JUNE 8 (legislative day, JUNE 1), 1948.-Ordered to be printed Mr. WILEY, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 929] The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 929) for the relief of Ernest L. Godfrey, having considered the same, do now report the bill to the Senate favorably, without amendment, and recommend that the bill do pass. This bill provides for the payment of $2,500 to Ernest L. Godfrey as compensation for a permanent injury to his right arm caused when it was caught in a mangle in the laundry on the Hoopa Indian School grounds in California. STATEMENT Attached hereto and made a part of this report are extracts from the House report which set forth in detail the facts in this case. A statement by Mrs. Elizabeth Marshall, attested under date of September 2, 1944, affirms that she was laundry supervisor at the Hoopa Indian School from 1916 to 1927, and certifies that boys and girls of from 5 to 14 years of age who were students at the school were employed in the laundry under the supervision of herself as the only adult in the laundry. Mrs. Marshall further recites the occurrence of at least three other injuries inflicted by the mangle to children while employed in the laundry. Mrs. Marshall further states that the entire laundry was dangerous and hazardous, which was so obvious that she did not inform the superintendent of the agency of the conditions. When the injury was inflicted on Ernest L. Godfrey, a part of the laundry building was used as a boys' dormitory, which made it impossible to keep the building locked to prevent the smaller children from entering and being hurt. One child died after her hair had been caught in the mangle, pulling off her entire scalp. Mrs. Marshall's complete statement has been filed with the committee. Ernest L. Godfrey was born on August 9, 1919, so that when this injury was inflicted on him he was in the year between his seventh and eighth anniversaries of his birth. When he attained his majority in 1940, he applied through the Indian agency for compensation for his injury. Under date of July 18, 1947, the Under Secretary of the Interior, Oscar L. Chapman, submitted to the House Committee on the Judiciary a report on the bill, H. R. 929, and in that report stated, in part: "Nevertheless, if the claimant can satisfy the Congress that he was working in the laundry or can produce other evidence indicating that the injury was in fact due to fault of the Government, we would have no objection to enactment of legislation to provide proper compensation." Under date of March 19, 1946, Mr. J. Preston Myers, education field agent at the Hoopa Valley Indian Agency, wrote the following language: "We are interested in seeing this go through for Mr. Dodfrey as we feel it is a just claim, and special effort should be made to do something for him in this light.' Mr. Myers in this letter was referring to relief for Mr. Godfrey by means of congressional action on a private bill in behalf of Mr. Godfrey. The sworn statement by Mrs. Elizabeth Marshall, as submitted to the committee and above referred to, certainly tends to establish that officials of the Government in charge of the operation of that laundry were negligent of the safety to children in the operation of the mangle_without any safety devices thereon until sometime after the injury inflicted on Ernest L. Godfrey. There has been submitted to the committee affidavits of several other children who had been injured in this lanudry-children of tender years who were assigned to work on this same mangle which caused the injury to Ernest L. Godfrey. The assignment of such young children to duty on this mangle which did not have attached to it any safety devices is further evidence of negligence of the Government official in charge of the operation of this laundry for the safety of anyone likely to be employed in any capacity on that mangle. Mr. Godfrey has made a valiant effort to make a place for himself, despite permanent injury to his arm. He has taken advantage of educational rehabilitation courses as provided by the State of California, but, notwithstanding this, he has on numerous occasions been forced to give up jobs or was denied opportunity for advancement because of the deformity and loss of strength in his injured arm. Beyond the medical care and operations extended to him by the agencies of the Government, Mr. Godfrey has been forced to seek private medical and surgical treatment and care by private professional men at his own personal expense over the intervening years since he suffered this injury. Mr. Godfrey appeared to explain orally the circumstances of the injury, the loss of earning capacity and opportunity occasioned by his injury, and the additional medical and surgery expense he has been obliged to pay from his own personal funds over the intervening years since the Government paid his last bills for surgical and medical care and attention from Government funds. The damages suffered by Mr. Godfrey include the expenses he paid for medical treatment and operations, the suffering he endured, and his impaired ability to perform employments which required substantial strength in his right arm. Therefore, your committee recommends favorable consideration to the bill. Hon. EARL C. MICHENER, THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR, Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives. MY DEAR MR. MICHENER: Further reference is made to your request of February 17 for a report on H. R. 929, a bill for the relief of Ernest L. Godfrey. H. R. 929 authorizes an appropriation of $2,500 to Mr. Godfrey, a one-fourthdegree Klamath Indian, in full settlement to all claims against the United States arising from an injury alleged to have occurred on October 26, 1926, to his right arm, which was caught in the mangle of the laundry of the Hoopa Indian School, California. The bill further alleges that the accident occurred during a period when Ernest was a student in the school and was assigned to duty in the laundry as part compensation toward his tuition. It is true that Mr. Godfrey was a student in the school, but I do not believe that