Show aw A A r el E v huge sums invoked in suits brought against in the government in the court of ai claims ms at washington Washl ngon v HERE Is a government lin line e where firing Is almost constantly going on no blood is spilled d but interest ii Is intense always for it la Is shooting for money big money long shots predominate it is in a queer place for a firing line in a former art gallory gallery in 6 ther other words the old abode of the carco corco corcoran gallery seventeenth street and pennsylvania avenue washington D C now houses the united states court of f claims and there nearly every day of the courts sessions eminent counsel enda endeavor avor io score a bulls eleand eye and thereby win for themselves and their clients coin of the realm in sums all the way from a few thousands millions million of dollars it is a mighty absorbing and always alluring game because as a rule the stakes stake iare are high competitors are numerous I nerous because it if i a hit is made the pay la its sure at the present writing some ninety nine millions in fresh cr crinkly inary notes of of uncle sam worth per cent of each cents are involved thatis that is C cases a 0 e ff are now pending in the court of claims calling for A judgment by the court of unless reversed by the united states su supreme preme court la is as good as ca cash h it follows that tha athe the prize of prizes in legal circles today to Is some sort of a fairly well substantiated claim against the united states government innumerable nume such claims are discovered and made th the cases now pending number more than ten thousand needless to say it if alfor all or any considerable part of df this ninety nine million dal dollars lars Is paid if will co come me out of the united states treasury 1 e out of the pockets of the people of the united states therefore on this firing line the people have their depre the me same consisting or of a numerous staff ot of attorneys retained upon sal salaries arles by undo sam nominally their chief is the attorney general but the attorney general in person Is engrossed with greater matters ina tiers the construction action and enforcement of the greater laws bartic particularly the antitrust laws he has very little time to devote to routine the gentleman in actual charge therefore Is the assistant attorney general in charge of the defense of suits against the united states under the present administration this gentleman Is mr bir huston thompson of denver colo former forme r classmate at princeton of president wilson mr thompson holds one of the many big submerged lobs oba in the gov government emment service this denver man th the e records show has inject injected ed western hustle bustle into Ws hla job when he came into the oali h he jQ found Athe the dockets of the court of claims cluttered up with some twenty odd thousand cases now the total Is cases the claims run all the way from a few thousand dollars dollar into the millions they originate tor for the most part in the numerous contracts made by all departments of the government tor for the building of battleships cruisers and other vessels the arec I 1 tion lion of public buildings dredging and improvement of rivers and harbors the building and maintenance of dams locks and seawalls seawells sea walls reclamation projects construction of dry docks contracts for army supplies contracts with mall mail contractors and railroad companies tor for carrying malls claims tor for the alleged use and infringement of patented devices and suits where it Is contended that an implied contract exists in amount the so called divisor case Is the largest the railroads are attacking jahe the validity of an IL n executive order issued in 1907 which bases compensation for carrying the malls matl upon a division of the total weight by seven rather than by six it Is a contention that a seven day week rather than a six day week was meant in the statute covering railway mall pay it if the government loses this case it must pay to the railroads over dver one ona of the highest dams in the world has produced one of the biggest law suits in the world As Is shown by the accompanying picture this dam Is a bigger proposition as far as height goes than the united states capitol building with its enormous dome at washington D C it to Is the dam which stores sto res water for the shoshone Sho ahone irrigation project in wyoming the contestants are endeavoring to collect more than in addition to the allowed under the terms of the contract ab interpreted by the united states reclamation service the original contractors went into bankruptcy after the first years work on the job and the bonding company bekind be kind the con contractors tractors took over the contract tract an unprecedented spring flood iu in the shoshone river by a 4 run of saw logs from rom a mill operated a mile or so BO above the site 0 jf f the dam washed out the temporary works which had been stalled preparatory to the con st ruction of the pre present serif concrete dam it Is also alleged that the government made re quire menIs not specified in the terms of the inal the foundation of fahe the dam 12 feet upstream it is sought to fasten on the government responsibility forsbe for abo run 0 of saw logs and it Is contended that tho the requirements of the engineers eTS were wera unusual and unnecessarily strict the contentions of the united states on the other hand band are aio that neither contractor appreciated coated the peculiar difficulties of the wor work kunder undertaken that the plant and material broughton brought on the ground forthe tor the performance odthe of the work was conspicuously ale bously inadequate that the I 1 engineers employed aloyed by tho the contractors w were ere I 1 incompetent t and inefficient and not qualified by training and expert ecce ence for the undertaking dundei taking oi of such a work and in short that all of the difficulties encountered grew out of the negligence inefficiency and improper methods odthe of the contractors the claims growing out of nay naval al matters matte ra are numerous and large there IF Is a device used in ma manufacturing I 1 torpedoes ia 1 cnown known as a superheat ef I 1 itis it is a contri contrivance vance whereby fuel Is burned in the compressed air driving the motor ak eaf 4 az ad P E R REA si R h IA M W kz k al V m M vl A A 0 vi v arx A e 4 by which the torpedo la Is propelled so that the compressed ni air Is boated to a high pressure before its energy is utilized its use increases the speed and range of torpedoes the question koiv now to IB whether the united states must pay the E W bliss company per toredo purchased by the united states during the last flye five years containing this device the total amount at issue is it is an intricate patent I 1 cise caie the decision of which depends defends upon whether patents held by the bliss company cover the type of used in the american torpedo Liti litigation gailon over sixteen years old involves the he question whether the united states gove government ament must disgorge more than in addition to the million already paid for or