EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 26, 1889_.
_To the House of Representatives_:
I return without approval House bill No. 12047, entitled "An act
granting an increase of pension to George Colwell."
The record shows that this beneficiary was enrolled in the military
service August 10, 1862, and was mustered out June 1, 1865.
There is no record of any disability during his service.
He was pensioned at the rate of $2 a month for a dog bite just above the
ankle.
In September, 1865, three months after his discharge, he strained the
knee of the leg which had been bitten.
In 1887 he applied for an increase of pension, alleging increased
disability. This increased disability appears plainly to be the result
of the strain or injury to the knee, and in no way connected with the
bite for which he was pensioned.