populated portion of said city, and that said Ninth Street South extends in a general easterly and westerly direction; and that said streets cross and intersect each other at about a right angle.

4. That during all of the time material herein said James Gresham was the agent and representative of the United States of America, having then and during said period of time worked as a special-delivery clerk in the United States Post Office Department, Special Delivery Division; and at the time and place of said accident said Gresham was driving said automobile as the agent and representative of said United States Postal Department and was then and there in the course of his said duty delivering special-delivery mail on behalf of the United States Post Office Department.

5. That on or about the 11th day of March 1944, and at or about the hour of 9:15 o'clock p. m. of said day, and while your affiant was crossing said Fourth Avenue South at said intersection of Ninth Street and Fourth Avenue South going from west to east upon the northerly pedestrian cross walk, as a pedestrian, and that at said time and place, said James Gresham, while driving said Ford automobile in a westerly direction on said Ninth Street South, at an excessive rate of speed and without sound or warning, suddenly made a right-hand turn onto said Fourth Avenue South and proceeded northerly on said Fourth Avenue South and after affiant had reached a point on said cross walk approximately 8 or 9 feet from the easterly curb of said Fourth Avenue South, said Ford automobile of said Gresham was driven upon and against affiant thereby throwing affiant to the pavement and caused your affiant to sustain the injuries hereinafter set forth and described. That said Gresham failed and neglected to keep a proper look-out in the direction said automobile was moving, for pedestrians on said intersection, particularly affiant; that said Gresham failed and neglected to yield the right-of-way to affiant, while he was a pedestrian on the cross walk in said intersection, prior to the time that said Gresham entered said intersection.

6. That by reason of said careless, reckless, unlawful, and wanton acts and/or omissions on the part of said Gresham as aforesaid, affiant sustained a severe shock to his nervous system; a number of bruises and contusions upon various parts of his body; a fracture of the upper right tibia involving the intercondylar ridge with the displacement of the fragments and a suggestion of a fracture of the lateral condyle; also a marked joint effusion and hemorrhage into the right knee joint; affiant sustained tearing of the lateral ligaments; and that as a result of said injuries, affiant sustained an irregular enlargement of the right knee as compared with the left, which is particularly noticeable in the vicinity of the medial condyle of the tibia; also as a result of said injuries affiant sustained an indefinite increased mobility of the lateral ligaments in the right knee as compared with the left and with this there is on occasions a palpable click or snap within the joint; also as a result of said injuries affiant's right knee can be flexed to an angle to 55° and extended to 180°, whereas the left knee can be flexed to 30° and extended to 180°; also as a result of said injuries irregularity of said fractures can be visualized; that according to the findings of the attending doctor, Dr. Harvey Nelson, of 1453 Medical Arts Building, Minneapolis 2, Minn., your affiant has sustained a disability on account of said injuries of approximately 25 percent of function of the right leg.

7. That affiant is a carpenter by trade, is 63 years of age, and that just prior to said accident was earning on the average of at least $95 a week with the Fegies Construction Co. of Minneapolis for a full week's work; and was earning on the average at other times doing other construction work of at least $65 per week. That from the date of said accident to on or about the first of 1945 your affiant was unable to do any work; that thereafter your affiant was unable to perform work required in his trade and which he performed previous to said accident, such as work necessitating climbing and work during extreme cold weather, and was unable to continue to perform the duties of said trade constantly without taking time off on account of his said injuries. That by reason of said injuries your affiant sustained a loss in earnings in at least the sum of $3,000; and will be obliged to sustain a further loss in earnings from time to time for the reasons herein before stated. That said loss does not include general damages for pain, suffering, and disfigurement.

8. That as a result of said injuries affiant was confined in the Northwestern Hospital of Minneapolis, Minn., for treatment of said injuries for a period of 5 days after said accident and that thereafter he was taken to his home on account of having insufficient funds with which to pay the hospital bill and to continue to receive the hospital care and attention which your affiant really required. That said hospital bill amounted to the sum of $30. That as a result of said

injuries affiant engaged one Dr. Harvey Nelson to examine and treat your affiant and that said doctor's bill for his said services is the sum of $76.

FOREST L. WEATHERLEY. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 23d day of January 1948. [SEAL]

SAMUEL DOLF, Notary Public, Hennepin County, Minn.

Harvey Nelson, being first duly sworn, on oath deposes and says:

1. That he is a duly licensed and practicing physician and surgeon within the State of Minnesota, with offices at 1453 Medical Arts Building, Minneapolis, Minn., and that he has practiced his said profession continuously since the year 1925.

2. That at the request of Buckley & Tupper, attorneys at law, he examined one Forest Weatherley, a patient who has been attended in his office for injuries sustained in an automobile accident on March 11, 1944.

