The Bedford gazette. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1805-current, 1867-11-01
LIFE INSURANCE CASE.
Attempted Fraud--A Singular Story.


" wood last week. One Elias Charlie
Richards, in the Summer of 1865. OBJ
r tanned policy of insurance for $40, ,OOC
in the American Life Insurance Com
3 pany of Philadelphia. Subsequently
the policy was assigned to Edward S
ic Connor, and by him suit was brought
against the company for the recovery ol
the entire amount Of $4,000. The
: plaintiff alleges that Richards was
drowned on the evening of September
Is, 1865, in the Susquehanna river. near
Perryville. The defendants denied this,
e and maintained that the man is now
alive.
Z The testimony adduced on the trial
exhibited a series of circumstances and
manuevers Ofthe most interesting char
acter. No starting point could be found
for the man Richards. He came from
nowhere, belonged nowhere, had no
family, norelatives, no friends, no busi-
ness, no mOney-a regular '"Topsy" of
the masculine gender. He was picked
up by the agent, who insured him some
where in Philadelphia-he couldn't tell
where-taken down to Maryland, and
there the papers were made out and in
surance effected to the extent of $40, 900,
$4,000 being in the Charter Oak. This
was in June. Richards stayed in that
neighbOrhOOd few days, went away,
and returned again in the night of the
14th ofSeptember. On the two previous
occasions he wore a broadcloth suit and
carried a gold watch. On his last visit
he had linen clothing much worn, straw
hat, old shoes, within money, no watch
nor luggage of any kind. He had bar
gained for a farm, and through the same
agent who insured him he succeeded in
obtaining 1900 on his policies of 500
900 of Mr.. COnnOr. One thousand dol
lars of this money he paid to the agent,
and received bond for deed.
On the evening of the 10Th of Sep
tember this Richards proposed to two
men, after finding out that one could
not swim and that the other wouldn't,
to take walk with him along the bank
of the river. They went with him. He
insisted upon going into the water.
They went out upon raft lying behind
a wooded point of land, and Richards |
went in to bathe. He swan about near
to the boat for some time, and then got |
up on the timberS. After while Rich |
ards said he hadn't swan enough. and |
would go in again, and said he might |
get the cramps, and if he did, he wished |
them to come to his assistance. 1t was |
now quite dark. He went in again, and |
this time swan directly away from the
float, and when about forty yards off |
cried out that he had the cramps. The
two men were frightened and ran for |
boat. When they returned they could |
neither see nor hear anything Of Rich
ards, and, therefore, believed him
drowned. This was the evidence on
the part of the plaintiff, except the tes-
timOny of one individual that he
thought he saw the body ola man float
ing on the water some eight days after
the drowning, but which was proved to
be a hoop covered with weeds and
grass.
The defendants offered in testimony
the peculiar circumstances attending
the effecting of the insurance, the sim
gular conduct Of the man, his appear
in N in, |
clothes and in September in a thin and
wornOut Summer suit, and the time and
method of his going into the river to
bathe, aSindicating fraud, premeditated
end most Systematically arranged and
perpetrated. They also produced the
testimony OftWO witnesses, one Ofwhom
had seen this same Richards once and
the other three times since the alleged
drowning.
The case goes over to another trial.
OF course, when the doctors disagree
editors cannot undertake to decide. Yet
we would take this occasion to say that
life insurance companies cannot be too
watchful in guarding against fraud and
Misrepresentation. Nearly the entire
benefits of life insurance accrue to
widows and orphans. 1t is, therefore,
the interest of all husbands and fathers
who are insured that these institutions
should be protected against fraud, so
that they will be able to meet the habil-
tiles arising from all honest and legiti
mate assurances.
During the past two years, says
Philadelphia paper, many attempts
have been made to sWindle life insur-
ance companies. In Illinois an insured
man sent some other PERSONS dead body
as his representative to the grave, while
he stayed back to collect the policy. In
man buried lot of willow
sticks. for the same purpose and va
riety Ofsingular contrivances have been ,
made to this end in different sections
of the country, which seem to indicate {
that regular systematic organization {
has been effected to defraud these be-
nevolent institutions.
I
ABOUT HATING.-Hate not. 1t is