COMMITTEE ON NAVAL AFFAIRS DAVID I. WALSH, Massachusetts, Chairman MILLARD E. TYDINGS, Maryland RICHARD B. RUSSELL, Georgia HARRY FLOOD BYRD, Virginia PETER G. GERRY, Rhode Island CHARLES O. ANDREWS, Florida ALLEN J. ELLENDER, Louisiana JOHN L. MCCLELLAN, Arkansas JAMES O. EASTLAND, Mississippi WARREN G. MAGNUSON, Washington FRANCIS J. MYERS, Pennsylvania CHARLES W. TOBEY, New Hampshire EDWARD V. ROBERTSON, Wyoming M. E. GALLAGHER, Clerk CONTENTS Page Statement of Denfeld, Vice Adm. Louis E., Chief of Naval Personnel (accompanied by Rear Adm. Herbert G. Hopwood, Bureau of Naval STATEMENT OF CAPT. C. J. WHITING, CHIEF OF GENERAL LAW DIVISION, OFFICE OF THE JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL, NAVY DEPARTMENT Captain WHITING. Mr. Chairman, this bill is to provide payment to personnel for personal property lost while those personnel were occupying quarters, due to fires at three naval activities. The first fire was in drill hall hangar and Quonset hut at the naval air station at Pasco, Wash., caused by unsafe use of an electrical extension lighting. There are 10 claimants. The total amount of the claims is $147, making an average claim of $14.70. They were all enlisted men. The second fire was in Quonset hut, naval receiving station, Navy 128, on 15 July 1945, from an unknown cause. There were 18 men, all enlisted men. The total amount of the 18 claims is $1,236.05, or an average claim of approximately $68. The third fire occurred in building 178 at Scout Observation Service Unit 1 at Navy 128 on July 27, 1945, from an unknown cause. There were two enlisted men and six officers who lost property in this fire. The average claim was $44.80. The total claim from this fire was $358.90. The total number of claimants covered by the bill is 36. The total amount of all the claims is $1,741.95. All of these claims have been processed by the Bureau of Personnel Claims Board, who have recommended the amounts as stated above. The Navy Department recommends its enactment. The CHAIRMAN. The usual procedure has been followed? Captain WHITING. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. Very well. S. 1710 The CHAIRMAN. We will now take up Docket No. 165, S. 1710. S. 1710 is a bill to authorize the Secretary of the Navy to grant and convey to the Virginia Electric & Power Co. a perpetual easement in two strips of land comprising portions of the Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Va. (S. 1710 is as follows:) [S. 1710, 79th Cong., 1st sess.] A BILL To authorize the Secretary of the Navy to grant and convey to the Virginia Electric and Power Company a perpetual easement in two strips of land comprising portions of the Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia, and for other purposes Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Navy be, and he is hereby, authorized to grant and convey by quitclaim deed under such conditions as he may approve, to Virginia Electric and Power Company, a corporation organized and existing under and by virtue of the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, without cost to said corporation, a perpetual easement in two strips of land, each twenty feet in width, and four hundred and fourteen feet in length and six hundred and sixty-three feet in length, respectively, containing four hundred and ninety-four one-thousandths of an acre of land, more or less, comprising portions of the salvage yard, and the public works storage lot, Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia, for the construction, maintenance, operation, renewal, replacement, and repair of electric power transmission and distribution lines consisting of poles, wires, cables, and other fixtures and appurtenances incidental thereto, the metes and bounds descriptions of which are on file in the Navy Department. SEC. 2. The Secretary of the Navy, in consideration of the transfer to the United States by Virginia Electric and Power Company title to certain equipment consisting of poles, wires, cross arms, insulators, and other incidental materials, is further authorized to transfer, under such conditions as he shall approve, to said Virginia Electric and Power Company, without cost to said corporation, all of the right, title, and interest of the United States of America in two electric cables, each three-conductor, three hundred and fifty thousand circular mils, eleven-thousand-volt, and each three thousand nine hundred and ten feet in length, which are installed within two conduits of the United States of