Following receipt of the retirement account by the Retirement Division of the Civil Service Commission, verification of the service history is made through the Commission's Service Record Division, which maintains the service records of Federal employees. This verification was referred to the Retirement Division on November 14, 1941. The usual course followed in the Retirement Division is to take up the adjudication of a case in the order of receipt unless there is some special reason why a case should be taken up out of order. At the time, the Commission had no knowledge that there was any emergency in the case of Mr. Loacker.

On November 28, 1941, a letter was received from the chief clerk of the railway mail district advising the Commission of Mr. Loacker's physical condition. Apparently the case was then taken up for adjudication, but it takes time to compile the information which was necessary to reply to Mr. Loacker's request. Meantime, Mr. Loacker died on December 4.

The Commission gave careful and sympathetic consideration to this case, but there did not appear any way under the law in which it could do other than make the decision which it did. The law provides that an annuitant must make claim on the joint and survivorship option at the time of retirement. Mr. Loacker had not made a decision and the failure to do so deprived his widow of the benefits she would have otherwise received.

Undoubtedly there was delay between the application for retirement and the request for information as to single and joint survivorship benefits. Although dated August 5, the Post Office Department apparently held Mr. Loacker's communication until the date of his retirement, so that the Civil Service Commission had no knowledge of that request. There was also some delay after the request did reach the Commission which might have been avoided had the Commission known of Mr. Loacker's condition and advanced his application out of the regular order. After information of the condition of Mr. Loacker reached the Commission on November 28, 1941, it was of course impossible to get the desired information to him so that he could have received it and made a decision by the time of his death on December 4.

The Commission recognizes considerable merit in the relief proposed by H. R. 3659, but without authorization from Congress cannot make an annuity award to Mrs. Loacker. It may be that this is a case where special legislation is warranted and the Commission offers no objection to the bill should Congress decide that enactment of the law is justified.

In connection with a duplicate bill, S. 818, the Bureau of the Budget advised that there would be no objection to the submission of a similar report to the Committee on Civil Service, United States Senate.

Very sincerely yours,

HARRY B. MITCHELL, President.

RAILWAY MAIL ASSOCIATION,

Spokane, January 20, 1944.

Hon. DAN R. McGEHEE,

Chairman, Committee on Claims, Washington, D. C. DEAR MR. MCGEHEE: Congressman Horan, of Washington, introduced in the House on November 12, 1943, H. R. 3659, for the relief of Anna E. Loacker, widow of Leo G. Loacker, a former railway postal clerk. Mrs. Loacker lives at West 211 Twenty-seventh Avenue, Spokane, Wash. I will give you some of the background of this case so you have a better understanding of it.

Leo G. Loacker was a railway postal clerk assigned out of Spokane, Wash., and reached the age of retirement. Under the Retirement Act an employee who makes application for retirement is asked which of the two plans he prefers. There is the regular retirement and also the survivorship plan, where if accepted, the annuities are divided between the wife and husband. The law requires the retiring person to make application for the survivorship plan if he desires it, and he is then furnished a statement of just how much each will draw in annuities. He must sign a statement that he desires this plan or rejects it. Mr. Loacker made through channels application for retirement on August 11, 1941, as he was due to officially retire on November 1, 1941. He asked for information about the survivorship annuity or plan and the papers were sent by his chief clerk at Spokane to the division superintendent on August 11, and were forwarded to the Retirement Section of the Railway Mail Service at Washington, D. C., under date of August 13, 1941.

Nothing further was heard from this matter until on December 16, 1941, Mrs. Loacker received a letter addressed to Mr. Loacker under date of December 12, 1941, at Washington, D. C., which gave the desired information but Mr. Loacker had been officially retired November 1, 1941, taken to the hospital on November 3 and passed away on December 4, 1941, 8 days before the letter was written him from Washington and 12 days before the letter was actually received by Mrs. Loacker.

This was pure carelessness on the part of some clerk in the Retirement Section of the Railway Mail Service and Mrs. Loacker was denied the benefits her husband desired her to have which are provided for under the Retirement Act. I am enclosing copy of a letter from Harry B. Mitchell, President of the Civil Service Commission, which is addressed to Senator Bone as he had previously introduced S. 818 in the Senate in her behalf. H. R. 3659 is a companion bill.

