Marion J. Patrick, Administrator of the Estate of Philip Alan Patrick, Deceased v. United States

This ■ action for wrongful death was brought under the Federal Tort Claims Act by the Administrator of the Estate of a 3-year-old boy who was struck and killed by a truck of the Post Office Department. The District Court made findings of fact and conclusions of law, on the basis of which it awarded a judgment in favor of the plaintiff for $30,000. It did so after reciting pecuniary loss as one of the elements of damage in an action for wrongful death and referring to the rule that pecuniary loss would be presumed, in the absence of relevant evidence, when the relation between the decedent and…