he, then a boy of only 7 years, was assigned to duty in the laundry. A memorandum of information is attached setting out the details of the injury as shown by the records of the Indian Office. In 1940 and 1941 Mr. Godfrey discussed with the Indian Service field representatives at Hoopa Valley Agency the possibility of submitting a claim, but no formal claim was then filed. Mr. Godfrey had just been rejected from certain employment because of the condition of his arm. At or before that time Mr. Godfrey had several operations which improved the use of the arm. There was some firmness of grip in his hand, and much muscular growth had taken place, but the arm was still far from normal. Since our records do not show that the injury was due to fault of the Government, I cannot recommend enactment of legislation to compensate Mr. Godfrey for the injury to his arm. Nevertheless, if the claimant can satisfy the Congress that he was working in the laundry or can produce other evidence indicating that the injury was in fact due to fault of the Government, we would have no objection to enactment of legislation to provide proper compensation. The records do not show how much Mr. Godfrey has expended in medical treatment and surgery because of the injury nor is it possible to estimate from available information the loss of time and inconvenience caused by the condition of the arm. For this reason, we have no basis on which to predicate a recommendation for amount of damages. Attention is invited to the discrepancy regarding the date of the accident Records of the Office of Indian Affairs indicate that the accident occurred on November 13, 1926. The date "October 26, 1926" in line 9, page 1 of the bill should be changed to "November 13, 1926." Lacking assurance that Mr. Godfrey was not in fact working in the laundry, it appears necessary to insert a colon after the word "school" in line 11, page 1, of the bill and to eliminate the language "and was assigned to duty in the laundry in part compensation toward his tuition:" appearing in line 11, page 1, and lines 1 and 2, page 2. The Bureau of the Budget has advised me that there is no objection to the presentation of this report to the committee. Sincerely yours, OSCAR L. CHAPMAN, Under Secretary of the Interior. State of California, Department of Education, Re Godfrey, Ernest Leroy. Hon. CLARENCE F. LEA, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. DEAR SIR: At the request of Ernest Leroy Godfrey, 1112 Market Street, Oakland, Calif., I am sending you a statement concerning his contact with us and the service rendered to him by this bureau of the California State Department of Education. In October of 1927, on the Hoopa Indian Reservation, Mr. Godfrey had his right arm caught in a power mangle, resulting in a moderate limited motion in his right elbow; moderate limited grasping power in his right hand, together with a partial destruction of muscles in his right forearm. The details of the injury were reported to me by Mr. Godfrey. I have no other data to support the claim as to the condition under which the accident was suffered. A review of the young man's interests and his academic background as revealed by records from the high school, as well as by tests administered by our bureau, indicated that he would profit by training in cooking. When Mr. Godfrey was ready to come to San Francisco, a training arrangement was made at the junior college here to give him a 2-year course in hotel and restaurant management, which course he completed with satisfaction. He completed the course second highest in a class limited to 25 students. While awaiting an appointment at the Del Monte Hotel as assistant manager of the catering department at a salary to start at $225 a month and found, he took a cook's position with the Union Oil Co. on a tanker. Subsequent to his first appointment with the Union Oil Co., he was raised to assistant steward on the tanker Utacarbon and receive a wage of $160 a month with relatively light duties. This wage, according to Mr. Godfrey, was just $5 less than that paid to the chief steward. After some time at sea, I understand that Mr. Godfrey came ashore and has since engaged in other activities utilizing the training which developed his skills in the culinary arts. There may be other facts which you may wish to know concerning Ernest Godfrey. He did not indicate the purpose for which you might wish to use this letter, so we are somewhat at a loss as to the nature of the general information you may desire. I shall be glad to send you additional information on your request. Very truly yours, J. M. DODD, District Vocational Rehabilitation Supervisor. AFFIDAVIT OF MRS. ELIZABETH MARSHALL STATE OF CALIFORNIA, County of Humboldt, ss: Mrs. Elizabeth Marshall, being first duly sworn, deposes and says: I was employed as laundry supervisor from approximately the year 1916 to approximately 1927 at the Hoopa Indian School. As supervisor I have known of many accidents happening in the laundry during those years. The laundry was of an old type and obsolete. It was powered by a water wheel which turned a shaft the entire length of the laundry. This shaft in turn ran all of the machinery including the mangle, the washer, and the wringer. These were connected by means of a belt. It was necessary to slip belts on and off pulleys of these various machines to make them run. The machines had levers and pedals to stop and start them. The laundry mangle was heated by steam generated from a generator in the same building. I was the only superviros and adult in the laundry. The rest of the help was usually one older boy and about five or six girls ranging in ages from 6 to about 14 years old. Sometimes they sent in more girls on special jobs such as folding towels and socks and stockings. These were usually younger girls from 6 to 8 years old. During my supervision I have known of three serious accidents, all of them happening in the same manner and on the same machine, the mangle. I usually operated this mangle and sometimes when I was busy I let the older girls operate it. There was usually a lot to be dome and I sas not