GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, _October 16, 1888_.
_To the House of Representatives_:
I return without approval House bill No. 10661, entitled "An act
granting a pension to Mrs. Sophia Vogelsang."
The husband of this beneficiary was severely wounded in the military
service of the United States, and in consequence of said wound his
left leg was amputated. This was in 1862. In January, 1863, another
amputation was performed higher up above the knee. He appears at that
time to have been living, or at least was treated, at Detroit, Mich.
He was pensioned at the rate of $30 per month at the time of his death,
which occurred at Louisville, Ky., where he appears to have then
resided, on the 21st day of July, 1885.
The beneficiary filed a claim for pension in November, 1885, alleging
that her husband died of gangrene.
There does not, however, seem to be a particle of evidence establishing
that cause of death. On the contrary, the report received at the Pension
Bureau of his death attributes it to sunstroke, and this does not seem
to be directly questioned.
The report of the House committee to whom this bill was referred
proceeds upon the theory that death was caused from the use of opium to
allay the pain of the wound. This theory is presented upon the alleged
opinion of the surgeon living in Detroit, who made the second amputation
in 1863. He says that the pain of the wound obliged the soldier to
take morphine.
Pages:
760
761
762
763
764
765
766
767
768
769
770
771
772
773
774
775
776
777
778
779
780
781
782
783
784