AFFIDAVIT BEFORE THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA IN THE MATTER OF HARVEY T. COMBS, DECEASED STATE OF OHIO, Muskingum County, ss: Milt J. Stotts, being first duly cautioned and sworn, on his oath deposes and says that he is captain of detectives of the police department of the city of Zanesville, Ohio, and has charge and custody of the official records of said department with relation to photographs, fingerprinting, etc.; that on or about the 27th day of March 1937, said police department was notified of an accident at the intersection of Jackson and Amelia Streets in the city of Zanesville, Ohio, wherein Harvey T. Combs was injured and subsequently died; that two officers of the department, Rider and Quigley, were sent to investigate said accident; that they took pictures of the position of the United States mail truck at said intersection where the accident occurred and at the place where said truck was standing after having struck Harvey T. Combs; affiant further says that Exhibits 1, 2, and 3, attached hereto are enlarged photographic copies of the original pictures in the hands and in the files of the police department of the city of Zanesville, Ohio, and that Exhibit 1 was taken looking down Jackson Street to the east toward Linden Avenue; that Exhibit 2 was taken looking to the south on Amelia Street from somewhere near the northeast corner of the intersection of Jackson and Amelia Streets; that Exhibit 3 was taken from somewhere toward the center part of the intersection of Jackson and Amelia Streets looking to the southeast. Further this deponent sayeth not. MILT J. STOTTS. Sworn to before me and subscribed in my presence this 28th day of March 1938. C. A. ZINN, Notary Public. HELEN LOUISE GILES JUNE 23, 1939.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House and ordered to be printed Mr. KEOGH, from the Committee on Claims, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 3109] The Committee on Claims, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 3109) for the relief of Helen Louise Giles, 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 "$2,000" and insert in lieu thereof "$559.70, in full settlement of all claims against the United States" Line 9, strike out the period, insert a comma, and add "on July 10, 1938". 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: "For the relief of Helen Louise Giles, a minor." The purpose of the proposed legislation is to pay to L. C. Giles the sum of $559.70, in full settlement of all claims against the United States for injuries received on the Fort Bliss Military Reservation by his minor child, Helen Louise Giles. STATEMENT OF FACTS On July 10, 1938, Mr. and Mrs. E. H. Cathcart and their daughter, Alvareda Cathcart, accompanied by Dr. and Mrs. John Bothwell and Helen Louise Giles, drove to the Fort Bliss Military Reservation for the purpose of attending a public band concert. Fort Bliss is a large Army post located at El Paso, Tex., and the public is invited to attend the concerts. The party arrived there at about 7:30 p. m., parked their car approximately 50 feet from the bandstand, which is the regular parking place used by the public attending these concerts, and after parking the car, walked over the grass to the bandstand. The two children, Helen Louise Giles and Alvareda Cathcart, went ahead of the party, and when they were within about 10 feet of the bandstand, Helen Louise Giles tripped over a wire which was fastened to a small evergreen tree and fell to the ground, breaking both bones in her left arm, about midway between the elbow and wrist. According to the evidence, this grass-covered plot by the bandstand is where the public has to walk in order to get near the bandstand, and the wire over which the girl tripped was fastened to the tree and to a stake some 4 feet from the tree. The purpose of the wire was evidently to hold the tree in an upright position. As it was dusk, it was impossible, of course, to notice the wire, and Mr. and Mrs. Cathcart state that they saw several other people stumble over it shortly after the accident here involved. The girl was treated at the fort dispensary and then taken in an Army ambulance to the Masonic Hospital in El Paso, where her arm was set. The actual medical expenses amounted to $47.50, with a hospital bill of $12.20, making the total expenses $59.70. The Department is against the enactment of the proposed legislation, stating that it is their view that no negligence can be attributed to any Government employee in connection with the wire placement. However, it is the opinion of your committee that inasmuch as there was no prohibition against walking across the lawn and no sign of warning regarding the wire placement, together with the fact that the public was invited by the reservation to attend the band concert, it can be concluded that those in charge of the reservation did not exercise reasonable care in safeguarding the people attending. Accordingly, your committee recommend passage of the bill, allowing the actual expenses, namely, $59.70, plus $500 for the pain and suffering resulting from the accident. 