H. R. 3659 is a meritorious piece of legislation and we certainly hope that your committee will report same out so action can be taken by the House. Nothing can be done until the bill is reported out by your committee so if you can arrange to have this done it will be greatly appreciated by a lot of people who feel that Mrs. Loacker was denied something which she is justly entitled to due to the carelessness of some clerk in the Department. As you will see there is no appropriation involved and all that is necessary is for Congress to authorize the Civil Service Commission to allow this claim. We trust that you will use your influence as chairman of the Committee on Claims to that end.

Very truly yours,

L. C. MACOMBER, President.

79TH CONGRESS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1st Session

MRS. W. V. JUSTICE

{

REPORT No. 124

FEERUARY 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. 1483]

The Committee on Claims, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 1483) for the relief of Mrs. W. V. Justice, 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. 55, of the Seventy-eighth Congress, which is appended hereto and made a part of this report.

[H. Rept. No. 55, 78th Cong., 1st sess.]

The purpose of the proposed legislation is to pay to Mrs. W. V. Justice, of Jackson, Miss., the sum of $1,000 for personal injuries received by her on September 6, 1940, when the car which she was driving was struck by a United States mail truck.

On September 6, 1940, at about 1:30 p. m., an automobile being driven by Mrs. Justice was struck by a United States mail truck. Mrs. Justice was heading east on Capitol Street when she noticed a car being backed from a parking space being vacated; that when the car was almost to a complete stop it was struck on

the rear bumper by a postal truck; that the impact threw Mrs. Justice against the steering wheel, causing very severe injuries.

The Post Office Department is of the opinion that the pending bill should not receive favorable consideration.

Your committee is of the opinion that the postal driver was the sole cause of the accident and sets forth the following to show why the committee recommends the passage of this bill.

The Department contends that Mrs. Justice did not give a hand signal; that there are attached hereto three affidavits that set forth that she did.

The Department is of the belief that the impact was not serious enough to cause injuries to Mrs. Justice; that in this connection there follows part of Mrs. Lula Allbritton's statement which shows exactly what happened.

"We noticed a car backing out some distance up the street and Mrs. Justice held her hand out to signify intentions of parking and gradually decreased speed, but before she could park the car was hit in the rear by a United States mail truck with such force Mrs. Justice was thrown over on the steering wheel and was rendered unconscious for a short time."

The Department contends that the facts were corroborated by Police Officer Paul Stribling who witnessed the accident; that the report of A. T. Monroe, Jr., post-office inspector, shows that Officer Stribling is at Camp Blanding in Florida, with the Mississippi National Guard; and that he was not interviewed.

It is also noted that the postal driver does not say that Mrs. Justice did not give a signal of her intention to stop, but says that he stopped his truck as promptly as he could, and if Mrs. Justice gave the proper hand signal, he did not see her do so. Also in this connection the courts have found that the driver of a car following another car should at all times keep his car a safe distance behind the other and that if there is a collision the rear car is responsible for the accident. Appended hereto is the report of the Post Office Department, together with other pertinent papers.

OFFICE OF THE POSTMASTER GENERAL,
Washington, D. C., June 10, 1941.

Hon. DAN R. McGEHEE,
Chairman, Committee on Claims,

House of Representatives.

MY DEAR MR. MCGEHEE: In compliance with the request of your committee dated May 22, I transmit for consideration with H. R. 4830, all papers on file in the Department relating to the claim of Mrs. W. V. Justice, of Jackson, Miss., in the sum of $1,500, arising out of an accident involving a United States mail truck.

The investigation of this accident disclosed that it happened midway of a block; that the mail truck was following the private car in traffic when the claimant made a sudden stop in order to park her car in a vacant place at the curb; and that by reason of the unexpected action of the claimant in stopping short without a signal, the postal chauffeur was unable to avoid bumping her car. It further appears that there was no visible evidence of damage to either vehicle nor did it appear that the impact was serious enough to cause injuries to any of the occupants of the private car. These facts are corroborated by Police Officer Paul Stribling who witnessed the accident and instructed the claimant to move on; also by Mrs. Fred R. Coney, a disinterested witness, who also stated that the impact was so slight that it could not have caused injury to any occupant of either vehicle.

Mrs. Justice presented a claim under the provisions of 5 United States Code 392, as amended, but upon the basis of the facts disclosed in the investigation, her claim was disallowed on the ground that the evidence did not establish the responsibility of the Government.

