Assuring you of the appreciation of the widow and child as well as our personal appreciation for your consideration of this claim in your capacity as a member of the House of Representatives of the First District of Oklahoma, we are, Respectfully yours, MILSTEN & MILSTEN, By DAVID R. MILSTEN. N. B.-Attached to this report you will find statements from the former employers of the deceased and also diagram of the accident. We also attach other necessary information, such as, the report of Dr. Fred Glass. Hon. WESLEY DISNEY, Congressman, First District of Oklahoma, D. R. M. MILSTEN & MILSTEN, Tulsa, Okla., August 11, 1938. House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. DEAR SIR AND FRIEND: Under date of August 8, 1938, I directed a letter to you in connection with the claim which we have made on behalf of Marie K. Trottnow, executrix of the estate of Alfred H. Trottnow, deceased. For the purpose of ascertaining necessary facts, we attach hereto a copy of our letter on the Trottnow claim, which should be of assistance to you in preparing our claim. We also represent Mr. Paul Lindley, the individual who was with Mr. Trottnow on April 1, 1938, at the time of the accident in which Mr. Trottnow was injured, and which said injuries resulted in his death. Mr. Lindley was also injured in this accident, as reflected by the medical statement of Dr. F. L. Nelson and Dr. G. A. Rice, attached hereto. Dr. Nelson attended Mr. Lindley after the accident; however, since that time Mr. Lindley has been under the care of Dr. Glenn A. Rice, a chiropractor of this city. According to a letter received from Mr. John R. Nelson, State director of the United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Key Building, Oklahoma City, Mr. Lindley has been advised that action toward settlement of any claim he has must be presented to claimant's Congressman or Senator. We are enclosing a file on this case which we believe justifies and will enable you to introduce a proper bill for the recovery of $3,000 as damages for the injuries received by Mr. Lindley. Kindly acknowledge receipt of this claim, and of course, if we can be of any further assistance to you by furnishing any other information or data, please do not hesitate to call upon us. Thanking you for your attention, courtesy, and cooperation, we are MILSTEN & MILSTEN. By DAVID R. MILSTEN. STATEMENT BY PAUL LINDLEY TULSA, OKLA., April 9, 1938. My name is Paul Lindley. I am 30 years of age. I live at 4166 East First Street, Tulsa, Okla. This is a permanent address. I am employed by the Braden Winch Co., as purchasing agent and have been working for this company for the past 4 years. This statement concerns an accident that happened on Friday, April 1, 1938, about 1:30 p. m. when the car in which I was riding was involved in a collision at a point about 4 miles north of Oklahoma City on Highway 66. The accident happened at the intersection of the Britton Road and Highway 66. The highway was paved with brick and it is a good wide intersection. The highway at the intersection is about on a level. The weather was bad at the time of the accident and it was snowing pretty hard. Visibility was cut to about two or three hundred yards by the weather conditions. The snow was melting as fast as it fell and there was no snow on the highway, but the brick paving was wet and slick. I was riding in a car driven by Mr. A. Trottnow, treasurer of the Braden Winch Co. and also treasurer of the Braden Steel Co. The car was a Lincoln Zephyr, 1937 model sedan. I suppose it was his personal car but possibly it belonged to the company. Braden Winch Co. has a distributor in Oklahoma City, (the H. & H. Equipment Co.) and it is my duty to go to Oklahoma City occasionally and check the inventory, and I was going to Oklahoma City for this purpose. I do not know what Mr. Trottnow was going to Oklahoma City for as this was not discussed between Mr. Trottnow and myself. Mr. Trottnow was of course familiar with my duties and knew that I had to go to Oklahoma City frequently, so on Friday morning, April 1, 1938, he called me into his office and asked me if I wanted to go to Oklahoma City and I told him that I did want to go as I should have gone 2 or 3 weeks before but hadn't had time to get away. He then told me he had to go to Oklahoma City and if I could get ready in 5 minutes I could go over with him. We left the Braden Co.'s plant at 1001 East Admiral at about 11 a. m. on April 1, 1938 and started to Oklahoma City. Mr. Trottnow and myself were the only occupants of the car. Mr. Trottnow drove all of the way to the point where the accident occurred. I do not know what our average speed was on the trip but we made no stops on the trip. Mr. Trottnow was by nature a very careful driver and on this trip to Oklahoma City he drove in a careful and prudent manner. We were traveling south on highway 66 into Oklahoma City, this is also known as the Edmond Road. We were traveling about 35 miles per hour, as I had noticed the speedometer about 2 minutes before the accident happened and this was our speed and I know we had not speeded up any. We were driving along on our right-hand side or the west side of the highway. When we were at