able to be at all of the machines all of the time. In the case of Ellen White who got her hand caught in the mangle and had her hand severely burned and damaged, I was outside hanging up clothing. I left the mangle operation to one of the older girls. One of the girls called me and when I arrived on the scene they had already freed the girl. The mangle had only a start and stop pedal and had no reverse motion. It was necessary to stop the mangle and then take the belt off from the main drive shaft and then by hand reverse the mangle. During this time the girl's hand was badly burned. In the case of Gertrude Wilder, I was ill that day and was not at the laundry. I usually called upon another lady to take my place but on this day, as I recall it, the boy's disciplinarian, Mr. Irving Shephard, offered to take my place. The boy's dormitory has burned down about that time and many of the boys slept in the laundry and since Mr. Shephard had to be around anyway, he decided to operate the laundry for the day. When Gertrude Wilder was hurt they called me from my home. She had her hand in the mangle to about the wrist. The mangle was very hot and it must have burned her hand terribly. I had to take the main belt off and free her. To my knowledge Mr. Shephard was not in or about the laundry at that time. We sent Gertrude Wilder to the hospital immediately. In the case of Ernest Godfrey the laundry was used for a dormitory for some of the boys. The power was on after we stopped laundry operations for the day and we usually left the belts on most of the machinery all of the time because it was so difficult to put them on again. I was called to the scene of the accident by some little boys. Ernest Godfrey's arm was in the mangle up to his elbow. We have a difficult time getting him free. We had to take the main belt off in order to reverse the machine and free his arm. We wrapped the arm in clean sheets and sent him to the hospital. It was not until after Ernest Godfrey's accident that they put screen guards around the mangle. I know of another accident where a girl's hair was caught in the pulley of the main drive shaft and pulled her entire scalp off. She died as a result of this injury. I knew the entire laundry to be dangerous and hazardous because the machinery was old and had no safety devices. I did not inform the superintendent of this because it was so obvious. I tried to keep the laundry building locked so that the smaller children couldn't get in and get hurt. But since it was converted into an emergency boys' dormitory, this was no longer possible. And further deponent saith not. Mrs. ELIZABETH MARSHALL. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 2d day of September 1944. JEANNETTE H. BEAVER, Notary Public. AFFIDAVIT OF PAULA IONE (FERRIS) SANDERSON STATE OF CALIFORNIA, County of Humboldt, ss: Paula Ione (Ferris) Sanderson, being first duly sworn, deposes and says: I was injured at the Hoopa Boarding School sometime in November, approximately the year 1928. I entered the school when I was about 6 years old. When I was old enough I was assigned to various work details. I was working in the laundry when the accident occurred. I was assigned to the mangle and somehow I got my hand caught and it rolled up to my elbow. The mangle was very hot and it burned by hand and arm severely. I was sent to the hospital and had the injury treated. Since then I have had several operations and skin grafts. Despite medical aid this injury has left me a severe scar and handicap. No attempt has ever been made by the Government to rehabilitate me to gain full employment. And further deponent saith not. PAULA IONE (FERRIS) SANDERSON. C. H. MCALEER, Notary Public. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 25th day of September 1944. STATE OF OREGON, AFFIDAVIT OF GERTRUDE WILDER MOLLIER County of Lane, ss: Gertrude Wilder Mollier, being first duly sworn, deposes and says I was enrolled in the Hoopa Indian School in September of 1925, at the age of 12 years. I was compelled to work in the laundry at the time my hand was caught in the mangle in the spring of 1926. I was folding the ironed clothes as they came out in back of the mangle and I remember reaching for the nest piece to fold when it happened, burning my right hand, wrist, and halfway up to my elbow. Mrs. Marshall, the laundress, was ill at the time and Mr. Shepard was around at the time but seemed to know nothing about the switches. A girl managed to stop the mangle but my arm had to stay in the hot mangle until Mrs. Marshall could be summoned from her home. She then reversed the rolls. I was taken to the hospital where I stayed for 1 month. No doctor ever attended to my burns. It was very painful and severe. The ligaments on my wrist lay bare. My classmates were willing to give all the needed skin for grafting and I was told that a doctor would come from Eureka to attend ito it. The burns healed readily enough but the scar tissue is so thick around my wrist that it very much impairs the use of my hand besides being very unsightly. Skin grafting would have prevented much of this. I don't know very much about mechanical devices but I would think that the mangle was hazardous and unsafe. The bare rolls have haunted me many times. And further deponent saith not. GERTRUDE WILDER MOLLIER. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 11 day of September 1914. HUGH F. PROUDFIT, Notary Public. AFFIDAVIT OF MAE MARSHALL STEEN STATE OF CALIFORNIA, County of Humboldt, ss: Mae Marshall Steen, being first duly sworn, deposes and says: I was employed by the Hoopa Indian School first as assistant matron and at times worked at various other jobs in school year 1925 to 1926. I worked for a time in the school laundry as helper. I was in the laundry when Gertrude Wilder got her hand caught in the mangle. I was in another part of the laundry at the time and did not actually see the accident. The laundry machinery was very old and obsolete and was dangerous and hazardous, especially for smaller children. As assistant matron I used to assign various jobs to the girls. I sent older girls to various details and filled in with |