Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1872-08-22
The Fate of B. P. Gum.
The Agent of a Life Insurance
Company Meets with a HOrri-
BILE Death. .s.aHF.

Ul6uu llcSIl W llC NdOG ulultftuuS
Of persons who have endured the
prosecutions of persistent insu.
rance agents rzt .s,tai~
His name was Benjamin P,
Gum, and he was the agent for
an insurance company. He came
around to my Office fourteen times
in one morning to see if he could
not persuade me to take out a life
insurance policy in his company.
He used to waylay me on the
street, at church, in my house, and
bore me about that policy. If |
went to the opera, Gum would
buy the next seat to me, and sit
there the whole evening, talking
about sudden deaths and the ad-
vantage of the ten year plan. If |
got into a street car, Gum would
come rushing in at the next COR
ner, and sit by me and draw out a
lot of mortality tables, andI begin
to explain how / could beat his
company out of fortune. If l
sat down to dinner at restau-
rant, up would come Gum, and,
seizing the chair next to me, he
would tell a cheering anecdote a.
bout a man who insured in his
company for $4,000. only last
week. and was buried yesterday.
If | attended the funeral of a de-
parted friend, and wept as they
threw the earth upon his coffin, /
would hear whisper, and turn
ing around, the indomitable Ben
-jamin P. Gum, bursting to say /:
'Poor Smith! Knew him well.
Insured for ten thousand dollars
in our company. Widow lett in
comfortable circumstances. Let
me take your name. Shall 1?''
lie followed me everywhere /;
until at last | got so sick of Gums
prosecutions that | left town sud-
denly one evening, and hid my
self in secluded country village,
hoping to get rid of him. At the
end of two weeks I returned,
reaching home at Cne o'clock III
the morning. | had hardly got
into bed before there was ring at
! the door bell. / looked out, and
there was Gum with another
person He asked if Max Ade-
/ Ter was at home. ! said | was
the man. Mr.. Gum then OBJ
served that he expected my re-
turn, anG thought he would cali a.
round about that insurance policy.
! lie SAID he had the doctor with
him, and if l would come down
he would take my name and have
me examined Immediately. Twas
too indignant to reply. | shut the
window with slam and went to
bed again. After breakfast in
the morning l opened the front
door and there was Gum sitting
on the steps with his doctor,
waiting for me. He had been
there all night. AS l came out
they seized me and tried to undress
me there on the pavement, in or.
der to examine me. | retreated
and locked myself up in the gar
ret with orders to admit nobody
to the house until l came down
stairs. a-l.
But Gum wouldn't be baffled.
He actually rented the next door
and stationed himself in the gar
ret adjoining mine. When he
got fixed he spent his time pound
ing on the partition and crying !:
"Hallo! Adeler! Adeler, / say!
How about that policy? Want to
take her out now And then
he would tell me some more anec-
dotes about men who were cut
off Immediately after paying the
first premium. But / paid no at
tention to him, and made no noise.
Then he was silent for while.
Suddenly, one morning, the
trap-door of my Office was
wrenched off; and, upon looking
up, / saw Gum WITH The doctor
and a crowbar, and a lot Of death
rates, coming down the ladda4wRt
me. filed from the, house to the
Presbyterian Church close by, and
paid the sexton twenty dollars to
let me sit astride of the ball. |
promised him twenty more if he
would exclude everybody from
that steeple for a week. Once
safely on the ball, three hundred
feet from the earth, l made my
self comfortable with the thought
that | had Gum at a disadvan-
tage, and | determined to beat him
finally if l had to stay there a
! .~.o,, IL,