MRS. LAYER TAYLOR

JULY 14, 1939.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House and ordered to be printed

Mr. EBERHARTER, from the Committee on Claims, submitted the

following

REPORT

[To accompany H. R. 5259]

The Committee on Claims, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 5259) for the relief of Mrs. Layer Taylor having considered the same, report favorably thereon with amendments and recommend that the bill as amended do pass.

The amendments are as follows:

Line 6, strike out the sign and figures "$1,500" and insert in lieu thereof "$1,360".

At the end of the bill add the following:

: 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.

The purpose of the proposed legislation is to pay to Mrs. Layer Taylor, of Daingerfield, Tex., the sum of $1,500 in full settlement of all claims against the United States on account of the death of her son, Hardy Taylor, who died on April 2, 1938, as the result of personal injuries received when struck by a truck in the service of the Civilian Conservation Corps on State Highway No. 49, near Daingerfield, Tex., on April 1, 1938.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

On April 1, 1938, at about 9 p. m., Hardy Taylor, aged 18, together with four companions, was walking south along Highway No. 49 about one-half mile east of Daingerfield Tex. All five were Negroes and were returning home from a school program which had been given on that particular evening at a neighboring colored school.

The paved portion of the highway at the point of the accident is 18 feet wide with a gravel shoulder 4 feet wide on each side. The young people were walking on the right shoulder of the road as close as possible to a ditch running along the edge of said shoulder.

A Government truck on official business and operated in connection with the Civilian Conservation Corps activities of the War Department was also proceeding south along Highway No. 49 heading toward Hughes Spring. When the driver of the Government truck neared the group walking along the highway, he swerved to his right and the part of the truck body just behind the cab hit Hardy Taylor on the back of the head and his back, knocking him into the ditch and causing injuries which resulted in his death.

According to the Government driver, he saw the lights of an approaching car about 60 feet before reaching a narrow bridge on the above-mentioned highway. He dimmed his lights and drove to his right until the right front wheel of the Government vehicle was about 18 inches off the concrete on the southwest side of the road. He states that neither before nor after this movement on his part did he see or hear any pedestrians nor at the time of the impact did he feel any jolt or jar to indicate that the Government truck had struck anything.

It is the belief of young Taylor's companions and another eyewitness, however, that the driver of the truck did see them and his swerving toward them was intended to frighten them. This is particularly brought out in the statement of Vivian Taylor, sister of the deceased boy, who was walking about 75 yards behind Hardy Taylor, with a friend. She states that when she and her friend reached the point of the road where they should cross to go to her home they noticed this truck approaching them and stopped and waited for same to pass. When the truck was almost abreast of them it swerved toward them and made them jump back out of its way and into the ditch. She further states that she watched the truck and saw it operated in a similar way when it reached Hardy Taylor and his group. Your committee feels that these eyewitnesses are probably correct with regard to their opinion as to the cause of this accident, particularly in view of a further statement by the superintendent of the camp where Cecil Terrell, the Government driver, was stationed, testifying as to the young man's irresponsibility. This statement will be hereafter appended.

As a result of the injuries young Taylor received, due to being struck by this truck, he died the next morning, leaving a widowed mother, aged 60, without any means of support. Mrs. Taylor bad had a large family, all of whom either had left home or for some reason were not able to assist her financially, the deceased boy being her sole support.

The amount of money called for in this bill is computed as follows: Estimated probable loss of income due to death of her son, 3 years at

The War Department has no objection to the enactment of appropriate legislation to compensate Mrs. Taylor for the loss she has sustained as a result of the negligence of the Government driver, stating in part as follows:

Upon review in the War Department of the proceedings of a board of officers which investigated this claim, it was determined that the proximate cause of the accident was the negligence of the driver of the Government vehicle in that he was inattentive to this driving duties and failed to observe the pedestrians walking on the shoulder of the road.

Your committee concurs in the opinion of the War Department and recommends the passage of the bill, as amended.

Appended hereto is the report of the War Department, together with other pertinent evidence.

Hon. AMBROSE J. KENNEDY,

Chairman, Committee on Claims,

House of Representatives, Washington, D. C.

WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington, May 9, 1939.

DEAR MR. KENNEDY: Careful consideration has been given to the bill H. R. 5259, Seventy-sixth Congress, for the relief of Mrs. Layer Taylor, which you transmitted to the War Department under date of April 14, 1939, with request for information and the views of the Department relative thereto.