a point about 50 yards north of the intersection where the accident occurred I saw a truck 15 or 20 feet west of the intersection. This truck was headed east and was rolling up to the stop line on the west side of the intersection. The highway on which the truck was traveling is the highway that leads off to Britton and it is a paved road. This truck was about the center of the highway on which it was traveling. I know Mr. Trottnow saw this truck at about the same time I did for I noticed he started slowing down. The truck did not stop at the stop line but instead made a rolling stop or rather just slowed down and rolled on out to the intersection. When this truck rolled up to the west edge of the highway on which we were traveling or up to the west edge of the intersection it seemed that the driver of this truck was going to stop as he slowed down again and seemed to hesitate. At that time our car was only about 20 feet from this truck. The truck driver however did not stop his truck but instead rolled on out into the intersection directly into the path of our car and then stopped. Mr. Trottnow upon seeing the truck roll on out in front of us, put on his brakes and cut the steering wheel as far as he could to the right, but the car did not turn but instead skidded on the wet road and we skidded right into the truck. The front end of the truck had stopped at a point about the center of the highway on which we were traveling headed slightly to the northeast as if the driver intended making a left turn, the bed of the truck was directly across the west half of the road in our path. The front end of our car contacted the truck on the left side back of the cab. I do not think that our car was traveling more than 25 miles per hour at the time of the actual impact as Mr. Trottnow had slackened his speed upon first seeing the truck. It had appeared that this truck was going to stop but when it rolled out in front of instead, there was no chance for Mr. Trottnow to have missed it. I do not recall any other traffic near at hand at the time of the accident. The force of the impact threw Mr. Trottnow against the steering wheel, and I was thrown against the windshield. We were both dazed momentarily. I got out of the car and went around and opened the door for Mr. Trottnow and he got out, and we looked the car over and then walked to the service station located on the northwest corner of the intersection. This truck was a G. M. C. 21⁄2-ton and bore the name of the "U. S. Forestry Service"; the driver was the only occupant and he was not injured. The highway-patrol officers were on the scene within about 20 minutes and they took statements from Mr. Trottnow, myself, and the truck driver. The only statement I heard the truck driver make was "I'm sorry but I couldn't help it." I do not know whether he meant he couldn't stop or just what he meant. Following the collision the truck came to a stop headed north and the front wheels about the center line of Highway 66. Our car stopped in the northwest quarter of the intersection headed southeast. Mr. Trottnow seemed to be suffering quite a bit and had gotten sick following the accident, and I called a friend of mine in Oklahoma City, H. P. Wycoff, H. & H. Equipment Co., and he came to the scene and picked us up and took us to the St. Anthony Hospital. Dr. Kline examined me but I do not know who examined Mr. Trottnow. We left the hospital about 4 p. m. and went to the H. & H. Equipment Co. and from there went to the depot and caught the 4:50 p. m. train back to Tulsa. Mr. Trottnow complained of considerable pain in the region of the abdomen. He was taken to the hospital on the evening of April 2, in Tulsa, and died the following evening, Sunday, April 3, 1938. My injuries consisted of a badly wrenched neck and shoulders, with possibly a fracture in the neck, broken ribs on left side, bruise of left shin, and bruise of the left lung. I returned to my office on April 4, and have been at the office daily since. Dr. F. L. Nelson has been attending me since my return to Tulsa from Oklahoma City. There were no witnesses to the accident to my knowledge, other than the occupants of the car and truck involved in the collision. The car was in good mechanical condition prior to the collision, and there was nothing defective about this car whatever to my knowledge, and Mr. Trottnow was without fault in the accident and the accident was due entirely to the negligence of the driver of the truck in failing to stop at the stop sign as he should have instead of pulling out into the intersection directly into the path of our car and then stopping. I have read the above and foregoing statement and the same is true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief. Witnessed: PAUL LINDLEY. LOUISE ERDMANS, 620 West Seventh Street, Tulsa, Okla. BRADEN STEEL CORPORATION, MILSTEN & MILSTEN, Tulsa Loan Building, Tulsa, Okla. GENTLEMEN: The salary paid to Mr. Alfred Trottnow as secretary and treasurer of the Braden Steel Corporation was $200 per month. Yours very truly. MILSTEN & MILSTEN, Tulsa Loan Building, Tulsa, Okla. GENTLEMEN: The salary paid to Mr. Trottnow as secretary and treasurer of the Braden Winch Co. was $150 per month. Very truly yours, BRADEN WINCH CO., By T. J. SCHUETZ, President. O CERTAIN WORKERS PERFORMING EMERGENCY WORK AT CAIRO, ILL., IN THE OHIO RIVER FLOOD OF 1937 JULY 13, 1939.