 d . One positive point in the warrant was
thatalthoughhehadbeenemployed asanOLKforbarelyayear,Macarthur'stwochil-
drenwerebotheligibleforagratuitynotexceedingonetwelfthofhissalaryandemolu-
ments, although this was capped by the total to Mrs Macarthur and the two children not
receiving in total more than one year's salary and emoluments that Macarthur would
have received. The gratuity to the two children amounted to £4 8 s 5 d each making a
total of £35 7 s 3 d including the sum paid to Mrs Macarthur. The accountant, in writing
his report, appealed to the Commissioners to consider making a larger payment to Mrs
Macarthur and her children. 16 To support his argument, he first mentioned the case of a
seaman named Will who had died in an accident on the crane at Sule Skerry for which
his mother was awarded a gratuity of £125. Then he brought up the case of two boys
at Pretoria Day at Lossiemouth, one of whom had been killed and the other seriously
injured. In these cases the Commissioners had agreed that gratuities be paid of £20
and £30 respectively. He stated that the total gratuity being offered to Mrs Macarthur
seemed to be a very inadequate sum as recognition for the loss of her husband and, in
his position as accountant, recommended that the Commissioners request the sanction
of the Board of Trade for a gratuity to Mrs Macarthur of not less than £100 plus the re-
commendationofapaymentofanannualpensionof£10.Itwasadecentgesturewhich
recognised the special circumstances of the Flannans disaster and it would have been a
goodoutcomeforMrsMacarthurandherchildren,consideringherlatehusband'sshort
time with the NLB. In the event, however, the Board of Trade, who gave the ultimate
sanction for the payments returned Mrs Macarthur's marriage certificate and children's
birth certificates on 18 March 1901 to the NLB with a letter stating they did not agree
to the pension proposal and would only sanction a payment to her of £50 plus £20 for