or 12 feet of him. The dust was created through the operation of Works Progress Administration trucks at a high rate of speed. S. A. BRIEGER, Affiant. Sworn to and subscribed before me, a notary public in and for Lauderdale County and State of Mississippi, this, the 15th day of April, A. D. 1939. [SEAL] MARY BUXTON, Notary Public. I, M. I. Beeman, whose post-office address is Collinsville, Miss., route 1, after having been first duly sworn under oath state that I was one of the occupants of an automobile truck that was first to arrive at the place where Thomas Gerald Brieger was fatally injured about 2:30 p. m., on March 14, 1939. The truck that struck the child, operated by Mr. Aubrey Skelton, passed me on the highway about 250 or 300 yards northwest of the place of the injury and at the time he passed me Mr. Skelton was driving his truck at a rate of speed that I judged to be from 30 to 35 miles per hour and possibly faster. It was traveling at least 30 or 35 miles per hour when it passed me. I did not see it when it struck the child. When I got to the place where the injury occurred the truck operated by Mr. Skelton was on its left or north side of the highway, it having been headed in a southerly or southeasterly direction on the highway. The marks on the highway made by the wheels of the truck showed clearly that the truck was being operated about the center of the highway until about the time it struck the child when it turned to to its left and went at an angle to the left into its left ditch or drainway. There was one place about where the truck evidently struck the child that the right wheels of the truck did not show any sign on the highway and although I could not be positive that that was due to the fact that the wheels ran over the child I presumed that was the reason; the gravel and dirt signs were on the right side of the face but the hole and bruises on his head and neck were on the left side. At the time Mr. Skelton's truck hit the child he was traveling down grade and his truck was empty. He told me either that day or soon thereafter that he was traveling about 30 miles an hour, he thought, when he struck the child. He afterwards told me that he thought he was going about 20 miles an hour. This last statement was made to me after a Works Progress Administration official had insisted that they reduce the speed to not more than 20 miles an hour and this instruction by the Works Progress Administration official was given, as I understand it, after the fatal injury to the child. He told me that he was within 10 or 15 feet of the child before he saw the child but I know that the highway there is straight for a long distance and there was no obstruction to prevent him from seeing the child for at least 300 yards before he struck the child unless the dust cloud was so thick as to obstruct the vision of the driver, and the Works Progress Administration trucks were the ones that were creating the dust clouds. Witness my signature, this the 15th day day of April 1939. M. I. BEEMAN, Affiant. Sworn to and subscribed before me, a notary public in and for Lauderdale County, Miss., this the 15th day of April A. D. 1939. MARY BUXTON. MERIDIAN, Miss., March 15, 1939. Williams Funeral Benefit Association: (Funeral expenses for Thomas G. Brieger, policy No. F1335) RUSH'S INFIRMARY, Meridian, Miss. Mr. S. A. Brieger, Collinsville, Miss. Master Thos. Gerald Brieger Mar. 14, 1939, H, admission to hospital E-1, intravenous. Total_ Mr. S. A. Brieger, Collinsville, Miss. Master Thos. Gerald Brieger Mar. 15, 1939, H, professional service of Dr. Rush.. $2.00 4. 50 6.50 $3 To Whom It May Concern: COLLINSVILLE, MISS., May 22, 1939. This is to certify that my services for two trips to hospital for Mr. Simon A. Brieger when his son Jerry was run over by Works Progress Administration truck was $5 per trip. M. E. CLARK. MAY 23, 1939. DEAR MR. COLLINS: I have your letter of May 20 with the enclosure, a letter of May 18 addressed to you and signed by Hon. Ambrose J. Kennedy, chairman of Claims Committee wherein he advised you that his committee was in receipt of a favorable report from the Works Progress Administration on the bill that you introduced in my behalf in connection with the death of my child. In his letter he refers to affidavits in the hands of the committee in support of the claim. I presume they are the affidavits that I mailed to you for that purpose but that he wanted some bills or statements to substantiate the amount called for and I presume that he meant by that doctor's bill, hospital bill, transportation bill, and funeral bill. Of course, that is not a drop in the bucket to our loss and we feel that the $10,000 referred to in the bill that you introduced would certainly not be an overpayment for our loss but I know of no way to furnish a bill for that. I am, therefore, enclosing a statement from M. E. Clark, dated May 22, 1939, for services for two trips to hospital at $5 per trip, making a total of $10. A statement from Rush Brothers Clinic for professional services $3 and from Rush's Infirmary, hospital bill $6.50, and from Williams Funeral Home, Inc., funeral and burial expenses, $150.96. If any further information on the subject is needed, please let me know what is needed. I think this information complies with request made upon you in that letter of May 18, which you enclosed with your letter to me of May 20. Again assuring you of my deep appreciation for your cooperation in this matter, and trusting that our great Government will through its Congress do justice in this case by passing this bill that you have introduced, I remain, Your friend, SIMON A. BRIEGER, MEMORANDUM OF DISAPPROVAL I have withheld my approval from H. R. 5923, a bill "For the relief of Simon A. Brieger as legal representative of the estate of Thomas Gerald Brieger, a deceased minor." The bill provides for the payment of $5,000 in full settlement of a claim against the United States on account of the death of a 4-year-old child. While I do not think that the record in the case establishes any high degree of negligence on the part of the employee who was driving the truck, my main objection to the bill is what I consider the excessive amount of the proposed settlement. I have before me H. R. 5259, "For the relief of Mrs. Layer Taylor" in settlement of her claim against the United States for the death of an 18-year-old son. The amount involved in that claim is $1,360. The Congress estimated the probable loss of income for a period of 3 years, and made an allowances for medical and funeral expenses and for mental suffering and loss of companionship. It seems to me that the Congress adjudicated this claim on an equitable basis. In another bill now before me, H. R. 5698, "For the relief of H. H. Rhyne, Junior" the sum of $3,000 is provided in settlement for the death of his 9-year-old daughter. In these circumstances, I consider the proposed settlement of $5,000 for the death of the 4-year-old son of Mr. Brieger, as excessive, and, therefore, feel constrained to withhold approval of this bill. 76TH CONGRESS 3d Session SENATE { REPORT No. 1816 VIOLET KNOWLEN, A MINOR JUNE 12 (legislative day, MAY 28), 1940.