the hospital from August 12 until September 27, 1940, a period of 46 days.

The Secretary of the Army in his report dated February 24, 1948, states:

The evidence in this case establishes that this accident and the resulting injury of Louis Brown were not caused by any fault or negligence on his part but resulted solely from the negligence of the driver of the Army truck involved in the accident in operating said truck around a curve at such a speed that he was not able to maintain control of said vehicle. Under the circumstances Mr. Brown is entitled to be compensated in a reasonable amount for the damages sustained by him as a result of this accident. The amount of the proposed award stated in H. R. 4718 is fair and reasonable and the Department of the Army, accordingly, has no objection to the enactment of the bill.

Therefore, your committee concur in the recommendation of the Secretary of the Army and recommend favorable consideration to the bill.

Hon. EARL C. MICHENER,

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY, Washington, D. C., February 24, 1948.

Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary,
House of Representatives.

DEAR MR. MICHENER: The Department of the Army would have no objection to the enactment of H. R. 4718, Eightieth Congress, a bill for the relief of Louis Brown.

This bill would authorize and direct the Secretary of the Treasury to pay, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of $1,000, to Louis Brown, of Steelton, Pa., in full settlement of all claims against the United States for personal injuries, medical and hospital expenses, and loss of earnings sustained as a result of an accident involving a United States Army vehicle at Nome, Tex., on August 12, 1940.

As

On August 12, 1940, at about 7:15 a. m., Louis Brown and Alford Aultman (also known as Fred Autman) were sitting on the railroad tracks about 16 feet west of the Sour Lake Road in Nome, Tex. The railroad tracks in question run parallel to Sour Lake Road. At the same time an Army truck, operated by an enlisted man on official business, was traveling on said road through Nome. the Army truck neared the point in the road adjacent to where Louis Brown and Alford Aultman were sitting the Army driver rounded a curve at such a rapid rate of speed that he lost control of his truck and it ran off the left side of the road and headed toward Brown and Aultman. Although Brown and Aultman tried to get out of the path of the truck, they were unable to do so. The truck struck both of them, severely injuring them. Both of the injured men were taken to the Hotel Dieu Hospital in Beaumont, Tex., where Alford Aultman was found to be dead upon arrival. Louis Brown states that he lost consciousness after he was injured and did not regain his senses until after his admission to the hospital. He remained under treatment at the hospital from August 12 until September 27, 1940, a period of 46 days.

Dr. P. N. Fortney and Dr. L. H. Ledbetter, both of the staff of the Hotel Dieu Hospital, Beaumont, Tex., have submitted the following statement concerning the injury sustained by Louis Brown as a result of this accident:

"Incomplete fracture, superior ramus right pubis without displacement. No fractures seen in skull or spine."

The evidence shows that Mr. Brown incurred hospital expenses at the Hotel Dieu Hospital as a result of his injury in this accident in the aggregate amount of $155.50. Mr. Brown states that he was 25 years of age at the time of his injury. In a statement dated July 26, 1947, he said:

(* * * I lost at least 3 months in the rice fields where I could earn $4 to $4.50 per day, 7 days a week, and I have had trouble with my back ever since the time of the accident."

The evidence in this case establishes that this accident and the resulting injury of Louis Brown were not caused by any fault or negligence on his part but resulted solely from the negligence of the driver of the Army truck involved in the accident in operating said truck around a curve at such a speed that he was not able to maintain control of said vehicle. Under the circumstances, Mr. Brown is entitled to be compensated in a reasonable amount for the damages sustained by him as a result of this accident. The amount of the proposed award stated

in H. R. 4718 is fair and reasonable and the Department of the Army, accordingly, has no objection to the enactment of the bill.

The claimant has no remedy under the Federal Tort Claims Act of August 2, 1946 (60 Stat. 842; 28 U. S. C. 921), for the reason that the accident out of which this claim arose occurred prior to January 1, 1945.

The Bureau of the Budget has advised that there is no objection to the submission of this report.

Sincerely yours,

KENNETH C. ROYALL,
Secretary of the Army.

STATEMENT OF LOUIS BROWN

I, Louis Brown, 767 South Third Street, Steelton, Pa., now aged 31, on August 12, 1940, was at Nome, Tex., where I had gone from my home in Mississippi for the rice harvest. On the morning of that day I was seated with another man on the railroad tracks of the Southern Pacific Railroad at Nome, where it runs parallel to Route 90 from Beaumont, Tex., to New Orleans, La. Convoys of the Seventh Cavalry were driving along Route 90 from Fourt Bliss, Tex., to the Louisiana maneuvers. I judge the highway and railroad tracks are 30 or 40 feet apart, perhaps more. (See sketch.) One of the Army trucks ran off of the road without any warning and up and across the railroad tracks striking my companion. I jumped but was also hit and was unconscious until some time in the afternoon. The attached sketch shows roughly what occurred but I was not expecting anything and as it happened quickly and I was knocked unconscious I do not know details.

i was in the Hotel Dieu Hospital at Beaumont, Tex., for about a month and a ha.f. At the hospital I was told that the other man who was hit had died, and according to the hospital records the driver of the Army truck was Pvt. Roscoe C. Hurst. I had no money to pay the hospital and when I got out I was not able to work in the rice fields, so I went to New Orleans, where I had to enter the Charity Hospital and stay for about 3 to 5 days. I went to Fort Sam Houston at San Antonio, Tex., to see if the Army would do anything about my injuries but got no resuits. I then went back to Nome but was unable to work. Altogether from the time I was hit it was about 3 months before I was able to work and then I went to work in the sugarcane fields in Louisiana about November 15, 1940.

