The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-08-07
THE VERDlCTS FOR COL. WAY.
AWARDED THE FULL AMOUNT OF
BOTH THE INSURANCE POLICIES.

Defended-The Insurance ComPa-
mics VIII Take the Case TO the SUI
preme Court.
The sealed verdict in the Way insurance
| case was opened and read in the city
| court yesterday. The verdict was what
| the Morning News stated 1t would be- for
| the plaintiff. and for the fun amount OF
the two policies. but without damages or
attorneys fees.
The jury gave the plaintiff interest on
the amounts Of the policies from June 4.
1894, sixty days after the date on which
the proper and legal proof Of loss were
submitted The verdict would have been
| returned much sooner than It was but for
the fact that one of the eleven jurors for
| several hours stood staunch in favor Of the
defendant, while the other eleven were
| outright in favor OF the plaintiff
Late in the afternoon, however. the jury
sent a note to Judge MacDoneu asking
him If the jury could give the plaintiff the
fun amount Of the policies with
out damages or attorneys fees The at
torneys were sent for, and Judge MacDon-
ell expected to charge the jury again on
that point. Mr. Nicolson. however. could
not be found at that time. and the statute
on the subject was sent them, showing
that they could return a verdict for the
amounts as stated without damages or
attorneys fees in case they found there
was no bad faith on the part Of the de-
PENDANT companies. 1t appears that the
jury took this view Of the matter, and
decided simply that the plaintiff was en-
titled to the amounts Of the two policies.
The trial took in two cases, they having
been consolidated by consent Of both par
ties to the suit. The first was against the
Western Assurance Company of Toronto
Canada. on a policy of 1850. ana the sec
ond against the British-America Company
on policy for $500.
The two companies We're represented by
Mr. r. r. Richards, and the plaintiff, Mrs
Frances NJ. Way, by Messrs. NicolsOn and
Mcclellan. The companies set up num-
Der of defenses, one of them, upon which
they seemed to have laid great stress, be-
ing that the plaintiff had fraudulently
overvalued the items Of property claimed
to have been destroyed by the fire, and,
second that Mrs. Way failed to secure an
award by appraisers, there having been
disagreement as to the value of the arti-
cles and the extent of the loss, and that
precedent to recovery, to have an award
made by appraisers.
The parties at interest had actually sub
mittsd the matter to appraisers to have
tho extent of the loss determined by them,
but the appraisers had never been able
TO agree upon an umpire. each side charg
ing the other with wrongfully and arbitra-
rily refusing to agree on the umpire and
thereby blocking the appraisement.
Among the other defenSes filed
and urged was one that Col.
Way had fraudulently overstated the
value and the amount Of property he had
at Beaulieu in order to induce the com
panies to issue the policies. The claim was
made that he stated that he had about
$4,000 worth Of property there. Another
defense was that Mrs. Way did not
have the sole, unconditional title in fee
simple to the property at the time the
policy was issued, as she had made a deed
TO Charles d. Fisher to secure debt at
that time. The plaintiff claimed, however,
that the companies were put on notice of
that, and that they had issued the pol
icies, the loss, If any, payable
to Charles d. Fisher. The next defense
was that she had been guilty of gross neg
ligence in allowing the grass and brush
TO grow up and accumulate on the lawn
so as to endanger the safety of the house.
This, 1t was claimed, constituted an in
void the policy.
The company claimed also that she did
no use all reasonable means before and at
the time of the fire to prevent its spread
ing and being communicated from the
burning grass to the building 1t was
claimed also that there were fraudulent
overvaluations in the proofs of loss, and
that Mrs. Way refused to continue an
examination under oath by an adjuster
of the company. 1t was claimed also that
the plaintiff had fraudulently stated
that the fire originated on the lawn, in
stead of inside the house Mrs Ways
claim was that she was not present at the
time the fire originated and that the most
reasonable theory was that the fire did
originate on the lawn, and that it was
communicated to the house by a gale of
wind blowing toward it.
The plaintiffs submitted two different
proofs of loss, one dated March IT, 1894,
which was claimed by the company to be
defective, and one dated April 4, 1894,
which was admitted to be all right, so far
as being a statement of the loss as re-
quired by the policy. The company. how
ever claimed that the plans and specittca-
lions and the magistrates certificate were
also parts of the proof of loss and that
the policy set forth that they should be
furnished If required by the company.
The second proofs of loss submitted be-
the policies were due sixty days after
their date, which was April 4. Judge Mac
Donen held, in his charge, that the first
proofs of loss of March II. were insufficient,
but that the plans and specifications and
magistrates certificate were not parts of
the proofs of loss. He held that the proofs
of loss of April were sufficient, and that
there were then sixty days at the expira-
ton of which time the policy was to
mature.
Another portion of Judge MacDonelrs
charge was TO the effect that people take
insurance for the purpose among other
things of protecting themselves from their
own carelessness and negligence and that
of their servants. Fires are often the result
of carelessness and the law of Georgia is
that simple negligence on the part Of
the assured or of the servant of such per-
son does not relieve the company. but
that gross negligence on the part Of the
assured viii. Judge MacDonell also IL
Illustrated to the jury the manner of ar
irving at verdict under the three-quarter
value clause.
This is hardly the end of the proceeding.
The trial this time mas occupied two fun
weeks of the courts time, and one day
over. and the trial of the case against the