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, April 7, 1939. DEAR MR. KENNEDY: Careful consideration has been given to the bill H. R. 3109, Seventy-sixth Congress, for the relief of Helen Louise Giles, which you transmitted to the War Department under date of February 6, 1939, with request for information and the views of the Department relative thereto. The purpose of the proposed legislation is to pay to L. C. Giles, El Paso, Tex., the sum of $2,000 on account of injuries received by his minor child, Helen Louise Giles, on the Fort Bliss Military Reservation, due to the alleged negligence of personnel employed by the Government. The records of the War Department show that on the evening of July 10, 1938, Mr. and Mrs. Cathcart and their daughter, Alvareda Cathcart, accompanied by Dr. and Mrs. John Bothwell and Helen Louise Giles, drove to the Fort Bliss Military Reservation for the purpose of attending a public band concert; that they arrived at the parking area about 7:30 p. m., parked their car approximately 50 feet from the bandstand, and proceeded across the grassplot surrounding the bandstand for the purpose of sitting on an adjacent stone wall; that Alvareda Cathcart and Helen Louise Giles, a child of 11 or 12 years of age, walked or ran ahead of the other members of the party, and when within about 10 feet of the bandstand, Helen Louise tripped over a guy wire which was supporting a small evergreen tree and fell, breaking her left arm, more particularly described in the records of the War Department as "a fracture, complete, simple, middle one-third, left radius and ulna." On February 28, 1939, Mr. L. C. Giles presented a claim to the War Department in the amount of $2,000 on account of the injuries sustained by his daughter, and in support thereof submitted a bill for medical expenses amounting to $47.50 and a hospital bill in the sum of $12.20. It appears from the report of the investigation that the guy wire over which Miss Giles fell is one of many which support trees on the military reservation and that the use of such stays is the normal method of protecting young trees. There are no seats provided for visitors listening to the band concerts, and they usually sit in parked automobiles adjacent to the bandstand. While there is no post regulation prohibiting people from crossing the grassplot, it is the view of the War Department that no negligence can be attributed to any Government employee in connection with such wire placements. Had the accident occurred on privately owned land, under the circumstances shown, no legal liability of the owner would arise therefrom. Under the circumstances disclosed by the evidence, the War Department considers that there is no legal or moral responsibility on the part of the Government arising from the accident and recommends that favorable consideration be not given to the proposed legislation. Sincerely yours, To Whom It May Concern: LOUIS JOHNSON, Acting Secretary of War. EL PASO, TEX., August 26, 1938. This is to certify that Helen Louise Giles, of 3119 Lebanon Street, El Paso, Tex., accompanied my family and me to a band concert which was held at the Eighty-second Field Artillery in Fort Bliss, July 10, 1938. Fort Bliss is a large Army post located at El Paso, Tex., and the public is invited to attend the concerts. We felt sure when we invited Helen Louise to go with us that there would be no danger of an accident. The Eighty-second Field Artillery is located within the fort, and the concerts are regularly attended by the public. When we arrived, about 7:30 p. m., we parked our car approximately 50 feet from the bandstand, which is the regular parking place used by the people attending these concerts. After parking our car we walked over the grass to the bandstand. Helen Louise Giles and our daughter were ahead of us. When they were within about 10 feet of the bandstand Helen Louise tripped over a wire which was fastened to a small evergreen tree and fell to the ground, breaking both bones in her left arm about middle way between the elbow and wrist. This grass-covered plot by the bandstand is where the public has to walk over in order to get near the bandstand, and the wire over which Helen Louise fell was fastened to the tree and brought down flush with the ground and fastened to a stake some 4 feet from the tree. Evidently the purpose of the wire was to hold the tree in an upright position. As it was dusk, it was absolutely impossible to see the wire; in fact, we saw several people stumble over it shortly after the accident. The placing of a wire in that position in a public place created a hazardous condition. Immediately the Army patrol car took Helen Louise, Mrs. Cathcart, and myself to dispensary B at Fort Bliss for first aid, we notified Helen's parents, and when they arrived the Army ambulance took them to Masonic Hospital in El Paso, where Dr. Leighton Green and Dr. Travis Bennitt set her arm. E. H. CATHCART. (Mr. E. H. Cathcart). MARY CATHCART (Mrs. E. H.). (Mrs. E. H. Cathcart). EL PASO, TEX., August 21, 1938. This is to certify that Helen Louise Giles, 3119 Lebanon Street, El Paso, Tex., accompanied my parents and me to a band concert which was held at the Eightysecond Field Artillery, Fort Bliss, July 10, 1938. When Helen and I left the car and started to bandstand seats, Helen tripped over a wire which was tied to a small evergreen tree and fell to the ground, breaking her left arm. I am 13 years old and have completed grammar school. ALVERDA Cathcart. DRS. VARNER & GREEN EL PASO, TEX. SEPTEMBER 12, 1938. To Whom It May Concern: Helen Giles sustained a fracture of the left radius and left ulna on July 10, 1938. I treated her the same day at Masonic Hospital, El Paso, reducing the fractures and applying a plaster splint to the left arm and forearm. Both bones healed well and in good position. When the patient was last seen, on August 23, there was good function and good contour in the injured forearm. There should be no subsequent disability. J. LEIGHTON GREEN, M. D. To Whom It May Concern: J. TRAVIS BENNETT, M. D. EL PASO, TEX. SEPTEMBER 26, 1938. I attended Helen Giles, daughter of Mr. L. C. Giles, 3119 Lebanon Street, El Paso, Tex., on the night of July 10, 1938, at the El Paso Masonic Hospital. I found her suffering from a fracture of the left radius and left ulna, with displacement. She suffered a considerable amount of pain and in addition received a general ether anesthetic during reduction of the fractures. Results were good. The fee for my services is $7.50. |