the government dry dock at the league island navy yard philadelphia the contractor claims he was compelled to make a much greater excavation than was specified in the terms of the contract covering the work the answer of the government is that the contractor did not follow the method recommended by the board of naval engineers which had studied the matter and hence was himself responsible and liable for the extra cost the court of claims has sustained the contractor and the department of justice Is now asking ashing the supreme court to td overrule the court of claims whatever the government may have to pay tor for generally Is valued at astonishingly high figures A submarine case involves it hinges upon a string of patents on regulating apparatus for submarine boats the electric boat company Is back ot of the case it claims that the invention described and claimed in said several letters patent and each of them are and have been recognized to be of great utility and value in the construction and operation of submarine boats the original inventor lawrence Y spear assigned his rights to tho the submarine boat company it Is careful carefully ly pointed out that spear was the original first and sole inventor of the improvements prove ments and it Is then declared that the united states has used the inventions without license and has neglected neglected and refused to pay royalty about the right think thing for uncle sam to do it Is alleged Is to td pay the electric boat company per submarine boat containing the spear apparatus atthe at the date of the filing of the brief december 10 1915 four such puch boats were in use the case however involves a demand tor for an another otherl for each boat built subsequently by the united states I 1 in n which the inventions are used i i land ddn d grant raier railroads oads under anae r the terms of their charters are required to carry troops of the united states free the question has now como come up as to whether the national guard when transported to the annual maneuvers in various parts of the united states are troops of the united states As the dept ca case se stands the southern railroad asks for for the payment of railway fares for the transportation of officers officer saud and men of the alabama national guard and the mississippi national buird guard from points in alabama and mississippi to the united states military post and camp af at chickamauga park Geor georgia glai in 1908 and 1910 when finally disposed of however a much larger amount will be involved it will sep se a precedent under which inthe if the Sou Sout thein bern railroad is 18 successful other of thu the land grant railroads will come into court and ask pay fo for r transporting the militia the established practice odthe of the war and treasury depari departments merits is that the organized militia when participating with the regular army ai at a military camp at joint maneuvers and held field instructions are entitled to the pay subsistence and transportation allowances of the officers and men of the regular array army that said organized troops whon so transported are traveling under orders of tuo the war department and payment for their transportation can only be midd madd on the eabie eam a basis applicable to the regular army this would mean that trans transportation por tation for militia over land grant railroads would be subject to the land grant deductions deduct lyns made tor for the of regulars it is W held that the expression trompa bf the T united states as used in land graut arvut acts is to is sufficiently broad to include organized fini militia litia when trai traveling eling under the orders of 0 the war department J V A 00 4 fa 4 Z T AV A M amp the court of claims has already held that the th members of the national Nati oual guard do not become tro troops olba of the united states until they are called out and mustered into the fede federal ral service by ha h president hence this court has declared that thal the southern railroad ought to be ba paid the extra 2 to this judgment the department of justice demurred and Is now asking the supreme court tor for a review of the case that little vest pocket stamp book with a dozen stamps in it price 25 cents Is the subject of a lawsuit in which uncle sam ie asked to pay more than damages it Is declared to be royalties due the patentee patented pat entea of the stamp book idea tho the case goes back to 1898 in that year through senator penrose two models of a stamp book patented by frank G farnham together with a printed pamphlet explanatory of the device were referred to the then third assistant postmaster general john A merritt was third assistant at the time and replied that the department deems it inexpedient to sell postage stamps in the way proposed however after july 1 1899 the then them third assistant postmaster general edwin C madden designed without knowledge of the existence of the farnham patent the stamp bok book now used by the department the bureau of engraving and printing evolved methods tor for its manu p facture and the post office department began tho the public sale of two cent stamps in bookworm book form farnham wants the alleged profits of the government on the sale of the stamp books during the ten year period from 1900 to 1910 the govern ments sells 12 two cent stamps tor for a quarter charging one cent tor for the book the contention la Is that the prof itson lison the sale a 4 the blohs during them the ten years have exceeded a aa million dollars farnhams Fam Farn hams attorneys have appealed to tho the su premo preme court where a final decision Is now expected another interesting that brought by the contractor who constructed lock and dam no 37 ohio river which cost approximately the contractor wants an additional this lock and dam Is located about abo ut ten miles below cincinnati and at the time of its completion about five years igo ago was the largest movable as distinguished from the stationary dam dad in the tha world being feet across ther the navigable pass alone with the lock on the ohio side and three bear traps each 80 feet wide on the kentucky side of the river A bear trap consists of two concrete piers or walls with wooden shutters at each end hinged to the bottom of the dam structure I the shutters may be ral raised sedor or lowered for the purpose of allowing su surplus oplus water to escape thua obviating the continual raising and lowering of the dam proper in the navigable pass pans the dam la Is movable in that its construction is of chanoine Chano lug weirs which consist of wooden wickets about IS 18 feet high and 3 feet fide wide and are upon hinged substantially fastened to a sill embedded in th concrete foundation extending to io bedrock whet up during low water the wickets in the pass resemble a high board fence and ana vessels then pass through agh the lock and when the river rises sufficiently they are lowered and boats pass 4 right over them fiem the re sai ault grows a out ut of the al bogod gd misrepresentation by the government odthe ot tha depth to which the contractor t would have baie to vate to bedrock |