On the day in question, the hunting party under discussion had walked across section 10 and several of them had reached the prairie road, which was where they would quit for the day. (See sketch No. 2.)

Disposal of dead rabbits is handled somewhat differently on different occasions. The Forest Service does not collect and dispose of the rabbits; ordinarily the dead rabbits are either left where they fall or may be carried out to a fence line or trail where they are abandoned. Sometimes farmers or other private parties afterward collect the rabbits in a truck and sell them. When sold to fur or fertilizer companies they may bring a price of from 7 to 10 or 12 cents each.

On the day in question, some of the men were carrying rabbits out to the road while others did not bother to do so.

Mr. Rudolph Mundt, the injured party in this case, normally was employed by the Forest Service as intermediate foreman in charge of this particular hunting crew; he is employed at security wages for 130 hours per month. He had worked most of his time for the month and was temporarily laid off the evening of the twentieth, but had 1 or 2 more days to work for his month's wage which was planned for expenditure on other projects.

On the day in question he conceived the idea of collecting and disposing of the dead rabbits from this drive. He had negotiated for the loan of a private panel delivery from a Mr. Blinkenberg of Casselton under some sort of a deal whereby the two men would divide any profit derived from the sale of the rabbits.

According to information of Messrs. Forrest and Bosch, the drive had proceeded to the point shown in sketch No. 2. Mr. Mundt drove up with his panel to the point shown in sketch No. 3 and had gotten out, waiting to gather up the rabbits. A rabbit started running across the field as noted in the sketch. Mr. Mundt fired two shots at the rabbit when standing in front of the pick-up. He failed to kill the rabbit and the animal continued to run north as shown by the dotted lines. Mr. Joe Bosch stated that he waited until the rabbit had passed the panel when he fired, killing the rabbit. Mr. Bosch stated that, just as he did so, he saw Mr. Mundt start around the rear of the panel and just as he came in sight throw his hand up to his eye and he knew that Mundt had been shot.

In reconstructing this accident, Messrs. Bosch and Forrest showed us where the rabbit was supposed to have fallen. This point was identified by patches of rabbit fur and blood. Bosch and Forrest than stated their idea of the location of the panel and where they thought they were standing when the accident occurred. These scenes were photographed from two directions with a suitcase placed where the rabbit was supposed to have been when shot. I stood back of the panel, where Forrest and Bosch said Mundt was when shot, when the two pictures attached were snapped.

I had the men keep their positions and Pears and myself measured the distance. Actual distance from Bosch to rabbit was 50 feet. From rabbit to Mundt was 28 feet. A line drawn directly from Bosch to the rabbit and extended on past would put the direct line about 5 feet north of where Mundt was standing. An inspection of the prairie trail shows bits of shotgun wadding scattered here and there on the road for a distance of nearly 30 feet wide on both sides of the point where Mundt is said to have been standing. All of this is shown in sketch No. 3. The distance down from the north section line was calculated with an automobile speedometer. The point where rabbit was killed is about 3 to 31⁄2 feet higher than the ground elevation at the point where Mundt was standing. Mr. Mundt is a fairly tall man. On this basis, the bird shot was deflected upward about 3 feet, some of the shot passing over his head and to one side. A few pellets also struck Mundt in the chest but not with sufficient force to penetrate the skin. The ground at accident was frozen and was a wheat stubble. Only small patches of snow and icy spots were present.

I did not interview Mr. Mundt as he was in no condition to talk to visitors. Time of the accident.-According to statements the time of the accident was about 3:40 p. m., February 21.

Statements of witnesses.-Statements of witnesses Joe Bosch and Arthur Forrest, are attached.

