Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 15.djvu/267

 FORTIETH CONGRESS. Sess. II. Ch. 264. 1868. 235 CHAP. CCLXIV. —-An Act relating ta Pensions. July 27, 1866. Bc it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Oimgress assembled, That the laws granting pensions Precedence of to the hereinafter-mentioned dependent relatives of deceased persons lcav- pggéajlgtiggg ing neither widow or child entitled to pensions under existing laws, shall gciiasnirsiiitives be so construed as to give precedence to such relatives in the following °Yd°°°°·$°d P°”· order, namely : First, mothers ; secondly, fathers; thirdly, orphan brothers S°°S' and sisters under sixteen years of age, who shall be pensioned jointly if there be more than one: Provided, That if, in any case, the said persons Pi-swiss. shall have left both father and mother who were dependent upon them, then on the death of the mother the father shall become entitled to a pension commencing nom and alter the death of the mother; and upon the death of the mother and father the dependent brothers and sisters under sixteen years of age shall jointly become entitled to such pension until they attain the age of sixteen years, respectively, commencing from and after the death of the party who, preceding them, would have been _ entitled to the same: And provided further, That no pension heretofore S. I"{'m°"fl;°"' . _ . . l01lb HOE8 GCI8d awarded shall be affected by anything herein contained. h,,,,;,, SEO. 2. And be it further enacted, That no person shall be entitled to a Pensions to be pension by reason of wounds received, or disease contracted, in the service  fgzand of the United States, subsequently to the passage of this act, unless the 0,. diggggsgg cm. person who was wounded or contracted disease was in the line of duty; ¤}‘¤¤¤¤¢<i ¤¤¤lJ’ i¤ and, it in the military service, was at the time actually in the field, or on me °f dmy’&°' the march, or at some post, fort, or garrison ; or if *in the naval service was at the time borne on the books of some ship, or other vessel of the United States, at sea or in harbor, actually in commission, or was on his way, by direction of competent authority, to the United States, or to some other vessel or naval station. Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That so much of the acts approved Repmofpms April sixth, eighteen hundred and thirty-eight, and August twenty-third, of 1888,ch. 56. eighteen hundred and forty-two, as requires that pensions remaining un- u¥&l·(§{ liégzgé claimed for fourteen months after the same have become due, shall be V0f_,,_'P_631_' adjusted at the office of the third auditor, is hereby repealed; and the Etilure of any pensioner to claim his or her pension lor a period of three who mium to years after the same shall have become due, shall be deemed presumptive glahp }>°¤§i¤¤ evidence that such pension has legally terminated by reason of the pen- tgrrfxfigillf sioner’s death, remarriage, recovery from disability, or otherwise, and the sumption that pensioner’s namc shall be stricken from the rolls, subject to the right of ];°:m°“tQ:;i_ restoration to the same on a new application, with evidence satisfactorily mf,_8d¥&,,_ accounting for the failure to claim such pension. Sec. 4. And be it _/icrther enacted, '1`hat if any officer, soldier, seaman, or enlisted man has died since the fourth day of March, eighteen Children by hundred and sixty-one, or shall hereafter die, leaving a widow entitled to f¤¤‘¤¤¤*1X{“`° lg a pension, and a child or children under sixteen years cf' age by a former 3`,;§,?,°si,=°;`Q °’ wife, each of said children shall be entitled to receive two dollars per l\la.rcli4, 1861, month, to commence from the death of their father and continue until :;3J3"g':]’;§led they severally attain the age of sixteen years, to be paid to the guardian U, u pc,,,,;,,,,, t,, of such child or children for their use and benefit: Provided, however, have pension of That in all eases where such widow is charged with the care, custody, and M “ ""°“th* maintenance ot such child or children, the said sum of two dollars per was pine to month for each of said children shall be paid to her for and during the §dow, when, time she is, or may have been, so charged with the care, custody, and ' maintenance of such child or children, subject to the same conditions, _ provisions, and limitations as il' they were her own children by her said deceased husband. Sec. 5. And be itfurt/ter enacted, That in all cases where an increased pension has been or may hereafter be granted to any widow or guardian Wl1Q0i' OJH of the children under sixteen years of age of a deceased soldier or sailor §;"g,,,;??v;d Of° under an act entitled "An act increasing the pensions of widows, and for increased peu-