2d Session. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES. APRIL 29, 1880.-Ordered to be printed. No. 541. Mr. ANTHONY, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, submitted the following REPORT: [To accompany bill S. 1538.] The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred Senate bill No. 1538, authorizing the closing of the accounts of the late Rear-Admiral A. H. Foote, U. S. N., having considered the same, report as follows: Rear-Admiral A. H. Foote, after long, honorable, and distinguished services in the United States Navy, died June 26, 1863, while on his way to assume command of the South Atlantic squadron, under orders of the Secretary of the Navy issued June 4, 1863. Upon receiving such orders he drew, as he was allowed by law to do, two months' advance pay, amounting to $834. This amount was mostly expended by him in making preparation for the performance of the duty to which he was assigned, and the sum not thus expended was consumed in paying the expenses of his last sickness. He died from disease contracted in the service, and left no property from which the amount advanced to him could be refunded to the Treasury. By the present regulations of the Treasury Department his accounts will be closed on the books of that department by the statement that he was a "defaulter" unless the relief asked for in this bill is afforded. · The committee recommend the passage of the bill. > 2d Session. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES. No. 542. APRIL 28, 1880.-Ordered to be printed. Mr. INGALLS, from the Committee on Pensions, submitted the following REPORT: [To accompany bill H. R. 2853.] The Committee on Pensions, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 2853) granting a pension to Elizabeth Aults, submit the following report: They find the facts in this case substantially set forth in the report of the Committee on Invalid Pensions of the House of Representatives (Forty-sixth Congress, second session), No. 34. They recommend the passage of the bill with the following amendment: Strike out all after "pension," in line 9 down to and including "rebellion" in line 14, and insert "from and after the passage of this act." [II. Report No. 34, 46th Congress, 2d session.] Ambrose M. Aults, the late husband of the claimant, was first mustered into the military service of the United States in Company D, One hundred and thirty-first Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers, on the 9th day of August, 1862, and was honorably discharged from said company in May, 1863. On the 2d of September, 1864, he again entered the military service as First Lieutenant in Company G, Two hundred and fifth Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers, and was promoted to the captaincy of said company on the 14th of May, 1865, and was honorably discharged from the Army of the United States on the 2d of June, 1855. He applied for a pension on the 30th of April, 1874, alleging that he contracted, in April, 1865, tuberculosis, while being conveyed in a steamer from City Point, Va., to Annapolis, Md., being wounded at the time. He died on the 17th of February, 1875, and before any decision was made on his application by the Pension Department. The claimant, on the 14th of July, 1875, filed her application as widow for pension for herself and two children. This pension application was "rejected on the ground that the disease of which the soldier died was not charageable to his military service." Ambrose M. Aults left a widow, Elizabeth Aults, and two children, namely: Mary Louisa Aults, born June 3, 1870, and Ambrose M. Aults, born July 19, 1873. Alexander Bobb, who was major of the Two hundred and eighth Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers, on the 21st of April, 1874, testifies that "at the charge on the rebel works before Petersburgh, Va., on the 2d day of April, 1865, Captain Aults was wounded by a gunshot in left hip, and went to a hospital at City Point, and while there he saw said Captain Aults; and that the said Aults was then sent by steamer to Annapolis, Md., and while absent he took severe cold, and coughed and complained of lung affection. That he saw him in Harrisburg, Pa., about the 1st of June, 1865, and he was then coughing and looking haggard, and complained of lung disease; and that he was sound and free from disease of lungs at the time he was lying in City Point hospital, Va., and before that; and that after coming from Annapolis was ever sickly, and that he got this disability in the service of the United States and in line of duty." Captain Aults, in January, 1875, testified that he was unable to get the regiment surgeon's certificate, from the fact that on the 2d of April, 1865, he was wounded and left the regiment, and while away from it he took sick and did not get back to the regiment until it was ready to be mustered ont, in June, 1865, and then he did not see the surgeon; and that he was unable to give the name of the surgeon on the boat, because he was on the boat but a short time, and there were a large number of wounded to be treated by the surgeon, and that he was given "leave of absence" at the hos pital and he went home. In a deposition filed on 12th of September he swears: "I claim on account of tuberculosis contracted in April, 1865, while being conveyed in a steamer from City Point, Va., to Annapolis, Md., being wounded at the time." Dr. David D. Mahan, in August, 1874, testified that he well knew Ambrose M. Aults for fifteen years prior to enlistment in the Army, and was his family physician three years prior thereto, and was at the time of his enlistment, and knows that said soldier was a sound and hearty man, and free from tuberculosis or any disease of the lungs. Dr. J. F. Wilson, on the 10th of August, 1874, testified that "he well knew Capt. Ambrose M. Aults at the time of his discharge; that he was his family physician to and for him from the date of his discharge, June 2, 1865, to the year 1873, and that he treated him during this time for incipient tuberculosis." Dr. Rowan Clark, on the 10th of August, 1877, testified that he was the family physician to Capt. Ambrose M. Aults from October, 1871, to August, 1874, that he treated him all that time for tuberculosis, or disease of the lungs. Dr. J. M. Smith, attending physician at the time of Captain Aults's death, on the 17th of September, 1875, testified that the "physical condition of Ambrose M. Aults from August, 1874, to date of death: Disorganization of greater portion of left lung, with perceptible flattening of chest-wall in infra and supra clavicular region; tubercular deposit in right lung; cough, with copious muco-purulent expectoration; gradual exhaustion and extreme emaciation, evidenced by hectic symptoms; active hemorrhage from lungs February 4, 7, and 15, caused by breaking down of lung tissue. Died from exhaustion February 17, 1875, at 1 o'clock a. m. From this mass of medical evidence, given by reputable and distinguished members of the medical profession, the committee readily came to the conclusion that Captain Aults contracted tuberculosis whilst in the Army, and which was the cause of his death. As the tuberculosis was contracted whilst Ambrose M. Aults was a first lieutenant, his pension should be at that rate. The committee do not hesitate to recommend the passage of the accompanying bill. |