The National tribune., 1902-01-16
PENSION POINTERS.
Inquiries Answered and Sugges-
tiOns Made.

Z r s. w. Ellington, W. Na.-Under the
present holdings of the Interior Depart
Z msnt, pension cannot be obtained under
I the act of June ~. 1890. unless the solder
received an honorable discharge from each
; term of enlistment entered upon during
. the period of the war of the rcbcllicE.
!. NJ. A, Thurston, \. I.-It appears
that the Board of Pension Appeals Of the
, Interior Department diSposCs of abonl
a. pension appeals each month. on an
avsrage:
4 az an act> of March 3, 1865, provided
for:the payment of children'S pension from
the. date of the soldiers death, notwith-
standing a widow survived. lin case of
. her death or marriage without payment to
: her of any part of the pension " here
. pension has been granted to the children
! under this provision. over the period of
! their mothers widowhood, the widow is
not entitled to n second payment of the
pension to her See decision in case of
Rhoda Z. Tutcn, department News,
this issue.
O. V, Bozeman, Mont.-Wherc there is
no actual amputatiOn of the limb, the
title to communication in lieu of artificial
limb depends upon the limb being practi-
cally useless that is. so disabled that ia
general low rate of pension provided for
total disability of arm or leg would be
allowable.
j. NJ. B., Chuckey City. Tenn.-It does
not matter how many attorneys pension
d; claimant has empowered i'll his case,
=. whether by executing Il simple power OF
attorney or by executing articles of agree
ment, only one attorney OF firm will be
recognized on the allowance of the case
and only one fee paid.
\. Ii. Mt is only the lawful wife of
an invalid pensioner that may claim part
Of his pension, i'll accordance with the pro-
visions of the act of March 3, 1899. \
divorced wife has no rights under this
law; nor would she have any rights as
widow under the pension laws in the event
of the pensioners death. No special act
of Congress could be procured i'll such a
case.
j. NJ. H, West Sand Lake, \. Y.-A
mistake made in stating to the Examining
Surgeons how long the pensioner has had
certain disability would hardly be re
garded as of any Importance II the eyl-
dence in the case shows that the disablli-
ty existed longer than was stated to the
Examining Surgeons.
W. S. H., Knoxville, Tenn.-Gcneral
Orders No. -, a. q. o., War Department,
dated May p, 1861, provides: -
the first two paragraphs of Article 4,
Memorandum General Orders, No. 10,
are amended to read as follows:
Every volunteer nOn-commssioned officer,
private, musician, and artiticer, who en-
der this plan, shall be paid at the rate of
80 cents in lieu of subsistence. and if
cavalry volunteer, % cents additional, in
lieu of forage. for every 20 miles of travel
from his place of enrolment to the place
of muster-the distance TO be measured
by the shortest usually travelled route; and
when honOrably discharged, an allowance,
at the same rate, from the place of his
discharge to his place of enrolment, and,
in addition thereto, the sum of 500"
NJ. D.. Oklhoma.-The settlement of a
claim for invalid pension under the act Of
June 81, 1890, ought to follow within six
months after medical examination.
4. c. T., Stevens Point, Wis.-The
general law rate Of invalid persiOn for
total less OF sight of both eyes is SD per
month There is no schedule of rates for
less Of sight in degrees less than total.
Each case is settled according to the ac-
tual loss of sight found to exist.
G. Z. B., Worthington, Pa.-lf the sol
dier's widow survives, sne alone could
claim and obtain pension under the gem
eral law from the date of the soldier
death. If no widow survives, the child
under 16 at date of the soldiers death
could obtain pension under the. general
law, provided the child was under 16 on
July l, 1880.
Stanton-A decision upon the law
holding 10 be valid claims previously held
invalid, would not make necessary the fl
ing of new applications in such claims
filed previous to the decision. The appli-
cations would necessarily be held to be
valid from the date of filing.
Comrde B., Spring Greek, Tenn.-The
fact that your claim is under the general
law, and has been on file a good while as
you say, may account for its not being
acted upon more promptly. The present
. Commissioner of Pensions has an aversion
for allowing any claim that involves the
payment Of any considerable amount of
money. Claims on file in the Pension Bu-
reau are divided up according TO the State
from which the soldier served, so that it
would not necessarily follow that because
tTo applicants were examined by a Board
of Surgeons on the same day, their claima
would necessarily be reached and acted on
at about the same time. Some divisions
in the Pension Bureau are farther behind
than others. BY all means, write TO your
member of Congress ana ask him TO in
quire as to the status of your claim. BE
sure to state the number Of the claim, also
the company and regiment in which you
served; that your claim has been pending
so many years; that the proofs are be
lieYed to be complete, and that you were
last examined Oh such date. Your other
question cannot be answered without more
information, character of disability, what
law pensioned under, etc.
\. |. w, Langsvilfe, Ohio-The act
you referred TO Is evidently that of Junf
16, 1880, which authorized an increase e
$12 per month of the invalid pensions OF
all soldiers and sailors then in receipt OF
$50 per month under an act of June IS
1874. The act further provided that tho
increase should be made to commence
from June II, 1878.
J. w. H., Millvillc, ". Under tn,
general pension law, only disability OF
proved service origin is considered. Eyi
dently yOu were drawing So under the
general law in accordance with the act
OF March 2, 1885, which provided that tho
minimum invalid pension under the gen
eral law should thereafter be SO. Ap
parently your rate of pension according
Z TO degree Of disablcment from disability
Of proven service origin would have beer
less than So, and from the character o
the rejection Of your new disability claim
( under the general law, it would seem tha
the addition Of the new disability TO you
general law pension certificate would no
entitle you TO more than SO. Tie reasoI
you got higher rating under the act O
1880, which pension you have since oh
tanned, is because under that law your en-
tire physical condition was considered. i'll
cludiDg your disablcmcnt from age. Tn,
Board Of Pension Appeals of the Intcrio
Department is apparently over so month
in arrears Of work.
DEPARTMENT NEWS.