On February 12, 1943, Mrs. Hattie L. Warren filed a claim with the War Department in an unstated amount for damages on account of the personal injuries sustained by her in the accident of November 18, 1942. On March 13, 1943, she amended her claim to a claim for $3,000. On May 25, 1943, the claim was disapproved by the War Department for the reason that there was no statute available to the Department under which Mrs. Warren could be compensated on account of the personal injuries received by her in the accident.

It appears that on June 26, 1946, Mrs. Warren filed a suit in the circuit court of Forrest County, Miss., against Charlie Hales, in which she demanded a judg ment for damages against the defendant in the amount of $3,000, together with court costs, on account of the loss of her right arm in the accident of November 18, 1942, the case being entitled Hattie Warren v. Charlie Hales, No. 3722 (recorded in book 5, p. 59, office of the circuit clerk of Forrest County, Miss.) A certified copy of the proceedings in this case shows that on June 27, 1946, the sheriff of Forrest County, Miss., served a summons on Charlie Hales, directing him to appear in said case before the county court at Hattiesburg, Miss., on the second Monday in July 1946; that on July 2, 1946, the sheriff of Forrest County served another summons on Mr. Hales, directing him to appear in this case before the circuit court of Forrest County on November 4, 1946; that the case came on for trial before the circuit court of Forrest County on May 5, 1947, at which time the defendant, Charlie Hales, did not appear and, no answer or other pleading having been filed in the case on his behalf, the court granted the motion of the plaintiff for a default judgment; and that the court then granted a motion presented by the plaintiff for a writ of inquiry, whereupon a jury was sworn and impaneled for the consideration of evidence with respect to the amount of the damages sustained by the plaintiff. After hearing the evidence presented the jury returned a verdict in favor of Mrs. Warren in the sum of $3,000. The court thereupon and on the same date entered a judgment in the case in which it was "ordered and adjudged by the court that the plaintiff, Hattie Warren, do have and recover of the defendant, Charlie Hales, the sum of $3,000, with legal interest thereon from this date, and also all costs of court whatsoever, for which let exccution be done." On August 2, 1947, the Sheriff of Forrest County filed with the circuit clerk of that county his final report of the execution of the judgment in this case in which he stated:

"I have this day executed the within writ personally by delivering to the within named Charlie Hales, and collecting the within amount $3,011.45.'

Charlie Hales in a letter to the Department of the Army, dated January 22, 1949, stated that he was summoned to appear before the county court of Forrest County, Miss., on the second Monday in July 1946, and that he attended said court on that date, but that the suit of Hattie Warren against him was sent to the circuit court. He also states that he was summoned to appear in the circuit court of Forrest County on November 4, 1946, but that the case did not come up for trial on that occasion. He contends that he was not summoned for the trial on May 5, 1947, and did not know that he should be present at that time. A certified copy of the proceedings in this case fails to show that Mr. Hales was summoned to appear for or had notice of the trial on May 5, 1947.

The records of the Department of the Army fail to show that Mr. Hales ever filed any claim with any officer, agent, or employee of the Military Establishment for damages on account of this accident, and there is no way by which he may be reimbursed administratively by the Government for the amount of the judgment entered against him by the circuit court of Forrest County on May 5, 1917 The evidence of record in the Department of the Army fairly establishes that the accident of November 18, 1942, was not caused by any fault or negligence on the part of Hattie Warren, Charlie Hales, or the driver of his bus, but was caused solely by the negligence of the driver of the Army truck involved in said accident in carelessly backing his truck into a busy street without maintaining a proper lookout and without first assuring himself that such movement could be executed in safety. Under these circumstances it is the view of the Department of the Army that the United States should provide adequate compensation for the damages caused by this accident. Inasmuch as Hattie Warren, who was injured in the accident, elected to proceed against Charlie Hales, the owner of the civilian bus in which she was riding as a passenger when such accident occurred, by a suit in the circuit court of Forrest County, Miss., which suit resulted in a judg ment in her favor in the aggregate amount of $3,011.45, as the amount of such judgment constitutes a fair and reasonable award for the damages sustained by her as a result of said accident, and as the full amount of the judgment has been collected from Mr. Hales, it is the opinion of this Department that he in justice and equity should be reimbursed by the United States in the sum of $3,011.45.

