Executive Order 5377—Appointment of Miss Patia Smith

Miss Patia Smith may be appointed to an appropriate position in the Department of Commerce without reference to the provisions of the civil service rules. Miss Smith is the daughter of Curtis M. Smith, a former employee of the Bureau of Standards, who was seriously injured in an explosion which occurred while he was on duty in the dynamometer laboratory of the Bureau of Standards in September, 1923. As a result of his heroic action in preventing loss of life and further damage to Government property by closing the liquid ammonia valves of the altitude chamber and pumping out the ammonia coils to a vacuum, Mr. Smith was seriously injured and incapacitated for duty for some time prior to his death on March 15, 1929.

This order is issued upon the recommendation of the Secretary of Commerce.

HERBERT HOOVER

The White House,
June 23, 1930.