Evening star., 1926-03-14
OvERRULED, M'CARL
PERSISTS AND WINS.
Refuses to Follow Court De-
cision and JuristS Uphold
Him Later.

Victory for Controller General Nc
had been overruled, was registered
in the Court Of claims during the
past week. when the court upheld a
NcCarl decision, which ii is said Will
deny substantial Sums TO heirs of
about $50 men lost at sea aboard the
illfated L. S. S. Conestoga and L. 5.
$. Cyclops.
In a previous case concerning the
pay of a man aboard the Conestoga
the Court of Claims had upheld the
Secretary Of the Navy. allowed
claim of So0i.60 to an heir and re-
versed a decision of McCari. The
controller general however. had re
fused to abide by the court ruling, ana
in the decision rendered TINS past
week in another case, McEarl was
npheId. the court SaytnG II had no
jurisdiction.
Tho question az issue was the date
IF the loss of IL. Conestoga. whi"h
had been nlaced hy Secretary of tn"
Navy DENLY 3. June 30. hut by COY
trolIer General McCarl ~ April ~.
Paw for the difference In time IN the
case of Fred shook. one of th"Se Ios'
in the ConestoGa was ~ issue TINS
week, tho Court cf Claims hoidfnt
hat It did not have jurisdiction. Rhh
hat the Aprii 81 da;c get hy me CON
t~cller general should obtain.
Grace Shook. administratriN for the
estate of Fred Shook, sued for the
sum. $92.93, and lost
Decision Held rs Precedent.
officials of the office Of controller
general interpret the decision as
precedent which will hold in the case
Of all the four officers and 81 men on
board the COneStoga, ana ABOUT o""
aboard the CTclops. Many cases are
pending in the court from heirs com
prising these two sets OF claimants
The L. s s. Conestoga, an ocean
ting. 70 he stationed at Samoa, left
San Francisco on March %, 1927, for
Pearl Harbor. Honolulu. Hawaii. and
disappeared at sea with all on board,
The Secretary of the Navy officially
reported on July 5. 1921, TO the bu-
reau of Navigation that the ship
should be stricken from the Navy
list as Of June so, 1921"
Controller General NcCarl. tigur-
ing that the ship in course o. due
sailing would nave reached Honoiuln
April 5. 1921, added "a days. or sutti-
vessel to make Il round trip. ana
placed the loss OF the ship on April
30.
In the case of Harry. +. Quinn of
the ConestoSa. whose mother sued
for recovery of S2e1.60. the Court OF
Claims on July ., 1923, decided IN
favor of the Secretary of the Navy
date Of June 80, and the Quinn con
tentions, against the controller gen.
~
,roller general stated in an official
ruling that he refused TO reverse his
prior decisions on the Conestoga. and
would not follow the decision of the
Court of Claims in the Quinn case.
Cyclops Lost I'm 1918.
The Cyclops, a Navy collier, carried
10 their deaths 300 men, includlns
Marines. whose heirs will forfeit
rights to a similar refund ny tne ''oN
ernment, according TO the Genera
Accounting Ofice Interpretation Of
the Shook decision.
The Cyclops left the island OF ha
hadoes. British West Indies, Marcn
4. 1918 for Baltimore, and disappeared
AT sea, The controller general fixed
March 81, 1918 as the date OF loss
whereas the Secretary OF the Navy
fixed June -. Numerous cases are
perding In the court or clillHlS oFV'
fhe nav. represented by the difference
between these twc dates.
II vas explained at the office ot the
ontroller general that the Shook de
cision in nc way affected numerous
awards by the Government TO heirs
Of the lost men under war risk In
surance and other pay due.
The Department of Justice repre-
s,ented the Government before the
Court Of Claims, defending the Nc
Carl decision.