The purpose of the proposed legislation is to pay to Mrs. Layer Taylor, of Daingerfield, Tex., the sum of $1,500 in full settlement of all claims against the United States on account of the death of her son, Hardy Taylor, who died on April 2, 1938, as the result of personal injuries received when struck by a truck in the service of the Civilian Conservation Corps on State Highway No. 49, near Daingerfield, Tex., on April 1, 1938.

The records of the War Department show that after dark on April 1, 1938, a Government truck on official business and operated in connection with the Civilian Conservation Corps activities of the War Department was proceeding in a southeasterly direction on State Highway No. 49, about one-half mile east of Daingerfield, Tex., at a speed of from 25 to 30 miles per hour; that Mr. Hardy Taylor, aged 18 years, with four companions, was walking in the same direction on the southwest side of the highway, entirely off the pavement; that the paved portion of the highway at the point of the accident is 18 feet wide with a graveled shoulder 4 feet wide on each side thereof; that, according to the testimony of the Government driver, he saw the lights of an approaching car about 60 feet before reaching a narrow bridge on the above-mentioned highway; that he dimmed his lights and drove to his right until the right front wheel of the Government vehicle was about 18 inches off the concrete on the southwest side of the road; that neither before nor after this movement on his part did he see or hear any pedestrians, nor at the time of the impact did he feel any jolt or jar to indicate that the Government vehicle had struck anything; that, in passing, the Government vehicle struck the back of Mr. Taylor's head, knocking him over a bank, thereby causing personal injuries that resulted in his death on April 2.

Mrs. Layer Taylor, mother of Hardy Taylor, has presented a claim to the War Department in the amount of $1,360, itemized as follows:

Estimated probable loss of income due to death of her son, 3 years at

$250 per year.

Medical expenses_

Funeral expenses-

Mental suffering and loss of companionship.---

Total_____

$750.00

10. 00 75.50 524. 50

1, 360. 00

The amount of this claim was later reduced to $685.50 in full and complete settlement for the loss sustained by her, which sum she has agreed to accept.

Upon review in the War Department of the proceedings of a board of officers which investigated this claim, it was determined that the proximate cause of the accident was the negligence of the driver of the Government vehicle in that he was inattentive to his driving duties and failed to observe the pedestrians walking on the shoulder of the road. However, regardless of the person or persons responsible for the accident there is no authority of law or appropriation available to the War

Department for the settlement of claims for personal injuries or funeral expenses arising out of the activities of the Civilian Conservation Corps. That part of the claim covering medical and hospital expenses in the sum of $10 was approved for payment under the provisions of the act of June 28, 1937 (50 Stat. 319), which sum she has not agreed to accept in full and final settlement of her claim.

In view of the above, the War Department will interpose no objection to the enactment of legislation to compensate Mrs. Taylor for the loss she has sustained as the result of the negligence of the Government dirver, in such amount as the Congress in its discretion may deem proper to allow.

Sincerely yours,

HARRY H. WOODRING, Secretary of War.

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,

Mr. GEORGE E. FRENCH, Jr.,

Daingerfield, Tex.

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, Daingerfield, Tex., April 18, 1939.

DEAR MR. FRENCH: This is in response to your request regarding the character of Cecil Terrell while he was under my supervision.

Cecil was a high-tempered, erratic boy. He was impetuous, cantankerous, and disobedient. For his often repeated infraction of regulations he had to be punished. While on week-end leave he got into numerous scrapes and fights. For a short time he drove a truck for the Park Service, but due to his erratic, careless, "take a chance" attitude which was reflected in his manner of driving, it was found necessary to take him off his truck and give him less responsible and less hazardous work.

In all, my opinion is that he was a boy in whom no confidence should be placed.

Very truly yours,

Re Hardy Taylor (Clifford Lewis).

THE STATE OF TEXAS,

County of Morris:

Before me, the undersigned authority, a notary public, Morris County, Tex., on this day personally appeared Clifford Lewis, known to me to be a credible person, who, after being by me duly sworn, upon his oath deposes and says:

That he is a resident citizen of Morris County, Tex., and gets his mail at Daingerfield, Tex., and that he was well acquainted with Hardy Taylor, who was hit by a Civilian Conservation Corps truck on the night of April 1, 1938, at about 9 o'clock and died on April 2, 1938, at about 8 a. m., at the home of his mother and the place where he resided in Morris County, Tex., near the town of Daingerfield, Tex. Said hit of Hardy Taylor was on Highway No. 49 running from Daingerfield to Hughes Springs, Tex., and happened on Friday night. I had been to a school program at the colored school and was on my way home, along with Hardy Taylor, Silvian James, Annie Maude Valdies, and Eunice Reed, we were all walking home on this particular night and had gotten just past the home of Layer Taylor, the mother of Hardy, at the time of the lick that killed Hardy. We were walking upon the right-hand side of the road going south toward Hughes Springs, the same way the truck was going at the time of the hitting of Hardy Taylor.