In the circumstances it is believed that the pending bill should not receive favorable consideration.

Very truly yours,

AMBROSE O'CONNELL,
Acting Postmaster General.

A. T. MONROE, Jr., Inspector.

Case No. 92379-U.

POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT,

OFFICE OF INSPECTOR, Jackson, Miss., February 20, 1941.

Subject: Jackson, Miss.: Accident on September 6, 1940, involving United States mail truck No. 18207, operated by R. L. Moman, carrier, and an automobile driven by Mrs. M. V. Justice, resulting in injury to the latter. Examined, approved and forwarded to Chief February 24, 1941.

The INSPECTOR IN CHARGE,

Chattanooga, Tenn.

W. B. WOOTEN,
Inspector in Charge.

1. This case relates to a motor-vehicle accident at Jackson, Miss., and was given personal attention at that office and at Florence, Miss., December 31, 1940, January 3, 1941, February 11 to 15, 1941, and today, in connection with the investigation of other cases.

2. There will be found in the files, Form 26, completed by City Carrier Robert L. Moman, showing the accident occurred on September 6, 1940, about 1:30 p. m., at the corner of Lamar and Capitol Streets. Carrier Moman stated the accident occurred just after he had crossed the intersection and was heading east on Capitol Street, and the car in front of him, driven by Mrs. W. V. Justice, came to a sudden stop to obtain a parking space. A diagram on Form 26, showing the relative positions of the two vehicles at the time of the accident corresponds with the report of Carrier Moman. The report in question was not made to the assistant superintendent of mails until September 12, 1940, although an oral report thereof was made when the carrier returned to the office. The accident appeared to be so minor, the completion of the form was not considered to be necessary. Form 27 is also in the files, covering an investigation of the accident made by Assistant Superintendent of Mails J. B. Murray, which contains practically the same information furnished by the carrier, except the time of the accicent was placed at 1:14 p. m. instead of 1:30 p. m. On Form 4560 which is herewith in the files, it is shown no one was injured as a result of this accident and no action was recommended as there was no damage to either vehicle involved. It is also shown the accident occurred after the parcel-post truck had crossed Lamar Street, while proceeding east on Capitol and was caused by the automobile just in front of the truck making a sudden stop to wait for another vehicle to back out of a parking space the driver of the automobile wanted to use. Witnesses to the accident were shown to be Mrs. F. R. Coney and Police Officer Paul Stribling, while Officers L. D. Marbuary, L. C. Bennett and G. E. Pritchard were present after the accident occurred.

3. Mrs. Justice has completed Form 28, showing that she was driving east on Capitol Street when a parcel-post truck driven by a Negro, ran into the rear of her car; that she suffered back and chest injuries, in addition to severe shock which was almost fatal, and that she was confined to her bed for all of 8 weeks and part of 2 weeks. Mrs. Justice stated she was given medical aid by Drs. J. E. Wadlington, Temple Ainsworth, and T. H. Blake, and has made claim in the sum of $5,000 for personal injury. Mrs. Justice also submitted a written statement showing she was accompanied by Mrs. Lulu Allbritton and Mrs. Price Allbritton at the time of the accident; that just after crossing Lamar Street she saw a car backing out of the fifth or sixth parking space from the corner and decided to park therein; that she immediately held out her hand indicating her intentions of parking and after slowing speed gradually to permit the other car to right itself to drive east, her car was hit by the parcel-post truck. Mrs. Justice claimed she was stunned for a short time after the impact, and her attention was then attracted by Police Officer Stribling telling her to move on as her car was not damaged; that she then informed the officer she was hurt and he told her to drive in to the curb. According to Mrs. Justice's statement, it was necessary for her to take two aspirin tablets to calm her nerves after the accident, but she later drove her car home and about 5 o'clock began to feel sick and suffered severe pains all over her body which necessitated her calling Dr. Wadlington. Mrs. Justice further stated she was given a sedative and taken to the Baptist Hospital where Dr. Blake was called for consultation and X-rays taken to determine the extent of her injuries; that she became quite ill that night about 10 o'clock and would have died if Dr. Wadlington had not been called to her aid; that the doctor recommended the services of two registered nurses be obtained and one of them stayed with her until she left the hospital on September 10.