Evening star., 1898-09-28
STORY OF A CLAIM
Progress of An Application for
Pension.
new BOOKS FOR FHE SPANISH WAR
Red, White and Blue Bands on the
Jackets.
COLORS FORMERLY USED

Five hundred and twenty-five claims for
pensions result of the war with Spain
are now ready for recording A new set
of record books has just been received for
their entry. Practically the same system
will prevail in the matter of the Spanish
war pension claims as in the old claims.
All declarations for pension claims-invalids,
minors. widows or dependent father, mother.
brother or sister-after being stamped with
the date of receipt in the mail division Of
the pension bureau, are sent te the record
division to be searched. jacketed and re-
corded The claim goes first to the magis-
trates' section of the record division to be
examined as to it's proper execution before
a justice Of the peace notary public.
After being passed upon here it then goes
to the state records for search, and If
claimant has a prior claim the recorder
on these records so indorses it, and the
declaration passes at once to the proper
adJudlcating division, to be filed with the
papers previously sent, and acknowledged
by claim number.
JacketinS the Claims.
II the search on the state records fails
10 ma a prior claim, the declaration is
sent to the jacketing section, to be jack
eted as an original claim A brief is made
On 'ilS lciIc VI lIc jacket giving the name
of the claimant the name and service of
the soldier, date of enlistment and dis
charge and the post office address of the
claimant, with the name and address of
the pension attorney, if an attorney is
employed The jiCke.s are all heavy viii. e.
SIazed paper burGered with a color all the
claims of one adjudicatinE division being
IN Jackets bordered with band of the
same color.
r or the eastern division red is used: for
vel f,r
pie and for the middle division green
Jackets for the United States regulars. ad-
Jud1cated in the old war and navy division
are plain white, with black borders or
Sllipes. FOR survivors of the Indian wars
hsht blu" IS used For Mexican war sur
Vlvors the Jackets are buff, with a red bor-
Ger. and for widows a short black border
OF mourning in addition
The new jackets in which tba Snanisb
war pension claims will be incosed are un-
hke any others used in the pension office
as theE nave border of the national col
clS, red. white and blue to designate them
The idea of the office in adopting this de-
sign for the Spanish war jacket was that
THIS war had united the whole country nm
Ger the red white and blue, and it was
quite appropriate that this should be ex-
pressed IN the band of national colOrs on
the jacket which shall inclose the claims
ior pension forwarded by Uncle Sans late
heroes or their dependent relatives Jt was
intended TO have the picture of the Oregon
the modern battle ship. en- the Jacket of the
claims for the navy but the first set was
crdered hurriedly for claims now on file
and sailing ship is depicted. Future lack
cts VIII have the Oregon at the head
Recording the Claim.
After leaving the jacketing section where
it has been given number known as tho
original number of declaration" each claim
Is recorded twice before leaving the record
division; first, on the three-letter-combina-
tlon record known the old record. sec
ohdlE, on the state records, where If is
recorded according to the proper regiment
ana company OF the state service in which
ne served All claims We're recorded once
ohly IN three-letter- combination records
prior to 1919, when they began to get so
bulky that search on them consumed so
much time 1t was deemed expedient To de-
wise new system according to the service
OF the soldier. 1t was thought at the time
OF their adoption the new or state records
would enable the division to do away with
the ree-letter-combination record now
generally designated the old record but 1t
was found better to continue it. and by the
TWO systems of records each claim stands
a better chance of not being missed by the
recorders, and is of great value in iden+i-
Tying evidence sent in not properly marked
Tor an adJudicating division; better sys-
TEN of records for this particular business
could hardly be found, for one set is al
ways an Endorsement and aid to the other
ana II an error Is made on one it can be
corrected from the second
Evidence received by the mail division
not designated By the number of the claim
the name and service of the soldier goes to
the record division, instead of direct from
the mail to an adJudicating division where
II belongs. Such evidence is searched on
both records, and if it can be identified
with the claim i'll the record DIVISION it is
Endorsed by the searcher and forwarded
with the claim number to the claim If the
evidence or letter is vague and indefinite
that 1t cannot be identified by the records
II IS returned to the claimant or the writer
IN Fl hfF. a. hot
the claim for which it is intended.
In the Certificate Division
After a claim has been aLowed and given
certificate number by the certificate di-
vision, cards go to the record division, from
which are copied the lately allowed certif-
cate number on both the old and new rec
ords. In this way a complete system of
claim numbers is kept in the record diyis-
ION. ana Il Sedrcher sees at glance the
number-hiStory of claim for pension
DAUGHTERS OF THE KING