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about 20 years. I recall when their home on Vinson Street was completed and dedicated. Quite a lot of prominent people, both white and colored, including white and colored doctors, were at this dedication of this beautiful residence. It was discussed at that time that it was one of the best building residences in the city of Williamson. It was built on a good solid foundation and out of stone and glazed brick.

I have lived on Vinson Street within a few hundred feet of Sam and Aily Swan for at least 15 years. On or about October 13, 1941, and while the Work Projects Administration was getting out stone at the stone quarry across the branch from the Swan residence I heard several large blasts or explosions. These blasts were unusually heavy and sharp and they shook the houses all around and shook my home and threw rock for a long distance from where the blasts were put off. I was told that other houses in that community were damaged by these heavy blasts but to what extent I have no knowledge. I only know that the blast up near the Swan house was unusually heavy.

MRS. JULINIA B. STISSEL, Affiant.

Subscribed and sworn to before me on this the 29th day of January 1942.
My commission as a notary public will expire on the 7th day of October 1947.
[SEAL]
H. M. SHUMATE, Notary Public.

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This day personally appeared before the undersigned, Buster Darwin, who after being by me first duly sworn upon his oath says:

On October 13, 1941, between 2:30 and 3 p. m. or thereabout I was near the colored school building which is about 600 feet from where the blasting was going on in the rock quarry where some Work Projects Administration workers were working getting out stone for the city streets. An awful heavy blast was put off and a piece of stone from the blast fell on me while I was about 600 feet away from where the shooting occurred. This blast was so severe that it shook the ground severely under my feet.

BUSTER DARWIN,

Affiant.

Subscribed and sworn to before me on this the 28th day of January 1942.
[SEAL]
JOHN JAY JUSTICE,
Notary Public.

My commission as a notary public will expire on the 26th day of November 1951.

STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA,

Mingo County, to wit:

This day personally appeared before me the undersigned notary public, Lee Griffith and T. J. Bluebaum, who after being by me first duly sworn upon their oaths say that they examined the plaster in the residence of Sam Swan and Aily Swan on Vinson Street, in the city of Williamson, W. Va.; that the plaster is all badly cracked and in opinion of affiants, who are plasterers by trade, the costs of removing the broken plaster and replastering the building would be at least

$390.

LEE GRIFFITH,
T. J. BLUEBAUM,

Affiants.

Subscribed and sworn to before me on this the 1st day of February 1942.

[SEAL]

H. M. SHUMATE,
Notary Public.

My commission as a notary public will expire on the 7th day of October 1947.

STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA,

Mingo County, to wit:

This day personally appeared before me the undersigned notary public, G. E. Jones, a building contractor of Williamson, Mingo County, W. Va., who after being by me first duly sworn upon his oath says:

I have been a building contractor for about 19 years. I was recently requested by Sam Swan to examine the residence on Vinson Street, Williamson, W. Va., and to place an estimate on the cost of replacement or repairs. I found this residence to be made of stone, brick, and glazed tile. I found cracks clear through the stone walls and tile up to the roof.

The plaster was also cracked and shivered in the building.

I do not believe the cracks mentioned above could be repaired so as to place the building in as good condition as it was before the cracks occurred. I believe the building would have to be rebuilt.

My estimate is based upon the following which are notes made at the time I examined the building:

Foundation and basement construction, 18-inch stone walls.

"House walls 8 by 16 glazed tile with brick around openings and brick corners. "Porch construction brick piers with glazed tile from ground to bottom of floor joists. Plastered walls and ceiling through the inside. Floors No. 1 yellow pine. Inside No. 1 yellow pine. Fir doors. Roofing slate coat roll.

"Estimates present cost of building $4,719.40. Salvage for reconstruction $1,600. Resultant cost $3,119.40."

G. E. JONES,

Contractor and builder, Williamson, W. Va.

Subscribed and sworn to before me on this the 6th day of February 1942.
[SEAL]
H. M. SHUMATE,

Notary Public. My commission as a notary public will expire on the 7th day of October 1947.

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This day personally appeared before me the undersigned notary public, W. H. Lowe, a building contractor of Williamson, Mingo County, W. Va., who after being by me first duly sworn upon his oath says:

I am a building contractor by trade and have been in this business for 23 years. On or about December 16, 1941, I was asked by Sam Swan to examine his residence' on Vinson Street, Williamson, W. Va., and to place an estimate on the cost of replacement of the building or of repairs which Mr. Swan claimed were a result of blasting.

I found the Swan home to be composed of stone, brick, and glazed tile. It sits on the side of the hill about 40 or 50 feet from the street level. The front side of the building sits on a stone wall about 10 feet high, the stone tapers off up toward the rear end of the building. The balance of the house above the stone is made of glazed tile blocked with brick around the window and door openings and also on the corners. The house is composed of five rooms, a bath, a pantry, and a porch.

I found cracks from the bottom of the stone wall clear through the stone, tile, and up to the roof. This was on the front of the building as well as on the side. I also found the plaster in all the rooms cracked and shivered.

The cracks on the outside of the building were from the bottom of the foundation to the top of the masonry in several places. In the wall at the porch the cracks entirely separated the masonry so as to permit light.

I do not believe the damage to this building could be satisfactorily repaired. The cracks are, no doubt, increasing in size. This will cause continual repair.

My estimate on replacing this residence, including the cost of material and labor is $4,680. An allowance should be made of $1,500 for salvage, which would leave a cost of $3,180.

