[8. Rept. No. 150, 76th Cong., 1st sess.] The records of the Department of Justice show that on September 25, 1935, Alva Slayton O'Dell, together with several others, was indicted on a charge of smuggling aliens. He pleaded not guilty and was released on bond in the sum of $3,000, on which claimants were sureties. The case was set for trial on November 7, 1935. O'Dell failed to appear on the date fixed and the case was continued until the next term of court. He again failed to appear on April 20, 1936, when the trial of the other defendants took place. O'Dell's bond was thereupon forfeited and the proceeds thereof covered into the Treasury. Several agencies of the Government conducted independent investigations for the purpose of apprehending O'Dell. The sureties cooperated with them. A special agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the Department of Justice took O'Dell into custody at Los Angeles on June 22, 1936, on another charge. O'Dell was subsequently identified as the fugitive from justice and was returned to Florida. On July 20, 1936, he was arraigned, pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to imprisonment for a term of 18 months in a penitentiary. The records further show that in the conduct of investigations for O'Dell's anprehension, including the cost of returning him from Los Angeles to Miami, a., that the Government incurred considerable expense as a result of the defendant's default, amounting to not less than $1,500. This amount has accordingly been stricken from the bill. As so amended the Department of Justice has no objection to its enactment. The following letter from the Acting Attorney General is appended hereto and made a part of this report. OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY General, Hon. M. M. LOGAN, Chairman, Committee on Claims, United States Senate, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR SENATOR: I have your letter of February 18 requesting my views concerning the merits of the bill (S. 1429) to provide for the payment of the sum of $3,000 to Earl J. Reed and Giles J. Gentry, jointly, of West Palm Beach, Fla., as a refund of money paid by them to the United States as sureties on a forfeited bail bond filed in a criminal proceeding against Alva Slayton O'Dell in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. He The files of this Department show that on September 25, 1935, Alva Slayton O'Dell, together with several others, was indicted in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida on a charge of smuggling aliens. pleaded not guilty and was released on bond in the sum of $3,000, on which Earl J. Reed and Giles J. Gentry were sureties. The case was set for trial on November 7, 1935. O'Dell failed to appear on the date fixed, and the case was continued until the next term of court. He again failed to appear on April 20, 1936, when the trial of the other defendants took place. O'Dell's bond was thereupon forfeited and the proceeds thereof in the sum of $3,000 were covered into the Treasury. Several agencies of the Government conducted independent investigations for the purpose of apprehending O'Dell. The sureties cooperated with them. A special agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the Department of Justice took O'Dell into custody at Los Angeles on June 22, 1936, on another charge. O'Dell was subsequently identified as the fugitive from justice and was returned to Florida as a result of removal proceedings. On July 20, 1936, O'Dell was arraigned, pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to imprisonment for a term of 18 months in a penitentiary. It appears from the foregoing that the Government incurred considerable expense as a result of the defendant's default, both in the conduct of investigations for his apprehension and the cost of returning him from Los Angeles to Miami, Fla. Such additional expenses would probably amount to not less than the sum of $1,500, half of the amount of the bond. If the bill is amended to provide for a refund in the sum of only $1,500, I shall interpose no objection to its enactment. Sincerely yours, ROBERT H. JACKSON, О CHARLES L. KEE JULY 14, 1939.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House and ordered to be printed Mr. PITTENGER, from the Committee on Claims, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany S. 821] The Committee on Claims, to whom was referred the bill (S. 821), for the relief of Charles L. Kee, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with an amendment and recommend that the bill as amended do pass. The amendment is as follows: Line 11, strike out the period after the word "demonstration", add the following: and : 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 provide for the payment of $9,000 to Charles L. Kee, of Portsmouth, Va., in full satisfaction of his claim against the United States for damages arising out of the loss by officers of the United States Navy on June 26, 1920, at