The principle involved in the present bill is similar to that involved in H. R. 3089, Eightieth Congress, a bill for the relief of Mississippi Central Railroad Co., which was enacted by the Congress, and was approved by the President on May 12, 1948, becoming Private Law 289, Eightieth Congress. In that case the Mississippi Central Railroad Co. was reimbursed by the United States in the sum of $10,750, the amount of the settlement made by it in compliance with a court order with the estate of a railroad brakeman who had been killed by reason of the negligent location by the Army authorities of a spur track within the Camp Shelby Military Reservation with relation to the overhanging eaves of a warehouse.

Charlie Hales has no remedy under the Federal Tort Claims Act (60 Stat. 843: 28 U. S. C. 921), as revised and codified by the Act of June 25, 1948 (62 Stat, 983; 28 U. S. C. 2672), for the reason that the accident out of which this claim arises occurred prior to January 1, 1945.

For the purpose of accuracy it is recommended that, if this bill is favorably considered by the Congress, the word "Forest" at the beginning of line 10, page I of the bill, be changed to "Forrest", and that the words "collided with" on line 1, page 2 of the bill, be changed to 'was struck by".

Inasmuch as the committee has requested that this report be expedited, it is submitted without a determinatoin by the Bureau of the Budget as to whether it conforms to the program of the President.

Sincerely yours,

GORDON GRAY,

Acting Secretary of the Army.

Tuesday's Minutes, May 13, 1947

JUDGMENT

Hattie Warren, Plaintiff, Charlie Hales, Defendant

This cause came on this day for hearing, according to law, and the plaintiff appeared in open court in person and by counsel and announced ready but the defendant, after having been served with proper process in the time, form, and manner provided by law, appeared not, and after having been called in open court three times the defendant appeared not, but wholly defaulted, and the plaintiff having moved the court for a default judgment and the same having been granted, the plaintiff then moved the court for a writ of inquiry and the same having been granted, and the writ venire facias, heretofore issued, being duly returned, came the following lawful men of Forrest County, Mississippi, to wit: George Harrison and eleven other good and lawful men and being accepted by the plaintiff and having beer tendered to the defendant, but the defendant having wholly defaulted in the premises, were duly sworn and empaneled, and after having heard all of the evidence and the testimony, retired to consider their verdict and after due consideration returned into open court the following verdict, to wit: "We, the jury, find for the plaintiff and assess her damages at $3,000.”

It is therefore, ordered and adjudged by the court that the plaintiff, Hattie Warren, do have and recover of the defendant, Charlie Hales, the sum of three thousand dollars ($3,000) with legal interest thereon from this date, and also all costs of court whatsoever, for which let execution issue.

So ordered by the court on this the 5th day of May 1947.

STATE OF MISSISSIPPI,

County of Forrest, ss:

I, L. M. Cox, circuit clerk of Forrest County, do hereby certify that the foregoing is a true and correct copy of judgment as the same appears of record in my office in book 16, page 34.

Given under my hand and official seal on this the 27th day of May, 1949. [SEAL]

L. M. Cox, Circuit Clerk. By EDNA EULA RODGERS, Deputy Clerk.

PAUL C. JUNEAU

JUNE 9, 1949.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House and ordered to be printed

Mr. BYRNE of New York, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany H. R. 2806]

The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the bill H. R. 2806) for the relief of Paul C. Juneau, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with amendments and recommend that the bill do pass.

The amendments are as follows:

Page 1, line 5, strike out "5,000", and insert "3,000".

Page 1, line 6, after the name "Louisiana," insert "in full settlement of all claims against the United States".