W. H. LANE, Affiant.

Subscribed and sworn to before me on this the 6th day of February 1942.
My commission as a notary public will expire on the 7th day of October 1947
[SEAL]
H. M. SHUMATE, Notary Public.

STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA,

County of Mingo, to wit:

D. M. Good, after being by the undersigned authority first duly sworn upon his oath says:

I am senior partner in D. M. Good & Son, consisting of myself and my son, W. E. Good, in civil and mining engineering. I have been in this business continually for about 45 years and have been located in Williamson, Mingo County, W. Va., 30 years. I served as engineer for the city of Williamson for about 15

years.

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On today, March 7, 1942, Robert Zando, concrete and stone contractor, and I examined the residence of Sam and Aily Swan on Vinson Street in the city of Williamson, Mingo County, W. Va., for the purpose of endeavoring to form an opinion as to the cause of the cracks in the stonework and tile and plastering of the building. We examined the building inside and outside and found various cracks in the stonework and tile as well as in the plastering in the house. We were told by Mr. and Mrs. Swan that some heavy blasting was done near this residence on October 13, 1941, and the place where the blasting occurred was pointed out to us. The house sits on a side of the hill and at an elevation of at least 50 feet above the place where the blasting occurred. The place pointed out to us as to where the blasting occurred was about 200 feet from the house.

The Swan residence is composed of stone foundation, brick corners, and glazed tile. All the rooms on the inside are plastered. The house has been well constructed. It sits on a solid stone foundation. I mean by this that the earth and loose rock had been removed and the stone foundation placed on solid rock.

We were unable to find any evidence whatsoever that the house had settled or that the foundation had moved at all. This would necessarily lead us to believe that the cracks in the building were caused by something other than the settling of the foundation.

I am informed by Mr. Swan that there were no cracks in this building prior to October 13, 1941; that on that day several "dobey" shots were made by the Work Projects Administration workmen. He stated that at least four or five of these "dobies" went off at the same time, causing an unusual jar. Assuming what Mr. Swan says to be true, then I would naturally come to the conclusion that the jar resulting from these shots caused the cracks in the building as well as the damage to the plastering.

As stated above we found no reason why the cracks could have occurred as a result of settling of the foundation. D. M. GOOD, Affiant.

Subscribed and sworn to before me on this the 9th day of March 1942.
[SEAL]
J. WALTER COPLEY,

Notary Public. My commission as a notary public will expire on the 8th day of February 1948.

STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA,

County of Mingo, to wit:

Robert Zando, after being by the undersigned authority first duly sworn, upon his oath says:

years.

My age is 63. I have been engaged in concrete and stone work for about 30 I have been located in Williamson, Mingo County, W. Va. about 25 years. I have built many stone walls and many concrete and stone buildings in the city of Williamson during that time.

I have read the statement made by D. M. Good, civil and mining engineer, with whom I examined the Swan residence on Vinson Street on this day and concur in what Mr. Good had to say about the damage to the building. I want to add, however, that I did the stone work at the Swan residence and know that the stone foundation sits on solid stone. I think I should know better than anyone else because I did the work myself. The house sits on the side of a hill and the hill is composed mostly of stone. After removing the loose dirt and stone this left solid rock upon which the house was erected.

As stated by Mr. Good we could not find where the foundation had ever settled or sunk or moved. Neither could we find any cause for it having done so. From what Mr. Swan told us about the "dobey" shots occuring on October 13, 1941, we

H. Repts., 79-1, vol. 1- 42

both came to the conclusion that the jar from those shots caused the house to break as it now appears.

ROBERT ZANDO, Affiant.

Subscribed and sworn to before me this the 9th day of March 1942.
[SEAL]
JOHN J. JUSTICE, Notary Public.
My commission will expire on the 26th day of November 1951.

O

1st Session

No. 122

HYMAN L. SCHIFFER

FEBRUARY 13, 1945.-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. 1325]

The Committee on Claims, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 1325) for the relief of Hyman L. Schiffer, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass.

A similar bill was favorably reported by this committee in the Seventy-eighth Congress.

The facts will be found fully set forth in House Report No. 1843, Seventy-eighth Congress, which is appended hereto and made a part of this report.

(H. Rept. No. 1843, 78th Cong., 1st sess.]

The purpose of the proposed legislation is to appropriate the sum of $500 to Hyman L. Schiffer, of Brooklyn, N. Y., in full settlement of all claims against the United States for the refund of a bail bond posted for Frieda Schiffer, an alien, same being forfeited on March 13, 1940, when she failed to appear for deportation.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

It appears that Frieda Schiffer, whose married name is Bellhorn, is 28 years of age and is a native of Germany and a citizen of Poland. She arrived in the United States on September 28, 1938, and upon filing a departure bond in the sum of $500 on which the claimant was surety, was admitted to the United States as a temporary visitor for a period of 15 days. Various extensions were granted to her from time to time with the consent of the surety. The last extension expired on August 6, 1939. She failed to leave the United States on that date and on September 7, 1939, a warrant was issued for her arrest. She was apprehended by an immigrant inspector promptly thereafter. On October 6, 1939, she was found to be deportable and an order was entered requiring her to leave the United States on or before December 1, 1939. The departure bond was forfeited on March 13, 1940, and on April 12, 1940, the amount of the bond was paid into the Treasury of the United States.

On May 29, 1941, the alien was married to Hans Bellhorn, who is a native of Germany and a legal resident of the United States. Deportation proceedings against Mrs. Bellhorn have been reopened for the purpose of reconsidering her

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