Hampton Roads, Va., of an aircraft-planted mine invented by said Charles L. Kee, and constructed by him for demonstration. Your committee concurs in the recommendation of the Senate, and the report of the Senate Committee on Naval Affairs is appended hereto. There is also appended hereto certain pertinent affidavits and correspondence. [S. Rept. No. 261, 76th Cong., 1st sess.] Enactment of the bill will result in an additional cost to the Government of $9,000. The Navy Department interposes no objection to the enactment of the bill S. 821. The following letter from the Secretary of the Navy to the chairman of the committee gives the Navy Department's views on this measure and is hereby made a part of this report: The CHAIRMAN, COMMITTEE ON NAVAL AFFAIRS, NAVY DEPARTMENT, Washington, April 29, 1938. United States Senate, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The bill S. 3888, for the relief of Charles L. Kee, was referred to the Navy Department by your committee with a request for an opinion as to its merits. The purpose of this bill is to authorize and direct the Secretary of the Treasury to pay out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to Charles L. Kee, of Portsmouth, Va., the sum of $9,000 in full satisfaction of his claim against the United States for damages arising out of the loss by officers of the United States Navy on June 26, 1920, at Hampton Roads, Va., of an aircraftplanted mine invented by said Charles L. Kee, and constructed by him for demonstration. From a review of the available correspondence in this case the Navy Department is of the opinion that no legal obligation or responsibility whatever was incurred by any agency of the Navy Department in connection with the development and test of Mr. Kee's ideas and experimental device; and that executive agencies of the Navy Department at no time requested or urged him to carry on the development which he undertook at his own expense. The Bureau of Ordnance did, at Mr. Kee's own request, cooperate with him by arranging for a drop test of his privately owned model at a naval air station. The fact that in the course of such a test the model was lost is considered a normal issue of the hazards of experimental tests of this character and in large part due to the fact that the device itself was inherently subject to the occurrence of large errors in position after being dropped from aircraft. The Bureau of Ordnance had expressed its interest in Mr. Kee's ideas and had expressed a desire to have representatives of the Bureau of Ordnance present at a test. However, it appears that Mr. Kee arranged personally for this test of his device with cooperation of the Naval Air Station, Hampton Roads; the test was made without the knowledge of the Bureau of Ordnance, and the apparatus was lost at sea. There is nothing to show that the same result would not have happened if the apparatus had been the property of the United States Government. It appears that Mr. Kee did receive from various governmental sources expression of interest in his device, some favorable opinions as to its possible value, and more or less direct encouragement in proceeding with his private development. In general it may be said that this attitude and handling were consistent with that accorded many inventors and corporations engaged in experimental work on ideas and devices of possible use to the Navy. It is not evident that Mr. Kee produced from his ideas apparatus which would actually function in full size so as to be of importance in the national defense. However, it may be considered that a certain degree of moral obligation exists as a result of the implied approval of his projects. The Navy Department, in view of these circumstances, interposes no objection to the enactment of the bill S. 3888. Sincerely yours, WILLIAM D. LEAHY, Acting. AFFIDAVIT CITY OF WASHINGTON, District of Columbia, ss: Charles L. Kee being first duly sworn says: That he is the claimant in S. 821, Seventy-sixth Congress, first session. That in connection with said claim the following facts are set forth, in addition to facts heretofore presented: That over a period of years affiant worked to perfect a mine capable of being planted from an aircraft; That over a period of years affiant was in constant communication with officials of the Government departments in connection with said matter and at the suggestion of Government department officials, affiant expended years of his time and over $9,000 in experiments and in building a model of his mine-planting device and that finally a test was made on or about June 26, 1920, at Hampton Roads, Va., and that said test was successful and was so admitted by Government department officials; and that affiant requested Government department officials to recover said mine which had been dropped from an aircraft in the course of said experiment; That there would have been no danger connected with said mine since it was not loaded with explosives, but