Treatment of injury.-Immediately following the accident, Mr. Ole Palmquist took Mr. Rudolph Mundt to Casselton and Mr. Pears immediately transported Mundt from Casselton to Fargo. He was taken to the Dakota Clinic and an attempt was made to secure Mr. K. E. Darrow, who is a designated physician at that point. As Mr. Darrow was absent, the case was turned over to Dr. W. R. Winn, eye specialist. Mr. Mundt was taken immediately to St. John's Hospital and treated for shock for that evening. The immediate diagnosis was that the lead pellet had penetrated the eye ball and was at the present time resting near

the back of the inner coating of the eyeball. This was determined by X-ray pictures. Mr. Mundt was scheduled for an emergency operation the next morning. I first learned of the accident at 6 p. m. through a telephone call made by Andrew Storkson and Mr. Thomas. Mr. Thomas and myself left immediately after supper and drove to Casselton where we contacted Mr. Pears and learned some of the details of the accident. After having phoned the information to Mr. Shipley, we left for Fargo to determine whether the emergency operation had been performed and to learn the extent of the injury. When we arrived at St. John's Hospital, we were advised that Mr. Mundt was scheduled for an emergency operation the next morning at 9:30 a. m. but that he was resting quietly at the time and the nurse in attendance suggested that he not be disturbed.

The next morning we called at the hospital and learned that the emergency operation was postponed for about an hour but the operation was performed at approximately 11 o'clock. We interviewed Dr. W. R. Winn, following the operation, who advised us that the lead pellet had entered at an angle and had come to rest inside the eyeball near the rear lining toward the back of the eye socket. He stated that he was able to remove the lead pellet and showed us the foreign body afterwards. Dr. Winn stated that he believed it would be possible to save Mr. Mundt's eye and there was a possible chance that some vision might still be retained in the eye. There was, of course, the possibility of further complications but the doctor felt that no difficulty would be encountered and stated that, in his opinion, Mr. Mundt was far better off by retaining the eye, though damaged, than he would be if it were necessary to remove the eye and substitute a glass one. Mr. Pears advised Dr. Winn that we had no knowledge of who would be responsible for the medical services, since Mr. Mundt was not employed by the Government at the time of the accident and it was extremely doubtful that it could be considered as a compensation case. He explained that there might be a possibility that the medical services would be taken care of by the welfare board.

Financial circumstances of Messrs. Bosch and Mundt.-Both Mr. Bosch and Mr. Mundt are on the public relief rolls and are practically destitute financially. Mr. Mundt has a wife and three children to support and is dependent entirely on security wage earnings as a means of livelihood. The situation is similar with Mr. Bosch.

General.-In discussing the accident with Mr. Bosch, he advised me that he fired at the rabbit when he thought the rabbit was far enough past the line that there would be no danger to anyone. However, he stated that it was rather obvious that "his judgment backfired on him" and the accident resulted. It may be that Mr. Bosch's eyesight is somewhat faulty, although that is not definitely known. He stated that he was not excited but there is some indication, in reviewing this case, that he must have been excited to have fired at the rabbit when the rabbit was almost in direct line with the panel automobile.

I asked Mr. Bosch what instructions he had received about firing when there was some possibility of endangering some other parties on the drive. Mr. Bosch stated that he and all of the men had been repeatedly cautioned, particularly about a rabbit trying to break through the line. He stated he had been instructed not to shoot the rabbit until after it had broken through the line and there was no danger of hitting anyone else by so doing. Naturally, Mr. Bosch feels very badly about the accident and was in an extremely nervous state as a result. In securing the above information from Mr. Bosch, it was my feeling that he cooperated and was anxious to tell the facts of the matter. It appeared that he was particularly conscientious about the whole affair.

In referring to the sketches and the distances shown in the foregoing report, it is entirely probable that the location of the panel and the location of Mr. Bosch are not exact. Mr. Bosch may have been farther away than he thought he was and the panel may have been even more in direct line of fire than as shown. In view of the short distances shown, it is rather remarkable that Mr. Mundt was not killed. However, the force of the shot first striking the ground no doubt killed much of its momentum.

