accounts and records of said hospital, and is familiar with the charges made by the hospital for hospitalization and nurses' service; that one Ella Ragotski was entered at said hospital on March 29, 1936; that the attached statement, showing a total charge of $609.50 is the final bill for all charges and hospitalization service rendered to this patient from the date of entry until the date of leaving, to wit Sept. 5, 1936; is the usual and customary charge for such services, and is a fair and reasonable bill; and that no payments have been made thereon. E. A. LOHMAN. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 29th day of December 1936. [SEAL] WALTER F. BANGE, Notary Public. My commission expires March 15, 1939. ST. LOUIS, July 24, 1936. Mr. WALTER F. BANGE, Boatmen's Bank Bldg., St. Louis, Mo. DEAR SIR: Mrs. Ella Rogatzkie was seen by me in consultation with Dr. Edwin F. Vitt at the Lutheran Hospital on April 27, 1936. The patient has suffered multiple fractures of the spine, the pelvis, and the left leg. Despite accurate immobilization the fractures of the left tibia and fibula showed increasing displacement, more overriding and no evidence of new bone formation a month or more following injury. On April 29, 1936, open reduction and sliding bone graft was done upon the tibia, using Roger-Anderson automatic reducer to secure positive reduction and immobilization. Soft tissue and fibrous stuff was found between the fragment ends, obviously interfering with any possible union. This was cleared out. Plaster cast was applied from toes to groin incorporating the Roger-Anderson pins. X-rays taken July 23, 1936, show good position of bone fragments with union of the fibular fragments. There is some new bone production at the upper and lower ends of the graft of the tibia. The entire defect is not yet filled in. The patient's general condition is good and she has cooperated to the fullest extent. She is now getting about in a wheel chair. It will require from 3 to 6 months for union in the tibia to warrant weight bearing on this limb. The condition in the fractures of spine and pelvis have been reported to you by Dr. Vitt. My bill for consultation and surgical services to date is $750. the information you desire. Very truly yours, I trust this is THEODORE P. BROOKES. Mr. WALTER F. BANGE, EDWIN F. VITT, M. D., $224 174 50 To professional services (rendered Mrs. Ella Ragotzkie, to date)_. Boatmen's Bank Building, City: LUTHERAN HOSPITAL, 22 weeks 6 days' board, from Mar. 29 to Sept. 5 (1 week at $22.75, $22.75; 21 weeks at $19.25, $404.25; 6 days at $2.75, $16.50). Medicines.. Operating room...- $443. 50 30,00 29. 25 1. 25 5.00 97.50 3. 00 609. 50 76TH CONGRESS 3d Session SENATE REPORT No. 1357 MORRISON-KNUDSEN CO., INC., AND W. C. COLE MARCH 28 (legislative day, MARCH 4), 1940.-Ordered to be printed Mr. ELLENDER, from the Committee on Claims, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 7855] The Committee on Claims, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 7855) for the relief of Morrison-Knudsen Co., Inc., and W. C. Cole, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with the recommendation that the bill do pass without amendment. The facts are fully set forth in House Report No. 1569, Seventysixth Congress, third session, which is appended hereto and made a part of this report. (H. Rept. No. 1569, 76th Cong., 3d sess. The Committee on Claims, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 7855), for the relief of the Morrison-Knudsen Co., Inc., and W. C. Cole, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass. The purpose of the proposed legislation is to authorize and direct the Comptroller General of the United States to settle and adjust the claim of Morrison-Knudsen Co., Inc., and W. C. Cole for reimbursement of the increased costs incurred in the procurement of sand conforming to specifications in the performance by said company of contract W-777-eng-221, dated September 6, 1938, covering construction of the major portion of the embankment and rough excavation for the spillway of the Fort Supply Dam located on Wolf Creek near Supply in Woodward County, Okla., and to allow in full and final settlement of the claim the sum of not to exceed $37,470.49. The bill was introduced at the request of the Acting Comptroller General of the United States, and the details are fully set forth in his letter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, dated January 4, 1940, which letter is appended hereto and made a part of this report. The committee has a complete file on this claim which it feels it is unnecessary to include, due to the voluminous nature thereof. To the Congress: GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE, Pursuant to the act of April 10, 1928 (45 Stat. 413), I have the honor to make the following report and recommendation concerning the claim of MorrisonKnudsen Co., Inc., and W. C. Cole, for reimbursement of the increased costs of performance incurred in connection with the construction of the spillway for the Fort Supply Dam for the War Department, Corps of Engineers, under contract No. W-777-eng-221, dated September 6, 1938. The contract provided for furnishing the materials and performing the work for constructing the major portion of the embankment and rough excavation for the spillway of the Fort Supply Dam located on Wolf Creek near Supply in Woodward County, Okla., in accordance with certain specifications, schedules, and drawings, and