The words “captor or” between “any” and “claimant” are omitted because the Act of March 3, 1899, ch. 413, § 13,
30 Stat. 1007, repealed all laws authorizing the distribution of prize proceeds to captors. These words were apparently carried over inadvertently to § 38 of the 1909 Act from the source of that section, namely R.S. 5441.
The section is worded in the style of Title 18, U.S. Code.