The purpose of the proposed legislation is to pay the sum of $3,000 to Paul C. Juneau, of New Orleans, La., for personal injuries and loss of earnings sustained as the result of an accident involving a United States Army Air Force vehicle, near the intersection of North St. Patrick and Bienville Streets, in New Orleans, La., on February 18, 1943.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

On February 18, 1943, at about 9:15 a. m., an Army sedan operated by an enlisted man on official business was proceeding in a southeasterly direction on Bienville Boulevard in New Orleans, La., at a speed of 35 to 40 miles an hour, in a school zone where the maximum speed limit at the time in question was 15 miles an hour, approaching the intersection of that boulevard with St. Patrick Street. A 1937 Plymouth sedan, owned and operated by Paul C. Juneau, 326 South Broad Street, New Orleans, in which his wife, Mrs. Madylen M. Juneau, was riding as a passenger, was proceeding in a northeasterly direction on St. Patrick Street toward the same intersection. ville Boulevard is a through street and stop signs on St. Patrick Street require traffic thereon to come to a stop before entering the intersection. Upon reaching the intersection, Mr. Juneau, in com

H. Repts., 81-1, vol. 4-28

Bien

pliance with such requirement, brought his car to a stop. Then, observing no traffic approaching from his left within a block, he drove into the intersection, and when he had reached a point near the center thereof and again stopped to permit traffic proceeding northwest on Bienville Boulevard to clear, his car was struck on its left side near the rear end by the Army vehicle, which had continued into the intersection without apparent reduction of speed. The civilian vehicle. was extensively damaged and Mr. Juneau sustained personal injuries. The Secretary of the Army in his report dated May 7, 1948, states that the evidence of record fairly establishes that this accident and the resulting damages sustained by Mr. Juneau were not caused by any fault or negligence on his part but were caused solely by the negligence of the driver of the Army vehicle involved in said accident in that he was proceeding at a speed considerably in excess of the legal limit at the time and place in question and that when he saw or should have seen that the civilian vehicle, after stopping in obedience to the stop sign, was proceeding through the intersection, he failed to reduce his speed and yield the right-of-way to such vehicle. The Department of the Army, therefore, believes that Mr. Juneau should be compensated in a reasonable amount for the injuries received by him in this accident, the disability resulting therefrom, the pain and suffering undergone, and the loss of earnings sustained. The proposed award of $5,000 stated in H. R. 5896 appears to be somewhat excessive, but the Department would have no objection to the enactment of the bill if it should be amended to provide for an award to Mr. Juneau in the amount of $3,000, which, it is believed, would constitute a fair and reasonable settlement for all of the damages sustained by him for which he has not heretofore been compensated. Therefore, your committee concurs in the recommendation of the Department of the Army and recommends favorable consideration of the bill, as amended.

Hon. EARL C. MICHENER,

Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary,

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY.
Washington, D. C., May 7, 1948.

House of Representatives.

DEAR MR. MICHENER: The Department of the Army would have no objection to the enactment of H. R. 5896, Eightieth Congress, a bill for the relief of Paul C. Juneau, if it should be amended as hereinafter recommended.

This bill would authorize and direct the Secretary of the Treasury to pay, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of $5,000, to Paul C. Juneau, of New Orleans, La., for personal injuries and loss of earnings sustained as the result of an accident involving a United States Army Air Force vehicle, near the intersection of North St. Patrick and Bienville Streets, in New Orleans. La.. on February 18, 1943.

On February 18, 1943, at about 9:15 a. m., an Army sedan operated by an enlisted man on official business was proceeding in a southeasterly direction on Bienville Boulevard in New Orleans, La., at a speed of 35 to 40 miles an hour, in a school zone where the maximum speed limit at the time in question was 15 miles an hour, approaching the intersection of that boulevard with St. Patrick Street. A 1937 Plymouth sedan, owned and operated by Paul C. Juneau, 326 South Broad Street, New Orleans, in which his wife, Mrs. Madylen M. Juneau, was riding as a passenger, was proceeding in a northeasterly direction on St. Patrick Street toward the same intersection. Bienville Boulevard is a through street and stop signs on St. Patrick Street require traffic thereon to come to a stop before entering the intersection. Upon reaching the intersect on Mr. Juneau, in compliance with such requirement, brought his car to a stop. Then, observing no traffic approaching from his left within a block, he drove into the intersection, and when he had reached a point near the center thereof and again stopped to permit traffic pro