We were walking upon the right-hand side of the road for the reason that this was the widest side of the road, and was better walking. The first I noticed the truck was when it come over a little hill back of us, and was attracted to it by the roar of the motor and its fast speed. The place where we were at the time Hardy was hit was the widest part of the entire road, and Hardy never looked around when the truck was heard but continued to walk out at the edge of road with Silvin James. Just as the truck got near us it turned out all at once and some one hollered, but it was too late, as the truck hit Hardy and brushed my shoulder and knocked Hardy on top of Silvin James with such force as to break her ribs. The back of the truck hit Hardy in the back of head and in his back, knocking him clear into the ditch; the part of the truck body just behind the cab hit Hardy Taylor. The truck did not stop, but I noticed it to be one of the local Civilian Conservation Corps trucks, of the type used to haul the boys to and from camp,

with a wide body with canvas covering for its top. The trouble happened near the Layer Taylor house and home. The truck nor none of its occupants ever came back to assist us in any manner. The truck apparently turned out toward us for the purpose of frightening us, but its speed caused it to get further out than necessary, and not making allowance for the wide body or bed upon the truck, it happened so fast no one had time to protect himself.

Hardy Taylor never said anything after being hit, just grunted several times. The truck was so far off of the right-of-way that it had to turn sharply in order to get back upon the road so as to pass a bridge not far from where the boy was hit. The boy was off of the road farther than the banisters of the bridge. In fact, this part of the road where the lick came was the widest place on the road this side of the bridge, and was a place used by cars to turn around upon the highway. Other cars had been passing us and other trucks had passed us while we were walking along, and had had plenty of room to pass. It is my opinion had the truck been driven like other cars and trucks no one could have gotten hit; the turning out toward us with his truck was the cause of the lick; he had to get clear out of the regular driving range of cars and into the grass and gravel past the pavement in order to hit Hardy Taylor.

I am well acquainted with Layer Taylor and know her to be a widow, and that she is an old lady whose children have all grown up and left her. Hardy Taylor was a good boy and never got into any trouble and stayed at home with his mother and worked for her; her other children had families of their own or would run about over the country and Hardy was the only one who tried to help his mother. I do not know how much he made but made about all his mother got, because the other boys seemed to take what they made, but Hardy gave his to his mother. Witness my hand this the 15th day of April A. D. 1939.

CLIFFORD LEWIS, Affiant.

Sworn to and subscribed before me this 15th day of April, A. D. 1939. [SEAL]

My commission expires June 1, 1939.

Re: Hardy Taylor (Vivian Taylor).
THE STATE OF TEXAS,

County of Morris, ss:

GEORGE E. FRENCH, Notary Public, Morris County, Tex.

Before me, the undersigned authority, a notary public in and for said county and State, on this day personally appeared Vivian Taylor, who is known to me to be a credible person, who after being by me duly sworn, upon her oath deposes and

says:

That she is the daughter of Layer Taylor and the sister of Hardy Taylor, now deceased, who was hit and later died, as result of being hit by a Civilian Conservation Corps truck on the night of April 1, 1938, at about 9 o'clock and died the next morning at about 8 o'clock on April 2, 1939, at the home of his mother, Layer Taylor, in Morris County, Tex.

Affient says that she went to a school program at the colored school on the night of the accident and the killing of Hardy Taylor. That she was not in the bunch in which Hardy was walking, but was behind him and walking with one David Walker. That they were all walking along Highway No. 49 east of the town of Daingerfield, Tex., and that she was about 75 years behind Hardy Taylor and the bunch with him, on the top of hill, and the place where she and Dave Walker would have to turn to go into the yard of Layer Taylor's home. That she and Dave stopped here and were waiting for the truck to pass before turning in, and that just as the truck got to them it turned at them and made them jump back out of its way, and into the ditch, and that they were watching the truck after this and saw it do the same way at the bunch with Hardy Taylor about 75 yards on down the highway, and it turned way out and hit Hardy and we heard the girl Annie Maude Valdes cry out, and saw the truck when it hit them. From the way the lights were shining we could see very plain and we could see that Hardy Taylor and all of them were out on the edge of the ditch and were farther out than we had been because the road was wider at this point. The truck was hardly able to get back into the road, so as to cross the bridge just below where Hardy was hit. I could see the truck clearly and know it to be one of the Civilian Conservation Corps or C. C. C. trucks, the type used to carry the boys to and from camp, with a canvas top and wide body, with seats to carry the