Findings of Fact 141 C. Cls. plosive potential would have saved lives and limbs and reduced property losses; and (3) that the auxiliary gasoline tank on the munitions truck could have been located in a more protected position." 19. (a) All of the persons killed or injured had had some degree of warning. Mrs. R. L. Holloman, proprietress of Talton's hotel, had been told by the highway patrolman that the burning truck contained munitions, and that it might explode. Willie Howell and Jesse Holloway, with Thelma Holloway and Bruce Hopewell, had passed the burning truck on their way in, and had stopped at Guirkin's tavern for 20 or 30 minutes before going to the hotel. Claude Mitchell had alighted from the vehicle in which he had been riding and was walking toward the truck when it exploded. He had been warned not to go nearer. The car in which Cecil Propst and George Stroupe were riding drew opposite the burning truck just at the fateful moment. They had been stopped on the highway and warned against trying to pass. Six of the eight persons listed above were killed. Thelma Holloway and Bruce Hopewell were among the injured, as were other guests and residents of the hotel. Both of the drivers of the munitions truck were injured. Dill Carter was in Guirkin's tavern, a site upon which Guirkin and one of the fire chiefs had agreed as an adequate shelter. Avery was in the open, near Guirkin's filling station, and ran out into the highway to flag an approaching vehicle just as the explosion occurred. The highway patrolman was one of the few persons at or near the scene who escaped injury.10 Several of the firemen were hurt. Although they had withdrawn from the immediate vicinity of the burning truck, the force of the explosion proved that they had not withdrawn far enough to be out of harm's way. The installation of the tank complied with ICC regulations. He darted into his car and 10 The patrolman was just entering his car when the explosion occurred. Somehow he escaped the concussion of the blast. remained there until the debris stopped falling. damaged. His car was considerably 273 Findings of Fact (b) Lack of a sense of peril contributed to all of the deaths and injuries. The inference must be drawn from the evidence as a whole that if serious, informed, intelligent warning had been conveyed, none of the persons killed or injured by the explosion would have been so close to it. Common sense told those who knew the facts (that the truck, loaded with munitions, was still burning) to withdraw to a safe distance. As the event proved, what was a safe distance was a matter of informed judgment, and the facts on which to base such a judgment were unknown. 20. (a) Claims (195) and claimants (189) are listed in the table which appears at the end of finding 24. (b) Two of the claims have been withdrawn: No. 106, Pearl Hester McCormick, and No. 168a, Mrs. Alberta Stroupe, Administratrix.11 (c) James Backstrom, claimant No. 9, was injured in the collision. There is no evidence of causal connection between his injuries and any act of defendant. (d) Two of the claimants, Carolina-Norfolk Truck Line (No. 30), and Standard Coated Products, Inc. (No. 164), filed initially for property damage. Both subsequently received insurance payments, and their claims were transferred at the trial to the insurance subrogation group. The insurance companies were not named, and there is no evidence in support of the amounts of their claims. (e) Eighteen of the claims represent the subrogation rights of insurance companies for payments made for losses resulting from the explosion.12 (f) Excluding the claims listed in the four preceding subsections of this finding, there remain 173 claims (of 167 claimants). Of the 173 claims, 6 are for wrongful death, 13 are for personal injuries, and 154 are for property damage. 21. (a) Counsel have stipulated 18 the amounts in 167 of " These numbers refer to the series numbering of the alphabetical listing in the table. Nos. 3, 6, 10, 28, 36, 46, 64, 73, 74, 116, 119, 120, 123, 139, 148, 162, 175, and 176. 13 In so stipulating, counsel for defendant agreed only that the several losses were caused by the explosion and that the dollar amounts represent reasonable translation of the losses into monetary values. No concession was made in relation to any obligation, legal or equitable, on the part of the United States. Findings of Fact 141 C. Cls. the 173 claims referred to in the preceding subparagraph, and defendant has seriously contested only one (Lloyd Guirkin, No. 70) of the remaining six. A determination has been made as to the amount of it, on the basis of the evidence.1 (b) The amounts listed in the table's final column as "Payable" total $160,840.99. The six claims for wrongful death ($10,000 each: stipulated) total $60,000. The 13 claims (of 11 claimants) for personal injury total $20,323.95. The remaining $80,517.04 represents the total of the 154 claims for property damage.15 Two of the 154 claims for property damage were entered in amounts in excess of $25,000: Lloyd Guirkin, No. 70, $25,714.05; and Ralph Talton, No. 173, $26,446.35, for a total of $52,160.40. Upon the Government's stipulation with Talton (for $25,446.35) and the determination of Guirkin's claim (at $17,500), the findings reflect a total of $42,946.35 for these, the two largest, and the only claims for property damage in excess of $5,000. Nine of the remaining 152 property damage claims are in the range of $1,000 to $5,000, and together total $17,574.20. Sixty-five of the remaining 143 claims for property damage fall into the range of $100 to $1,000, and total $16,274.49. The final 78 claims for property damage are all below $100, and total $3,722.00. 22. (a) Losses made good by insurance have been eliminated from all of the claims grouped in the preceding finding.16 (b) The 18 claims presented separately by insurance companies" total $8,764.57. In ten of these claims the amounts were stipulated. In the remaining eight, the amounts have been determined from the evidence and appear under the table column headed "Established". 14 The contest related to the amount, only. Defendant conceded that the loss was caused by the explosion. 15 From a monetary standpoint the claims divide almost evenly between injuries to the person and damage to property. 18 The original claim of A. G. Boone Company (No. 21) included $22.50 which had been or was thereafter paid by insurance. 17 Finding 20 (e), note 12. 273 Findings of Fact 23. Judgments, each in the amount of $500 (duly paid), were recovered against the carrier by the widows of the two men whose car reached the side of the burning truck at the moment of explosion (Propst, No. 135; and Stroupe, No. 168). 24. The table which follows (and which is hereby incorporated in this finding) contains an alphabetical listing of the claimants, numbered in sequence (with cross references to the numbers contained in the petition), and the type of loss in each claim. Columns of figures then show (1) the amount claimed, (2) the amount established, and (3) the amount payable. |