—Ordered to be printed Mr. HUGHES, from the Committee on Claims, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 3976] The Committee on Claims, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 3976) for the relief of Violet Knowlen, a minor, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with the recommendation that the bill do pass with the following amendment: On page 1, line 7, strike out the figures "$2,500" and insert in lieu thereof "$1,500". The facts are fully set forth in House Report No. 1861, Seventy-sixth Congress, third session, which is appended hereto and made a part of this report. [H. Rept. No. 1861, 76th Cong., 3d sess.] The Committee on Claims, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 3976) for the relief of Cliff Knowlen, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with amendments and recommend that the bill as amended do pass. The amendments are as follows: Line 3, strike out the word "is" and insert in lieu thereof "be, and he is hereby,". Line 5, strike out the name "Cliff Knowlen" and insert in lieu thereof "the legal guardian of Violet Knowlen, a minor, of". Line 6, strike out the sign and figures "$5,000" and insert in lieu thereof "$2,500" Lines 7 and 8, strike out the language "for losses sustained by the said Cliff Knowlen". Line 9, after the word "by" insert "the said”, and strike out the words "his minor daughter,". At the end of the bill add: ": Provided, That no part of the amount appropriated in this Act in excess of 10 per centum thereof shall be paid or delivered to or received by any agent or attorney on account of services rendered in connection with this claim, and the same shall be unlawful, any contract to the contrary notwithstanding. Any person violating the provisions of this Act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be fined in any sum not exceeding $1,000." Amend the title of the bill to read: "A bill for the relief of Violet Knowlen, a minor". The purpose of the proposed legislation is to pay the sum of $2,500 to the legal guardian of Violet Knowlen, a minor, of Brainerd, Minn., in full settlement of all claims against the United States on account of personal injuries received by the said Violet Knowlen, when she was struck by a Civilian Conservation Corps truck operating under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service, on September 30, 1938. STATEMENT OF FACTS On the morning of September 30, 1938, one Ralph Jarrett, an enrollee truck driver of the Civilian Conservation Corps, was driving a Ford V-8 truck, carrying 17 Civilian Conservation Corps enrollees to their work on a project under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service. He was traveling on Highway No. 18, on the north side of the highway, and at the time of the accident was approaching the school zone for the Borden Lake School, which is about 11⁄21⁄2 miles from Garrison, Minn. The school is on the north side of the road. A certain vehicle carrying several school children was heading east on the south side of the same highway. The driver of the private car stopped directly opposite the school and let the children out of the car. One of them, Violet Knowlen, who was then 6 years of age, ran from behind the parked car across the road toward the schoolhouse. The Government driver made a statement to the effect that he saw the private car as it drew up opposite the school, and that he saw several children alight from the car. He further states that he slowed down the speed of his truck. However, in spite of the driver's knowledge of the child's presence, the accident still happened, and the girl was severely struck by the left rear of the truck. would appear to your committee, therefore, that the truck was not being operated with the degree of caution that should be observed in a school zone, or in all likelihood the accident could have been avoided. It The Department of the Interior in its report to your committee states in part as follows: "The records on file in this Department indicate that Violet Knowlen ran from behind a parked automobile directly into the path of an oncoming Government truck, which action on her part was at least a contributing cause of her injuries. The accident occurred, however, in a posted school zone opposite a schoolhouse, and the Government driver of the truck was aware of this fact, which indicates that he did not exercise the utmost of caution under the circumstances." It might be pointed out here that a child of such tender years cannot be held guilty of contributory negligence. It should be further pointed out in behalf of the claimant that it is stated she was walking across the highway when the Civilian Conservation Corps truck came along at a speed of more than 30 miles per hour. This contention has not been definitely proven, but in any event, as before stated, a child 6 years of age is not capable of contributory negligence, and even if the accident did occur exactly as described in the Government Department's report, the Government still is liable in view of the negligence of the Government driver. After the accident, Violet Knowlen was taken to Dr. G. L. Kennedy, the Civilian Conservation Corps camp doctor, who rendered her first-aid treatment. She was then taken to St. Joseph's Hospital, Brainerd, Minn., where the diagnosis of her case was: "Fracture of the humerus, right; fracture of the mandible, right; contusions; abrasions; lacerations, multiple." She remained at this hospital from September 30 till November 20, and while there received treatment from several doctors. While there the child's mandible was examined and pulled into position, and the jaw tied up; however, this setting slipped and the jawbone had to be broken and reset four times while she was still at this hospital. Upon the recommendation of Dr. G. I. Badeaux, one of the attending physicians, Violet was removed to the University of Minnesota, where she received |