EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 26, 1888_.
_To the Senate_:
I return without approval Senate bill No. 845, entitled "An act granting
a pension to the widow of John A. Turley."
The husband of this beneficiary belonged to a Kentucky regiment of
volunteers, and in 1863, having been in camp and on leave of absence,
he and others of the regiment embarked on a steamboat, in charge of a
lieutenant, to be taken to Louisville, whither they had been ordered.
While on the steamboat an altercation arose between two of the soldiers,
and the deceased interfered to prevent, as is alleged, an affray. By so
doing he was pushed or struck by one of the parties quarreling and fell
upon the deck of the boat, striking his head against a plank, thus
receiving a fatal injury.
It is quite clear to me that the death of this soldier was not the
result of his military service. His presence on the boat was in the line
of duty, but he had no charge of the rest of the men and was in no
degree responsible for them, and whether he should be in any way
implicated in the dispute which occurred was a matter entirely within
his own control and determined by his own volition. If he had refrained
from interference, he would have saved himself and performed to the
utmost his military duty.