Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1888-08-23
Two Ohio Pension Bills.
VetOaS that will Stir The Wrath aiY8taFdnS

YttG5S that Glll Stlf lie nfdth 81 Y5tdfdaS
WASHINGTON Cor. Cincinnati CommercialGazettc
The indignation of loyal men will
surely be aroused over some Of the re-
cent vetoes of the President. Among
them are two bills from Ohio, introduced
by Hon. j. d. Taylor, which are strik-
ing illustrations of the gross injustice
which is meted out to soldiers at the
hand of brutal power-One for the relief
of George W. Pitner, of Bridgeport, o.,
and the other for the relief of Elizabeth
Burr, of Cambridge, which were report
ed to the House favora5ly by the Invalid
Pension Committee, passed the House
bv a unanimous vote, went to the Sen
ate, were reported favOrably by the Pen
sion Committee of the Senate and pass
ed by unanimous vote. They were
vetoed by the President The following
is a copy of the report which was made
by Col. Thompson, from the Invalid
Pension Committee of the House, to ac
company the bill for the relief of Geo.
W. Pitner:
George W. Pitner was a member OF
the Seventy-seventh Ohio Volunteer In
fantry, and served about three years,
and in his al1idavits he states that while
in the service and on a march from Mo-
bile to Mana Hubba Bluff, on the Tom
bisbee River, on or about the 2Sih of
May, 1865, he had a sunstroke, from
which he has never recovered; that he
was mustered out of the service on the
Sth dav of March, 1866; that on the I'd
dav of June, 1881, while under the intlu-
ence of virtigO, caused by sunStroke, he
fell into a well and was SO injured that
his right leg had to be amputated below
the knee and the left leg was so injured
that it is substantially useless, the ankle
Joint being destroyed, and that he is now
utterly helpless.
"The testimony of Geo. w. Williams,
who was with him on this march at the
time of the sunstrOke, is that Pitner went
awav at the time Of this sunstroke in an
ambulance; that he was too weak to
march; that he was so light-headed that
he was apt to stagger around and Tau;
that he did no more duty there, but was
under the care of the surgeon, and did
only light duty from this injury until he
quit the service; was subject to fainting
spells and complained of his head.
'sDr. Cook, a prominent physician in
Bridgeport, the present Postmaster Of
that place, states that he has known Pit
ner and treated him more or less ever
since he came out of the service; treated
him at times for sunstroke or virtigo;
that when he was treating him in July,
1867, for sunstroke, he told him OF the
attack of sunstroke he had in the army
and gave him the full particulars OF the
same DR.. Cook says that he believed
then and still believes that the attack he
had in July, 1867, was superinduccd by
the former attack in the army, and that
these attacks of virtigo got so severe as
to incapacitate the complainant for any
kind of daily labor. DR.. Cook also tes
titles that it was during one Of these al
tacks that he fell in the well and was
dreadfully injured. The testimony shows
conclusively that Pitner is a man of
GOOD character, worthy of credit and be-
| lief, and free from all bad habits, but
very poor, entirely without any means
of support.
"Your committee, therefore, recon-
mends the passage of the bill"
This bill had the support of Hon. Ross
J. Alexander, DR.. Cook, and other prom
inent Belmont county Democrats; and a
petition signed by the business men in
bridgeport, of all parties, urging the
passage of the bill is now among the pa
pers in the case. DR.. Cook, who is one of
Cleveland's appointees, and President of
the Belmont Co. Medical Association,
supported the claim by a strong atiida-
Wit. The bill had the support Of the whole
community, and no one doubted its su-
perior merit. Mr.. Pitner was a good
soldier, followed the flag through all the
hardships and perils of the war, has a
wife and children worthy of generous
support, has no means whatever except
that which the hberality or his neigh
bors supplies, is permanently disabled
and utterly helpless, man of lntelll-
genee and integrity, and is now forced
bv Presidential veto to see his children
in want and his wife in rags and tears,
with no hope for the future. In letter
to Col. Taylor in regard to the veto ne
SAYS:
s.Mv only hope in this life is gone; a
pauper's death and burial is all that Is left
for me now. am tired of this life, for
if is so full of trials and tribulatiOns. 1t
has been so from my youth up. No one
to lead or guide me in my youth, ami
now no one to cheer or help me in my
old age. 1t is hard to be in want when
the country which l defended has so
much surplus. God knows | have al,
wavs tried to do right toward man and
beast, but what is the future for me and
nv family He alone can tell. My head
is all upside down."
One of the oldest members OF the
House in speaking of this veto, Just after
it had been read to the House, made
this remark:
"If the Almighty deals as unmereitul-
" with President Cleveland as he does
with the Union soldiers he will be sunk
a thousand fathoms deep in the tormentS
of hell.
The President did not feel quite sure
that Pitner was sufficiently disabled in
the service, and thinks if he had been he
would have applied earlier.
Elizabeth Burr, the other claimant
whose bill was vetoed, is the widow of a
soldier who was discharged from the
army on account of dropSy, and the
D,';1o,+ ,,atned the hill on the ground
that her husband had the dropsy before
he enlisted. when the only evidence of
sucb disability existing prior to his en-
listment was that he had swelled feet ut
one time three or four years before he
entered the service. Fourteen OF his
neirhbors and comrades, whose eharae-
ter are shown to be beyond question,
made oath that he was strong and
healthy ahlebodied man and good
u,,,.l,ar nrior In His enlistment, that he