The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1895-12-15


Whisper--8otht the Application and
The Death Proofs Were Entireiy
Faise--No Argument by Counsel.
TRENTON, \. c, Bee. Ia (SpeciaD
At the special term of Jones court
to-day the third of the Graveyard =
insurance cases was called.
State against C. II. IIasseli, Silas
Blount, David Parker ard Albert Wig
fall, false pretences.
The solicitor mol pressed the defend
ants Parker and Blount andannounced
that Wigfall had just informed him
that he desired to submit.
The defence exhausted their chal-
lenges and then objected to the tales
jurors because they had been sum
moned from distant parts of the cQun-
ty. They made the objection that these
jurors should have been summoned
from amongst the by-standers. Judge
Graham overruled the objection.
Alb. Wigfail was then introduced by
the State. Col. Jno. w. Hinsdale's eX-
animation elected the following:
james Wigfall was my brother.
have been living in Beaufort thirty
five years. Ny general business is fish
ing. / know Hasseii. ] signed the
name James Wigfall TO the applica-
tion for insurance IN the Bay State
Beneficiary Association. Barney Davis,
who purports TO be subscribing Wit
ness to the name, was not present
when / signed. / do not know where
Barney ROW is. He left Beaufort re-
Gently bat did not tell me where he
was going.
&c. r. Hassell flied up this applica-
tton at his house in Beaufort, Jim and
I being present. He had spoken to my
brother concerning the insurance and
told me it would be Wise if | colld
talk To Jim about it. felt enabarrass-
ed about it but eventually he. made the
application and we got the policy. Has
sell said ii was the best thing my
brother and | had ever done. That
none but himself would haze taken the
risk 1t was at fIasselfs solicitation
that the policy was pat upon my
Brothers life.
"Jirn was about q years old and
lived in Beaufort aii his lie except
when he was at ST. Augustine school
i'm Rsleigh. about 3 years before his
death he returned from school to Beau-
fort and taught school with the excep-
tion of 3 months. when he was sner-
ehandisiitg He had quit school teach
ing on account of his health and stopp-
ed merchandising a month before his
death. because his health would not
permit him to continue.
u had Jim brought home from
school lie then had a deep, heavy
cough.
Question .Whea did he get well Of
that cough"
"When he died. He died Nov. 6.
1899. The application was made Oct.
18th, 1898.
AT the time this application was
made Judge he weighed 90 pounds.
He was weak and feeble and did not
look to me like he would live long. He
had a constant. heavy hacking cough
and was choked up with phlegm. !
think he had consumption. He was
unable to work. | was present when
he died. He was laying on the bed
and asked me TO make fire. ! had
nice fire, but revived it to please him,
and when | came back to the bed, he
had raised up. / put my arms around
him and carried him 10 a chair. He
was as light as q child. When he
struck the chair he was dead. He was
CONSCIOUS 10 tue itsst
The sworn proofs of death state
that the assured died OF typhoid pneu-
monia after an illness of days.
AT the time the application was
made he could not speak above whis-
per.
Il raid the premiums on this policv
10 Hassell. lie said brother Jim did
well 10 get the policy out
H. -. L. =
sworn to by DIR. II. Il. Delamar. The
witness stated that draft on the Bay
State Association for $4,000, which is
handed to him and identified, was sign
ed by Silas Blount for him in his (Wig-
fall's) name, and was given to Frank
w. Gibble to be mailed Ii is payable
10 G.. Fl. Roberts, cashier Bank of New
bern.
The draft was paid by the company
and | got the money. Two or three
days after Hassell found | got the
money he met me on the street and
said \ guess you are rich now.
81 said no.
He said, you have acted damn
mean towards me anyway You ought
10 have given me one-fourth of that
money. Nobody else would have done
your dirty work for YOU
On eross-eNamination witness ad-
mitted he pocketed S2.970 and said
he divided it with his wife and child
ren.
Dave Parker collected it for me.
do not know whether / have made my
peace with the prosecution Hasseli
got his fees. Ny brother consented
for me to sign his name to the applica-
ton. He was feeble and said he did
not feel like signing it. Hassel did
not ask me to pay him the horse and
buggy hire Parker owed him, now
that / had money.
Il have spent the money | got from
the insurance company in various
ways. Some of it on my house | have
an ordinary home 1GX24 feet,
rooms. IL is listed for
taxation at $400. / owned the lot and
had the house nearly finished when I
got this money. have five in my
family. ] have rio money now When
! got the $4,000 / owed some money
Frank Johnson, 500: Pero Davis, 500
l cannot say who else / owed. | don't
know what has become of the money.
j swear | do not know where the sum
and substance of the $4,000 has gone.
Dave Parker didn't get it. | loaned
him 300. lie gave me his note for it
| will say ! loaned him $500, | loaned
Frank Gibble $500 or $500. ] do not
know how ] have spent il. | don't
know what has become of the other
Z ~ 100 GiIae nIauuf had SIM lint hf