for payment for such materials and work on the basis of certain designations and unit prices contained in the contract. Under item 10 of the designations and unit prices, the contractor was to furnish 60,000 cubic yards of sand at a unit price of $2.75 per cubic yard, such sand to be used in connection with the construction of a drainage system, which was to be installed in the previous section of the embankment for the collection of seepage water. The drainage system was to consist in part of a filter comprising layers of fine sand, coarse sand, gravel, and coarse gravel or crushed rock from approved deposits. With regard to the availability of these materials, paragraph 1-17 (e) of the specifications stipulated that neither sand, crushed rock, nor gravel suitable for use in the filter had been found to be available at the site of the dam and that it would be necessary for the contractor to locate sources of such materials acceptable to the contracting officer. The record shows that there was a sand pit, known as the Buffalo Creek pit, located within a few miles of the proposed site of the dam, and that such pit was the only available source of sand within a radius of several hundred miles. While this pit was not expressly designated or approved by the contracting officer as a suitable source for the sand, it appears that the Government, the contractor, and the other bidders on the work all assumed that the sand from this pit was suitable as to quality. Also, it has been reported by the Chief of Engineers that the estimates of all parties on item 10-including the one on which the contract unit price of $2.75 per cubic yard was based-were prepared on the basis that the sand to be used in the filter of the drainage system would be obtained from the Buffalo Creek pit. Shortly after performance of the contract was commenced, and excavation had progressed into the Buffalo Creek pit, it appears that the coarse sand therefrom was found not suitable for the purpose intended because it contained excess quantities of permian redbed material. Consequently, it became necessary for the contractor to procure some 18,000 cubic yards of coarse sand from sources at distances of 250 to 400 miles from the site of the dam, thereby increasing the cost of performance, and the contractor has claimed the sum of $37,470.49 as reimbursement of the additional costs actually incurred in obtaining coarse sand from those distant points over and above what the cost would have been if said sand could have been obtained from the Buffalo Creek pit as contemplated at the time its bid was submitted. It has been reported by the office of the district engineer, Tulsa, Okla., that the summary of costs submitted by the contractor was audited by a member of that office and was found to be correct. Also, the Chief of Engineers, War Department, has reported to the effect that, in his opinion, the contractor was justified in believing the material from the Buffalo Creek pit would comply with the contract specifications, and that "the Government has secured a drainage system in the dam at a cost substantially lower than would have resulted had it employed hired labor for the work, and that there is equitable merit to the claim." Since there was no representation by the Government that the sand from the Buffalo Creek pit was suitable for use in the filter, there is no provision in the contract involved under which an adjustment of the contract price could be made by the contracting officer. Consequently, the claim is one which may not lawfully be adjusted by the use of an appropriation heretofore made. However, in view of the erroneous assumption by both parties to the contract as to the suitability of the sand in the Buffalo Creek pit, as a result of which the Government obtained the dam at a cost considerably less than it would have obtained it but for such erroneous assumption, and as the cost of performance to the contractor was at least $37,470.49 more than it would have been if the situation with respect to the sand had been, as both parties assumed it was at the time the contract was made, the claim, in my judgment, contains such elements of equity as to be deserving of the consideration of the Congress. Accordingly, I recommend to the Congress that an appropriation be made for the payment of the claim in the amount of $37,470.49. If the Congress should agree with my recommendation in this matter, it is suggested that the enactment of a statute in substantially the following form will accomplish that purpose: "Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Comptroller General of the United States be, and he hereby is, authorized and directed to settle and adjust the claim of Morrison-Knudsen Company, Incorporated, and W. C. Cole, for reimbursement of the increased costs incurred in the procurement of sand conforming to specifications in the performance by said company of contract W-777-eng-221, dated September 6, 1938, covering construction of the major portion of the embankment and rough excavation for the spillway of the Fort Supply Dam located on Wolf Creek near Supply in Woodward County, Oklahoma, and to allow in full and final settlement of the claim the sum of not to exceed $37,470.49. There is hereby appropriated out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated the suin of $37,470.49, or so much thereof as may be necessary, for the payment of said claims." R. N. ELLIOTT, Acting Comptroller General of the United States. |