Federal attorneys have recommended that the U. S. Government accept, as compensation for the cost of raising the sunken SIDNEY E. SMITH JR. in 1972, an offer made in U. S. District Court at Detroit by the owners of the ships involved in the collision. Erie Sand Steamship Company would contribute $3,218,084.68 while the Hindman Transportation Company Ltd., owners of the PARKER EVANS, would pay in $318,084.67. It seems that it would take some four years for the government to prove to the court the exact cost of salvage operations, estimated to be in excess of $5 million, and so it was thought to be cheaper in the long run to accept the present offer!

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