CLAIM FOR DAMAGES TO PRIVATELY OWNED PROPERTY COMMUNICATION FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES TRANSMITTING AN ESTIMATE OF APPROPRIATION SUBMITTED BY THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND PUBLIC PARKS OF THE NATIONAL CAPITAL, TO PAY A CLAIM FOR DAMAGES TO PRIVATELY OWNED PROPERTY, AMOUNTING TO $156.34 FEBRUARY 17 (calendar day, FEBRUARY 26), 1931.—Read, referred to the Committee on Appropriations, and ordered to be printed The PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE. THE WHITE HOUSE, Washington, February 26, 1931. SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith for the consideration of Congress an estimate of appropriation submitted by the Director of Public Buildings and Public Parks of the National Capital, to pay a claim for damages to privately owned property, in the sum of $156.34, which has been considered and adjusted under the provisions of the act of December 28, 1922 (U. S. Č., title 31, sec. 215), and which requires an appropriation for its payment. Respectfully, HERBERT HOOVER. The PRESIDENT. BUREAU OF THE BUDGET, SIR: I have the honor to transmit for your consideration an estimate of appropriation submitted by the Director of Public Buildings and Public Parks of the National Capital, to pay a claim for damages to privately owned property, which has been considered and adjusted under the provisions of the act of December 28, 1922 (U. S. C., title 31, sec. 215), and which requires an appropriation for its payment, as follows: Damage claim: Under Public Buildings and Public Parks of the National Capital $156. 34 The letter of the Director of Public Buildings and Public Parks of the National Capital submitting this estimate is transmitted herewith. In accordance with the provisions of the act providing for such submission, I recommend that this estimate be transmitted to Congress. Very respectfully, Col. J. CLAWSON ROOP, J. CLAWSON ROOP, Director of the Bureau of the Budget. PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND PUBLIC PARKS, Director Bureau of the Budget. DEAR COLONEL ROOP: Pursuant to the act of Congress approved December 28, 1922 (U. S. C., title 31, sec. 215), authorizing the heads of departments and establishments acting on behalf of the Government of the United States to consider, ascertain, adjust, and determine claims on account of damages to or loss of privately owned property, where the whole amount does not exceed $1,000, by negligence of an officer or employee of the Government, acting within the scope of his employment, this office reports a claim of Warren F. Brenizer Co., 1501 South Capitol Street, Washington, D. C., for $156.34 damage done to a tractor belonging to that firm. As the result of an investigation conducted by this office in connection with the above claim, evidence adduced indicates that on December 19, 1930, the claimant's tractor, which was engaged in excavation work at the intersection of the Mount Vernon Boulevard and Rosslyn Road, Arlington County, Va., was struck by a Government-owned truck operated by an employee of this office while in the performance of his official duties. The damage to the tractor was the result of a collision due to negligence of the Government employee operating the truck. The claim was presented well within one year from the date of accrual and in view of the facts the above claim is certified for submission to Congress for an appropriation as a legal claim against the United States which has been considered, ascertained, adjusted, and determined by me under, and by virtue of, the act of December 28, 1922, mentioned above. Yours truly, U. S. GRANT 3D, Director. O 3d Session SENATE No. 308 NATIONAL HYDRAULIC LABORATORY PROGRESS REPORT DESIGNS, ESTIMATES OF COST RELATING TO THE NATIONAL HYDRAULIC LABORATORY [Supplemental to Senate Document No. 208] PRESENTED BY MR. HEBERT February 17 (calendar day, February 26), 1931.-Ordered UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON: 1931 PROGRESS REPORT ON NATIONAL HYDRAULIC LABORATORY PROVIDENCE, R. I., February 24, 1931. Hon. JOSEPH E. RANSDELL, Hon. FELIX HEBERT, United States Senators, Senate Office Building, Washington, D. C. GENTLEMEN: I appreciate your interest and desire to learn of progress of the national hydraulic laboratory, for which a few months ago Congress appropriated $350,000. Much progress has been made by the staff of the Bureau of Standards in preparing plans, which it was hoped would be ready to submit to contractors for bids early in March, but I regret to report that these plans, so far as developed up to a few days ago, will not give a laboratory that can fulfill the promises which I made in the various hearings before Congress from 1922 to 1929, about useful large-scale fundamental research for improving the economy and accuracy of measurements of water by weirs, orifices, etc., nor has adequate provision yet been made for fundamental research concerning the hydraulic laws governing the flow of water in channels of various shapes at various velocities and slopes. The Bureau's plans now nearing completion will nevertheless provide a laboratory in which a vast amount of useful work can be done, covering perhaps nine-tenths of the problems likely to be presented, and will give a laboratory generally comparable in scope with the best existing laboratories in Europe and America, excepting one or two of the recent European laboratories, notably the new laboratory at Obernach, near Munich, to which it probably will be decidedly inferior in precision of measurement for large-scale work. This Obernach laboratory was promoted by some of the foremost European engineers, largely for testing out scale effect and for testing the accuracy with which the so-called doctrine of similitude, as used in experiments with extremely small models will be confirmed by experiments on much larger models, or with the behavior of the actual hydraulic structure. These European hydraulic laboratories have each cost very much. less than the sum provided for building this American national laboratory, but each has had the great advantage of being designed by an engineer of large practical experience. They have been gradually developed step by step during the past 20 years. The vast majority of researches on flow of water by means of models and the doctrine of hydraulic similitudes are best tried out in their preliminary stages with discharge of water seldom exceeding 5 cubic feet of water per second. The laboratory proposed by the Bureau staff can handle up to 250 cubic feet per second or double that in any |