3. Mr. Weatherley was seen by affiant at Northwestern Hospital after being transferred there from the Minneapolis General Hospital where he received first aid. He was injured on Mardh 11, 1944, when he was struck by an automobile as he was crossing the intersection of Fourth Avenue South and Ninth Street. The principal injury that occurred was a fracture of the upper tibia, involving the intercondylar ridge with some displacement of the fragments and a suggestion of a fracture, also, of the lateral condyle. Together with these X-ray findings, the patient clinically presented evidence of a marked joint effusion and hemorrhage into the knee joint with a marked relaxation of the lateral ligaments due to a tearing of the ligaments.

4. When Mr. Weatherley was admitted to the hospital, hot packs and bed rest were instigated because of the marked swelling of the knee. On March 15, 1944, a plaster cast was applied, immobilizing the knee, and he was discharged from the hospital with crutches on March 16, 1944. This cast was later bivalved and thereafter for a time he got about by crutches and with the cast.

5. The injury that this patient suffered to his right knee is a severe one because of the fracture involving the knee joint and because of the tearing of the supporting ligaments, which caused a permanent instability of the knee joint.

6. Mr. Weatherley had been working following a severe injury to his right foot, which occurred on September 15, 1941. On February 11, 1944, we amputated the fourth toe on his right foot, because this was bothering him due to the stiffness and pressing on the shoe. This amputation would have caused a period of disability of approximately 4 to 6 weeks after which he again would have been able to return to work. However, the injury to his right knee prevented him from returning to work until the first of 1945.

7. This man has, for all practical purposes, obtained an end result in which there is some limitation of flexion as described, but in particular an instability of the knee joint involving the lateral ligaments. The findings as we have them would account for a disability of approximately 25 percent loss of function of the right leg.

8. Affiant further saith not, except that he makes this affidavit in support of the claim of Forest Weatherley before the Congress of the United States of America.

HARVEY NELSON, M. D.

JOYCE BRYNILDSEN, Notary Public, Hennepin County, Minn.

Subscribed and sworn to before me this 30th day of January 1948. [SEAL]

My commission expires February 27, 1952.

STATE OF MINNESOTA,

County of Hennepin:

James Gresham, being duly sworn, deposes and says:

I have been employed as a special-delivery messenger at the Minneapolis, Minn., post office since September 15, 1943. On March 11, 1944, I was returning to the main post office after completion of a delivery trip begun at 7:40 p, m., and arrived at the intersection of Fourth Avenue South and Ninth Street South at approximately 9:15 p. m. I was proceeding west on Ninth Street in my 1938 Ford sedan and made a right-hand turn onto Fourth Avenue South. I was traveling on the right side of the street and turned the corner at a speed of about 10 miles per hour. I had crossed the cross walk except possibly for the rear part of my car when suddenly I heard a shout and almost simultaneously the sound of bottles falling on concrete. I stopped immediately and learned that the right ride of my right fender had struck a pedestrian and knocked him down.

I got out of my car and found a man lying on the pavement near the right front wheel of my car. He was talking in an incoherent manner about his hard luck and about what his wife would say. Scattered about were four or five empty beer bottles and several empty milk bottles which the man had been carrying. I had not seen this man before my automobile struck him.

A Mr. Zuckman, who had observed the accident through the window of a residence hotel located on this corner, came out and we carried the man onto the hotel steps. There was something wrong with his right knee and it seemed to pain him considerably. I learned that the man's name was Leslie Weatherley. An ambulance was summoned and the injured man taken to General Hospital where he was given first aid.

Both Mr. Zuckman and I noticed the smell of alcohol on the injured man's breath. I believe he was intoxicated. He said he was crossing from the west to the east side of Fourth Avenue to return the empty bottles to a nearby store. Mr. Weatherley was not on the cross walk provided for pedestrians when my car struck him. I paced the distance from the cross walk to the point where he fell and found it was eleven paces. There was a car parked at the right-hand curb and when we carried Mr. Weatherley to the hotel we were able to carry him past the front of that car without deviating from a straight course. Police who arrived with the ambulance concluded the injured man was from 25 to 30 feet from the cross walk when he was struck. One of the police officers later admitted he had smelled alcohol on the injured man's breath.

I visited Mr. Weatherley at General Hospital and found he wanted his own doctor who had previously been treating him for a foot injury. We could not get a taxicab promptly so I took the injured man in my own automobile and transported him to the Northwestern Hospital where he was treated by his own doctor. On or about March 29, 1944, I appeared in traffic court in Minneapolis and was fined $25 for failure to yield the right of way to a pedestrian. The judge stated he did not doubt my statement that I did not see the man but said he had to find me guilty in view of the traffic regulations. Both Mr. Weatherley and I were represented by counsel in court.

JAMES GRESHAM.

Subscribed and sworn to before me at Minneapolis, Minn., this 6th day of June 1944.

P. G. FINNEY,
Post Office Inspector.

HL. Repts., 80-2, vol. 297

O

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

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

following

REPORT

[To accompany H. R. 4718]

The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 4718) for the relief of Louis Brown, 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 $1 000 to Louis Brown, of Steelton, Pa., in full settlement of all claims against the United States for personal injuries, and expenses incident thereto sustained as a result of an accident involving a United States Army vehicle at Nome, Tex., on August 12, 1940.

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. As 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