contained other substances to make the experiment free from danger; That affiant suggested to men in charge of the experiment that they rescue said mine, but explanation was made that they did not have the necessary tackle to accomplish the results. Because of the foregoing, the mine was never recovered and was wholly lost to affiant, damage in the sum of over $9,000. The affiant submits herewith copies of correspondence showing the results of his model and its potential value to the Government and that, also, through no fault of affiant, mine was wholly lost. That encouraged, and in accordance with requests of Government officials, which facts are substantiated by attached correspondence, affiant has incurred cash obligations upward of $9,000; That in the course of the experiment, affiant spent all of his funds and borrowed from his mother and sister by mortgaging their home for the purpose of completing this experiment; That the mortgage on their home has since been foreclosed by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation and title has passed to the United States. Further affiant sayeth not. CHARLES L. KEE. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 23d day of June A. D. 1939. [SEAL] TRUMAN WARD, MY DEAR MR. KEE: I am this morning in receipt of a letter from Mr. Hudson Maxim as follows: HERBERT QUICK, Esq., Member Farm Loan Board, NAVAL CONSULTING BOARD, Treasury Department, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR MR. QUICK: Your letter of the 3d instant is received. Mr. Kee was introduced to me by Dr. L. H. Baeckeland and Mr. Elmer Sperry at the last meeting of the Naval Consulting Board in Washington. He came to the hotel and my assistant, Mr. George H. Graham, and myself examined his device. Mr. Kee is a very prepossessing and bright young engineer and inventor, and the device he submitted to me is one of the few which to my mind and that of my assistant possesses real merit. I shall recommend to Mr. Sperry, chairman of the committee on mines and torpedoes, of which committee I am also a member, that the Naval Consulting Board recommend that experiments be made to determine the practical value of Mr. Kee's invention. Faithfully yours, HUDSON MAXIM. I congratulate you on having contributed to the solution of the U-boat problem an invention apparently so important. Yours sincerely, H. Repts., 76-1, vol. 5- 94 HERBERT QUICK, Member Farm Loan Board. NAVAL CONSULTING BOARD, CHARLES L. KEE, Esq., Portsmouth, Va. DEAR SIR: Your device for dropping mines from aeroplanes has been considered by the committee on ordnance and explosives of the Naval Consulting Board. The committee believes that this invention possesses real merit, and will recommend that experiments be conducted with it to demonstrate its value. The committee thanks you for having submitted the device for its consideration. Very truly, HUDSON MAXIM, Chairman, Committee on Ordnance and Explosives. Subject: Submarine mine and aircraft. Mr. CHARLES L. KEE, Portsmouth, Va. NAVY DEPARTMENT, BUREAU OF ORDNANCE, Washington, D. C., May 9, 1917. SIR: The Bureau quotes below for your information the report of the Special Board on Naval Ordnance as to your invention. The Bureau has no objection to your conveying both the contents of this report and the plan of your invention to the representatives of the nations allied with the United States. "Mr. Charles L. Kee of Portsmouth, Va., appeared before the Special Board on Naval Ordnance, with an automatic submarine mine, capable of dropping from an aircraft. "This mine consists of a type of any depth anchor, a contact mine, and a parachute to steady the mine in its descent. "After careful examination of the model of the mine, the Board concludes that the mine is capable of development to a satisfactory design for use from aircraft. "The Board, however, does not feel itself qualified to consider the tactical problem as to the advisability of the use of mines dropped from aircraft." Respectfully, CHARLES L. KEE, ESQ., T. S. WILKINSON, (By direction of Chief of Bureau.) NAVAL CONSULTING BOARD, SIR: Your device for dropping submarine mines from aeroplanes has been carefully examined by the committee on ordnance and explosives of the Naval Consulting Board, and the Naval Consulting Board, at its last meeting in Washington on June 8, endorsed and approved the finding of the committee on ordnance and explosives as follows: "After careful examinations of the device submitted by Charles L. Kee for dropping submarine mines from aeroplanes, the committee on ordnance and explosives is of the opinion that the device possesses sufficient novelty and merit to warrant the authorization of the expenditure of a sum of money sufficient to cover the cost of making a full-sized apparatus according to Mr. Kee's invention or design, and also to cover the expenses of Mr. Kee while giving necessary attention to the matter." Respectfully, HUDSON MAXIM, Chairman, Committee on Ordnance and Explosives. |