The National tribune., 1899-10-26

claim and title TO pension could she have
avoided making it." 1t is held that In the
absence of evidence of the alleged prior
marriage so long insisted upon by claim.
ant, she is to be held the legal widow OF
the soldier.
RECORD NCE-CERTIF1CATE
OF DISABILITY.--In the pension case OF
Daniel NJ. Delo, the claimant incurred an
injury to his hip through an accidental
fall from bunk in barracks. The injury,
though appearing trifing at first, became
through exposure incident to service so
disabling i'll the course of few days as to
neceSSitate his being sent to general hos
pital; and few months later he was dis
charged for disability, the Hospital Sur.
geon'S certificate stating: Because OF
dislocation of femur into sciatic notch, OF
five months standing; happened, while
in the performance of his duty" The
claimant being unable to furnish the evil
dence of any person actually present and
eyewitness to the circumstances OF the
injury, the Pension Bureau rejected the
claim on the ground that line OF duty was
not shown.
The decision assistant Secretary Davis,
Sept. %, 1890 says: The evidence fur
nished by the appellant and that obtained
by special examination tends to show that
he was sound prior to enlistment. While
it is impossible TO obtain the testimony OF
eye-wtneSSes in regard to the circumstances
of his injury, the special examination de
veloped nothing tending 10 discredlt hls
statement in relation thereto. 1t is shown
that he became disabled about the time
alleged; that while in hospital he went
around on crutches, with his left leg drawn
up, and that it was said he had been in
Jured in the hip; also, that he said he had
rheumatism.
Having considered all the evidence,
am of the opinion that in so far as the
IN of. of INT lS
should be determined in the appellants
favor. on the record made at the time of
his discharge. While it be assumed that
the officer who made the record had no per-
sonal knowledge of the circumstances
under which the injury was incurred and
probably had no knowledge whatever on
the subject except what he derived from the
claimant, nevertheless, as has been re-
peatedly held by the Department, record
of that kind so nearly contemporaneous
with the event TO which it relates, made at
time when the soldier had (aS may be
presumed from his subsequent conducD no
thought of applying for pension, and which
is not rebutted by any of the evidence de-
veloped by special examination, is more
trustworthy than much of the parol testl-
mony upon which we are compelled to
rely in adjudicatng claims filed 25 or 80
years after the war.
The fact that the appellant, in his orig
inal declaration, attributed his disability
TO rheumatism, following fever, ought not
to prejudice his case, as it is a well-settled
rule that pension claimants should not be
held to strict technical descriptions of their
disabilities. (Albert G. Hurst, IA p. D., I
o. S., 472; Robert Crawford, 1 P. D., 153.
His allegation of rheumatism affecting
the left leg, knee, and hip taken in con-
nectlon with his subsequent affidavit rela-
tive to the injury, which at the time OF its
incurrence, appeared to be of little conse-
ic cl1ffiniant IN tho affection
OF the left sciatic nerve and its branches.
to which the Medical Referee says his
present disability is due"
DEPENDENT PARENTS-ACT OF
JUNE 27, 1S9O-RATE ACCORDING TO
RANK-A supplemental decision (As-
sistant Secretary Davis, Sept. %, 1S99) is
rendered in the case of Elizabeth Darling
for dependent mothers pension, decided
June 21, 1899, and reported in this column
in the Issue of July ~. 1899. The pension
Bureau inquired whether it was to be I'M
derstood from the former decision that
rank of soldier in the service is to be taken
into consideration in those cases where
the dependent parent has filed an appli-
cation subsequent to June 81, 1890, and
relies upon present dependence to prove
the claim" The response is in the affirma-
tive, and states that the proviso of the act
of June 81, 1890, that rank in the service
shall not be considered in applications
filed under this act" has relation only to
survivors, widows and children's claims
filed under sections 2 and 3 of the act.
The holding Of the former decision that
the act of June 81, 1890, did not create
new pension title for dependent parents,
distinct from the general law, but merely
amended the general law as to this class
OF claimants, is reaffirned.
TRAVEL-PAY.-The Assistant Comp
troller of the Treasury rules that an en-
listed man discharged to accept civil
appointment in the War Department is
not entitled to travel-pay to place of en-
liStment
BURIAL COMMUTATION-SPA
WAR.-The- Assistant Comptroller of the
Treasury rules that if an officer or enlisted
man died at home on furlough no reim-
bursement or Communication of burial ex-
penses can be allowed, as the law does not
cover such cases.