In 1941 I had a notary public in Louisiana write to the Adjutant General, making a claim for me. Some time later I was taken to Camp Claiborne, La., where they had me in the hospital 3 or 4 days and examined me and then took me back. Nothing ever came of the claim made by the notary public.

On July 8, 1942, I was drafted into the Army. I spent some time in the hospital while in the Army because of the injuries to my back, received in the accident. I was assigned to a baking company and I think I was marked "limited service." I served with the baking company in Africa and Italy and was discharged from the Army October 31, 1945. My Army serial number was 33235469.

My back has bothered me off and on ever since I was in the hospital in Beaumont, where Dr. P. M. Fortney told me that it might bother me as I got older. When they examined me at Camp Claiborne they took X-rays but said that they did not find anything from the X-ray examination.

I believe that the United States Government should pay the Hotel Dieu Hospital at Beaumont, Tex., my hospital bill of $155.50. I lost at least 3 months in the rice fields where I could earn $4 to $4.50 per day, 7 days a week, and I have had trouble with my back ever since the time of the accident. I wish to file my claim against the War Department for settlement covering the injuries which I received in the total amount of $1,000 to include the hospital bill and my loss of wages. It was through no fault of mine that I was injured. The driver of the truck must have been careless and reckless to run so far off the road and across the railroad tracks.

80TH CONGRESS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 2d Session

W. W. DELOACH

{

REPORT No. 1646

APRIL 1, 1948.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House and ordered to be printed

Mr. CRAVENS, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the

following

REPORT

[To accompany H. R. 5330]

The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 5330) for the relief of W. W. DeLoach, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass.

The purpose of the proposed legislation is to pay the sum of $114 to W. W. DeLoach, of Kosciusko, Miss., in full settlement of all claims against the United States for services rendered in preparing and furnishing to the Army, on or about September 1, 1947, at the request of the Army provost marshal of Memphis, Tenn., a certified copy of the transcript of testimony in the case of the State of Mississippi v. George Lee Mullins, case No. 2775, in the circuit court of Grenada County, Miss., the said George Lee Mullins then being an enlisted man in the Army, who was tried and convicted in said case upon an indictment charging him with the murder of Clinton Carpenter.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

Pvt. George Lee Mullins, an enlisted man in the United States Army, was indicted for the murder of one Clinton Carpenter by the grand jury of Grenada County, Miss. On or about July 10, 1947, the military authorities delivered Private Mullins to the sheriff of Grenada County to be held by the latter for trial before the circuit court of said county. The defendant was tried at the July term of said court, the case being entitled "State of Mississippi v. George Lee Mullins," case No. 2775 in the circuit court of Grenada County. The trial resulted in the conviction of the defendant, and he was sentenced to the State penitentiary for his natural life. The defendant did not appeal from the judgment of conviction.

It appears that on or about July 20, 1947, during the trial of the case, 1st Lt. Vincent J. Ford, provost marshal of Memphis, Tenn., while at Grenada, Miss., requested Mr. W. W. DeLoach, the reporter for the Circuit Court of the Fifth Judicial Circuit of Mississippi, to furnish him with a transcript of the proceedings in the case for the use of the Army. After the conclusion of the trial and upon the expiration of the time within which an appeal might be noted (10 days) the reporter transcribed the testimony in the case, and on September 1, 1947, he sent a certified copy thereof to Lieutenant Ford, together with a bill for $114, the regular price for furnishing such testimony (228 pages at 50 cents per page). On September 6, 1947, Lieutenant Ford returned the transcript of testimony to Mr. DeLoach with the advice that the Army had no funds out of which the bill could be paid. It appears that the military authorities only desired certified copies of the indictment and judgment in the case. They did not need a transcript of the testimony in the case in order to discharge Private Mullins from the Army after his failure to appeal from the judgment of conviction and sentence. The commanding officer, Tennessee military district, in a communication, dated October 10, 1947, stated:

This is a case of an inexperienced officer being confused by his lack of knowledge of the meaning of legal terms. Lieutenant Ford confused a request for a "Copy of the judgment" with a "Transcript of the proceedings." There is no doubt that a transcript of the proceedings was made, that the price asked is normal, that the transcript was furnished in good faith, that Lieutenant Ford ordered the transcript in good faith. It is recommended that Mr. W. W. DeLoach's claim for $114 be paid.

The Secretary of the Army in his report dated March 8, 1948, states that

Since it appears that Mr. DeLoach acted in good faith in preparing and furnishing to Lieutenant Ford the transcript of testimony in this case and in the belief that he would be paid by the Government for his work, it is the view of this Department that the claimant should be compensated by the United States in the amount of his bill, which appears to be fair and reasonable.

Therefore, your committee recommends favorable consideration to the bill.

Hon. EARL C. MICHENER,

Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary,

House of Representatives.

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY, Washington, D. C., March 8, 1948.

DEAR MR. MICHENER: The Department of the Army has no objection to the enactment of H. R. 5330, Eightieth Congress, a bill for the relief of W. W. DeLoach. This bill provides as follows:

"That the Secretary of the Treasury be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to pay, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to W. W. DeLoach, of Kosciusko, Miss., the sum of $114, in full settlement of all claims against the United States on account of services rendered in preparing and furnishing to the United States Army on or about September 1, 1947, at the request of the Army provost marshal of Memphis, Tenn., a certified copy of the transcript of testimony in the case of the State of Mississippi v. George Lee Mullins, Case No. 2775, in the Circuit Court of Grenada County, Miss., the said George Lee Mullins then being an enlisted man in the United States Army who was tried and convicted in said case upon an indictment charging him with the murder of one Clinton Carpenter."