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House and ordered to be printed Mr. COFFEE, of Washington, from the Committee on Claims, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 3051] The Committee on Claims, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 3051) for the relief of certain workers performing emergency work at Cairo, Ill., in the Ohio River flood of 1937, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with an amendment and recommend that the bill as amended do pass. The amendment is as follows: Strike out all the wording of the bill after the enacting clause and insert in lieu thereof the following: That the Comptroller General of the United States be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to determine the claims of persons who performed emergency work in the protection of Cairo, Illinois, during the Ohio River flood between January 24, 1937, and February 3, 1937, both inclusive, at an hourly wage of 30 cents, and to pay same out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated. SEC. 2. There is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, a sum not to exceed $22,000 to be used in the executi n of section 1 of this Act. SEC. 3. Application for payment under this Act shall be made by or on behalf of the persons entitled thereto within one year from the date of its approval, and payment hereunder shall be accepted in full settlement of such claims against the United States: 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 these claims, 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 authorize and direct the Comptroller General to determine the claims of persons who performed emergency work in the protection of Cairo, Ill., during the Ohio River flood between January 24, 1937, and February 3, 1937, both inclusive, at an hourly wage of 30 cents and to pay same out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated." STATEMENT OF FACTS During the serious Ohio River flood of 1937 the city of Cairo, Ill., was about to be inundated and it was necessary to hire hundreds of workers from wherever they could be obtained to perform emergency work to prevent the inundation. The Works Progress Administration came to the aid of the situation and it is stated that Hon. Harry L. Hopkins was there in person to represent the Works Progress Administration and various Army officials to represent the War Department. As stated, the work was performed in an emergency manner to meet an immediate emergency, and assurance was given to the mayor of Cairo, Ill., that the workers would be paid by the Works Progress Administration through the medium of individual checks. There was not time to certify or assign the workers as regular W. P. A. employees. There was not time to ask the men if they were on relief and the men were summoned all throughout the night from boarding houses, pool rooms, etc., and they went for days without sleep and sometimes without food. Cairo was saved by their work. Various claims were presented through the Works Progress Administration to the Comptroller General, all of which were turned down due to the fact the workers were not actually employed or assigned to duty by or on behalf of the United States Government, and it was construed, therefore, that the work was not performed for the United States Government. The original claims included those of some persons who were regular Works Progress Administration employees, as well as others who were found not to be entitled to any reimbursement. However, the claimants have now been reduced to what is considered to be the legitimate claimants including approximately 1,072 workers. The total cost is estimated to be approximately $21,027.90, based on 20 cents per hour for the work. The bill has been amended to provide that the Comptroller General of the United States be authorized and directed to determine these claims and to pay those found to be proper. It is understood that the Comptroller General has in his possession time reports containing the names of those workers who were definitely identified and who were not on the regular W. P. A. rolls and have been certified by a timekeeper and project superintendent, each of whom is an apparently responsible employee of the city of Cairo, Ill. It appears to your committee that these claims are just and meritorious, and that the workers performed a difficult and effective task in saving the city of Cairo, Ill., upon the appeal of the officials of the Works Progress Administration, and the assurance that they would be properly reimbursed. As a matter of fact, it is noted that there were public statements through the newspapers and otherwise that no expense was to be spared. The Federal Government provides money for flood control and these workers should not be denied proper compensation due to the technicality of their not having been properly certified prior to their giving their services. As a matter of fact, there was a large appropriation available at the time for just such services |