These are appeals by the plaintiffs from judgments entered below in negligence actions brought under the diversity statute. No. 7427 is a suit on behalf of a minor plaintiff, David Shepard, to recover damages for injuries and loss of earning capacity suffered as a result of an accident in which he was struck by an automobile manufactured by defendant. No. 7426 is a suit by the minor’s father to recover medical expenses incurred as a result of the same accident. The gravamen of the complaint is that the negligent design of the automobile —in particular, a sharp radiator ornament — contributed to the injuries.
Trial was had below solely on the issues of damages and contributory negligence.1 In No. 7427 the jury returned special verdicts awarding David $35,000 in general damages but nothing for loss of earning capacity. In No. 7426 it awarded the father damages of $2,-314.45. The district court made adjustments for interest and the setoff of prior settlements, discussed below, and entered judgments for $18,125.34 in No. 7427 and for nothing in No. 7426. Since defendant does not appeal, the only issues before us pertain to damages. We deal first with the questions common to both appeals.
Prior to the trial below, plaintiffs commenced state court proceedings against one Yule, the operator of the car that struck David. Those cases were settled for payments of $21,500 and $2,500 to the son and father respectively-
Plaintiffs argue that the district court erred in allowing General Motors to set off the Yule settlements against the verdicts in this action. We conclude, however, that this issue is not properly before us.
Following a pre-trial conference the district court entered an order in which it ruled that “the amount of * * * [the Yule] settlement^] will be deducted from any verdict obtained by the plaintiffs in these cases.” Counsel were given ten days to file objections to the order and a longer period in which to submit memoranda on the issues of liability and damages. No objections to the order were filed and plaintiffs’ memorandum on liability and damages does not refer to the propriety of the court’s ruling. Furthermore, plaintiffs did not attempt to contest the court’s ruling on this point at any later stage of the proceedings. The question is raised here for the first time and it has therefore not been properly preserved. Fowler v. Crown-Zellerbach Corporation, 163 F.2d 773 (9th Cir. 1947); see Fed.R.Civ.P. 16, 46; 5 J. Moore, Federal Prac*408tice § 46.02, at 1903-06 (2d ed. 1969.)2
Next, plaintiffs contend that the trial court erred in computing the setoff by allowing a credit for interest on the amount of the settlement from the date of settlement. We do not agree.
The interest statute, N.H.R.S.A. ch. 524: 1-b (Supp., 1969), is designed to provide compensation for the loss of the use of money damages during the pendency of the lawsuit. Cf. Chagnon v. Union-Leader Corp., 104 N.H. 472, 190 A.2d 721 (1963). Where, as here, a part of the total damages is received by the plaintiffs in settlement of a claim against one of two joint tortfeasors before the case against the other proceeds to judgment, the plaintiffs have not been deprived of the use of the amount of the settlement after the date of that payment. To allow them to recover interest for the succeeding period from the second tortfeasor would be to allow compensation for a deprivation which did not in fact take place. Given the established state policy of allowing a setoff of a settlement with one joint tortfeasor against a verdict returned against the other,3 we cannot construe the statute to prevent the setoff of interest here.
This brings us to points bearing primarily on No. 7427. At trial plaintiffs sought to introduce a duplicate of the hood ornament mounted on the Yule car at the time of the accident. In a conference in chambers the court excluded it4 on the ground that its prejudicial effect would outweigh its probative value, but gave plaintiffs leave to reoffer it if they could lay a medical foundation which would increase its apparent value. During the cross-examination of defendant’s medical expert, plaintiffs again sought to introduce the ornament following a statement by defendant’s doctor that the nature of the object that caused the injury would have a bearing on the opinion formed by a physician attending a patient who had suffered a head wound. The court adhered to its original ruling, which the plaintiffs now assign as error.
It is well established that where the trial court finds the prejudicial effect of proffered evidence to exceed its probative value, the evidence must be excluded. Moreover, such a ruling will not be reversed unless it was an abuse of discretion. United States v. Cartano, 420 F.2d 362 (1st Cir., filed Jan. 12, 1970); see Prop.Fed.R.Evid. 4-03 (a); J. Wigmore, Evidence §§ 1158, 1904 (3d ed. 1940). Here plaintiffs’ expert had never seen the ornament during the course of his treatment and defendant’s expert was at least skeptical of the value of the ornament in treating the patient. Moreover, plaintiff failed to make clear what bearing the nature of the ornament had, not on treatment, but on the assessment *409of the amount of damage that had been done. On this record, we find no abuse of discretion and hold, accordingly, that the exclusion of the hood ornament was not erroneous.
Finally, plaintiff contends that the trial court improperly charged the jury that it could not return a verdict for loss of earning capacity unless it found that David would have epilepsy.5 This raises the difficult question of whether the charge must be read as plaintiffs suggest.
We think that there is support for reading the charge, standing alone, either as requiring a finding of epilepsy as a condition precedent to recovery for loss of earning capacity or as merely pointing out the possibility of epilepsy as an important factor in determining that recovery. However, upon careful scrutiny of the entire record we have come to the conclusion that the charge, taken in context, required a finding of epilepsy as a condition precedent and was probably so understood by the jury.
Of major significance in this connection is the court’s action on the requests of the parties for instructions. Defendant’s requested instruction number twelve read:
“If you find that it is more probable than otherwise that David will not have epilepsy, then you may not and shall not consider any claim of loss of future earnings or earning capacity.”
Prior to argument the court informed counsel that it would charge in accordance with this request, and during his closing argument defense counsel repeatedly so informed the jury. Not only did the court fail to interfere with defense counsel’s argument, but it overruled plaintiffs’ objection to defense counsel’s virtual restatement of the request.6 These actions made clear to the jury the *410court’s own view. In this posture it ill behooves the defendant now to contend that the jury understood the opposite.
Defendant argues that even if the charge was too restrictive, we should affirm because there was insufficient evidence of loss of future earning capacity to go to the jury absent a finding of the probable onset of epilepsy. We cannot agree. Loss of earning capacity is normally a question of fact to be determined by the jury7 in light of all the circumstances.8 It is clear that where the evidence justifies an inference of loss based on “the common experiences and observations of mankind,” the issue of damages for loss of earning capacity is for the jury. Richards v. Rizzi, supra n. 8. Here there was some evidence on which the jury might have based a verdict had the court’s charge given them sufficient latitude. There was testimony that David had a horseshoe-shaped scar, suffered from headaches, and had an opening in the bone structure of the skull covered only by muscle tissue. We think the effect of these factors on earning capacity should not have been foreclosed from consideration by the jury. Accordingly, plaintiff is éntitled to a new trial on this issue alone.
This leaves only the question of what role evidence of the possibility of epilepsy should play in the new trial. The jury’s special verdict below indicates that they found it to be more probable than not that David would not have epilepsy in the future. We see no reason to disturb that finding. Accordingly, the plaintiff may not introduce evidence bearing on the possibility of David being afflicted with epilepsy at the new trial.
The judgment in No. 7426 is affirmed. The judgment in No. 7427 is affirmed, except insofar as it denies a recovery for loss of earning capacity, on which issue it is reversed and remanded for proceedings consistent with this opinion.