IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES. APRIL 26, 1858.-Ordered to be printed. Mr. KING made the following REPORT. [To accompany Bill S. 291.] The committee have considered the application of Webster S. Steele, of Evanston, Illinois, for an invalid pension, and report: That it appears, from the testimony in the case, that Webster S. Steele was, in October, 1814, mustered into the service of the United States as a private in the company of Captain William Eels, of the New York militia, called out in the war of 1812 with Great Britain; that he was stationed, with the company to which he belonged, at Sackett's Harbor, in the State of New York, and there, while in the service and in the line of his duty, contracted a disease, from hardship and exposure, which has resulted in making him an invalid, and rendered him unable to obtain his support by labor. The committee consider him entitled to relief, and report a bill for that purpose. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES. APRIL 26, 1858.-Ordered to be printed. Mr. KING made the following REPORT. [To accompany Bill S. 292.] The petition and proofs of James A. Glanding, of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, for an invalid pension, have been considered by the committee, and they report: That from the testimony in the case it appears that James A. Glanding, the petitioner, was in the battle of Baltimore, on the 11th day of September, 1814, and that he received a wound in that battle by a ball in the leg, which has resulted in totally disabling him from obtaining his support by labor. That he applied to the Commissioner of Pensions for an invalid pension, and presented to the Commissioner the affidavits of William Baisman and Thomas Baily, who testified that they also were in the battle, and that when James A. Glanding was wounded they carried him from the field to the hospital. That the Commissioner of Pensions denied the application for a pension, because Mr. Glanding had not been mustered into the service, and the laws providing pensions granted them only to persons who were mustered into the service, and received their injuries while in the line of their duty in the service. The affidavits of Baisman and Baily have been lost, but their contents are testified to by Jesse C. Dickey, the representative in Congress, through whose hands they passed to the Commissioner of Pensions, and by two other witnesses who knew their contents at the time. The committee deem it just that a volunteer who unites in a battle, and who becomes an invalid from a gun-shot wound received in the battle, should receive a pension, although he may not have been mustered into the service; and they direct that a bill be reported for the relief of James A. Glanding. The Committee on Claims, to whom was referred the memorial of Franklin Peale, report: This case was examined by the Committee on Claims at the first session of the last Congress, who made a favorable report thereon, accompanied by a bill for the relief of the claimant, which passed the Senate, but failed to receive the final action of the House of Representatives. Upon a careful re-examination of the case, the committee concur in the former report, and adopt it as their report. The accompanying bill is the same as that which passed the Senate at the last Congress, and its passage is again recommended. IN THE SENATE, May 23, 1856. The Committee on Claims, to whom was referred the memorial of Franklin Peale, report: From 1833 to 1854 the memorialist was employed in the United States mint, at Philadelphia, occupying successively the positions of assistant assayer, melter and refiner, and chief coiner-all places of high trust and responsibility, and which appear to have been filled by Mr. Peale with great credit to himself and advantage to the government. During this period, as clearly appears from the papers in the case, Mr. Peale invented and brought into practical use many valuable improvements in the machinery and processes applicable to the refining and coining the precious metals. The following are amongst the improvements introduced by Mr. Peale, for which compensation is claimed, viz: First. The use of common salt in reducing silver from its solution in nitric acid. John J. Morrell, foreman of the refinery, certifies that when Mr. |