There is some question whether Mr. Mundt should have driven his panel in as far as he did; however, the other men behind him had already reached the road. Mr. Mundt drove in from the north and stopped and at that time Mr. Bosch was but a short distance from the road. There were no rabbits near the panel until the one shown in the sketch ran across. It would appear from this that there was no danger to Mr. Mundt when he drove up in front and stopped. It would seem, however, that Mr. Mundt himself must have been a little excited when he ran around from the front of the panel to the side in an attempt to get a shot at the rabbit as it broke through. It would not appear, however, that he should be criticized for running around to get a shot at the rabbit as he did.

Regardless of whether he could be criticized for this action or not, there appears no legitimate excuse for Mr. Bosch having fired almost directly at the panel automobile.

I am informed that Mr. Bosch has been working on the rabbit drives all winter and that at no previous time had he ever exhibited the slightest tendency toward careless action with a gun. This fact was substantiated by Mr. Gorthy, who had been working as foreman on the rabbit drives a good share of the winter. It is not known at this time what the cost of medical service and hospitalization will amount to, but it will no doubt be quite a sum, as there is almost certain to be 3 to 4 weeks of hospitalization involved, as well as the attending specialist, operating fees, and other charges.

In a separate "K-Safety" memorandum, I am discussing some of the administrative follow-up and investigation in connection with this case, as well as instructions which have been issued to the men. I instructed Mr. Pears to submit a sketch, showing the location of each man on the drive at the time of the accident and to secure witness statements from additional parties who had witnessed the accident. These statements will be made a part of this report. A witness statement will also be secured from Mr. Clarence Schmidt, whom I was unable to interview, as he was out of town on February 22.

L. A. WILLIAMS, Associate Forester.

FEBRUARY 22, 1940.

I was standing between 30 and 35 paces west of the truck facing south when I seen a rabbit coming north. When the rabbit came near the truck Mr. Mundt shot twice from the east and front of the truck. I waited until the rabbit passed the truck about 8 or 10 feet then I shot. In the meantime Mr. Mundt came running from behind east side of the truck. When I seen Mr. Mundt he had one hand over his right eye his body was only partly visible.

JOE BOSCH.

FEBRUARY 22, 1940.

The rabbit was running

Was hunting at right of Joe Bosch about 3:35 p. m. north out of my range. Rudy was in front of his car, shot twice at rabbit, went around to rear of car. Joe shot and killed rabbit as Rudy came at rear of car. I seen Rudy hold his hand to his face, then got in truck and drove away.

VIRGINIA BOWEN, WILLIE W. HUDSON, AND JOHN L. WALKER

MARCH 17, 1941.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House and ordered to be printed

Mr. COFFEE of Washington, from the Committee on Claims, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany S. 319]

The Committee on Claims, to whom was referred the bill (S. 319) for the relief of Virginia Bowen, Willie W. Hudson, and John L. Walker, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with amendments and recommend that the bill as amended do pass. The amendments are as follows:

Page 1, line 7, strike out the figures "$1,048.25" and insert in lieu thereof "$1,000".

Page 1, line 8, strike out the figures "$403.75" and insert in lieu thereof "$401.25".

Page 1, line 9, strike out the figures "$58.25" and insert in lieu thereof "$57".

The purpose of the proposed legislation is to pay, out of any money in the Treasury, the sum of $1,000 to Virginia Bowen, the sum of $401.25 to Willie W. Hudson, and the sum of $57 to John L. Walker, in full settlement of their claims against the United States, when a car in which they were riding was struck by a Civilian Conservation Corps truck on June 22, 1940.

This bill was amended by your committee, because it has been the continued policy of the House, not to allow court cost or interest.

The facts are fully set forth in Senate Report No. 54, Seventyseventh Congress, first session, which is appended hereto and made a part of this report.

(S. Rept. No. 000, 77th Cong., 1st sess.]

The records of the War Department show that on June 22, 1940, at or about 10:30 p. m., a Civilian Conservation Corps truck, on official business, was traveling west at about 25 miles per hour on Virginia State Highway No. 58, approximately 3 miles east of Broadnax, Va. A Ford coupe, driven by John L. Walker, H. Repts., 77-1, vol. 2-18