America, constructed in and upon a strip of land comprising a part of the Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia; and the Secretary of the Navy is further authorized to grant and convey, under such conditions as he may approve, to Virginia Electric and Power Company, without cost to said corporation, a perpetual easement to maintain, operate, renew, replace, and repair the aforesaid electric cables within said conduits, the metes and bounds description of the location of which is on file in the Navy Department. The CHAIRMAN. I understand that Mr. Peter S. Twitty is the witness with regard to this bill. Mr. TWITTY. Mr. Chairman, Mr. Veal has a statement with regard to that matter; I would like to have him present the testimony on this bill. The CHAIRMAN. Very well. Mr. Veal, will you come forward? STATEMENT OF GUY R. VEAL, REAL ESTATE DIVISION, BUREAU OF YARDS AND DOCKS, NAVY DEPARTMENT Mr. VEAL. Mr. Chairman, this is a case involving an exchange of easements between the Virginia Electric & Power Co. and the United States Navy at Norfolk, in connection with the Portsmouth Navy Yard. There was formerly an electrical street railway line operated by the Virginia Electric & Power Co. over what was known as Gilmerton Boulevard. In 1935 the use of the street railway was discontinued; they tore out the tracks and deeded the right-of-way over to the county, reserving, however, their easements for power lines. They had two pole lines, one on either side of the boulevard. The Navy, in connection with five separate purchases, closed out a part of this right-of-way; they bought the land on both sides, but they took it, of course, subject to existing public-utility easements. Later, it was necessary for the Navy, in connection with the roadways in the navy yard, to put an overpass over the Portsmouth Belt Line Railroad. That, and other changes, necessitated taking the pole lines down and installing underground conduits. The Navy put those in; they installed electrical cables, likewise, to replace the two overhead pole lines of the power company, which were through-service lines and had to be continued. So, they put two cables into the conduit for the power company. We now propose to give them permanent easement for the use of the two cables and for the maintenance of the two cables in the conduits; and, likewise, for two small portions, one 400 feet and one 600 feet long, for pole lines, which are to be relocated. In this entire deal, the Navy took over and had to scrap certain of the equipment of the Virginia Electric & Power Co. So, in addition to giving them the easements for the cables, and maintenance, it is proposed that we likewise replace their overhead pole cables which we obtained from them in the deal. The CHAIRMAN. I understand that these conduits already have these lines in them. Mr. VEAL. That is right. The CHAIRMAN. Why do we need legislation? Mr. VEAL. Merely in order to give the company a perpetual easement; for that purpose, it is necessary to have legislation. We do not have the authority. The CHAIRMAN. At the time, it was a temporary arrangement? We can give a revocable permit, but they want a perpetual easement. The CHAIRMAN. And they want a perpetual easement? Mr. VEAL. That is true. The CHAIRMAN. And what are we getting for the granting of this easement? Mr. VEAL. We are getting the right that we have already exercised, under the present agreement, to take down the overhead pole lines, which were an obstacle and which could not be in at that time and had to be taken down. Moreover, they had to be taken down when the Navy put in an overpass to the Belt Line Railroad. The CHAIRMAN. Is there any additional expense to the Government? Mr. VEAL. None now. The CHAIRMAN. There was, in the beginning? Mr. VEAL. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. This is merely confirming what has already been done? Mr. VEAL. That is true. The CHAIRMAN. It will approve, as a perpetual right, terms and conditions and arrangements that were made temporarily when this land was taken? Mr. VEAL. Yes. It has been approved by the Secretary and cleared the Bureau of the Budget. The CHAIRMAN. Very well. Without objection, it will be reported. SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 130 The CHAIRMAN. We will now proceed to the consideration of Docket No. 169, Senate Joint Resolution 130, to authorize the President to appoint Rear Admiral Earle W. Mills, United States Navy, to the office of chairman and member of the United States Maritime Com |