The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-11-28


man. She was not old, by any means. and
was described by the examiner as being "A
woman OF remarkable personal beauty.
After talking over the case the examiner
produced the deposition of Jones and plac-
ed IL on the table before her. She looked
at II FOR moment and then. without q
sound. fell backward on-the floor in dead
faint. The examiner, who was q kind
hearted man, was deeply touched 10y the
beauty and sorrow of the unfortunate Wo-
man on returning TO the town. however.
short time afterward. ne discovered that
despite her trials and tribuaUons she had
married the man Of her second choice but
being a discreet man, he held his tongue.
found felicity. This is only one of the hun
dredS of EnOch Arden cases which have
come TO the notice of the bureau
The officials Of the bHreiiu find how
ever, that most OF the. sFvi hdling is done
not by the claimants themselves. but by
the pension sharks who abound i'm All
parts of the country particularly i'm the
south. it IS these plen. more than any
others, whom the law division, through
the district attorneys. of the different
states, prosecutes7 with all las power
One of the most InOteit of the Sc sharks
was the ReV.fC. W. lewis. wifo lived in
Louisiana after the war. whence ne went
70 Kansas early in the sevenues He WAS
first heard OF by the bureau i'm 1879 in an
attempt 10 get through fraudulent pen
sion claim. 1t was proved thai, II nee
essary, he would forge affdavits when
ever he could get no one else 10 do it for
him, and was so versatile and so plausi-
bic man sthat he. could bring witnesses
TO prove anything required. Periodically
he would array himself IN a blue Uniform
wearing a row of Grand Army badges,
and would represent himself as a govern
ment officer Offering to prosecute any
claims, and getting anything out of his
CredulOus claimants, from % cents to S25
The methods of the Rev. T. A. Dunlap Of
Nashville, Tenn, were similar to those Of
Lewis. The number of forgeries he COM
mitted is not known, but IL is believed 10
be enormous. He is now in the peniten-
tiary
The king of this pension shark busl-
ness. though, according to the law divis-
ion, is j. l. Dupart OF New orleans La,
whose forgeries number among the
thousands. Dunlap was caught trying
10 INK up a woman named Lucy as q
widow of Lewis Sargent. When the pa
pers We're filed at the bureau. however.
they were met by the claim of the living
soldier. The claims were sent out for IN
vestigation, and the why Dunlap produc-
ed his Lucy Sargent. who, with rare tall
ent, convinced the special examiner that
she was the soldiers sorroWing widow.
Ii appeared, however, that the real sol
der was a most peculiar looking man.
He looked so much like as ape that he
was known as Monkey" to his com
rades, and he easily established the fact
that he himself ana no other person per-
formed the service for which the PEN
sion was asked The special examiner
then returned TO Nashville in search of
Lucy. but Lucy had gone. and, II Is
needless to say, has not been heard from
since.
The special examination division comes
across fraudulent cases, where, IL the
affidavit were TO be believed. people mar
ried at the age of II. Persons have had
children when years old. Three persons
have figured in tWenty-One marriages in
six years without q single death or d.
vorce of ,any of the parties concerned.
Deathbed marriages for the purpOse\ of
getting the pension money are frequent.
The letters, too, which the law divis-
don receives from ignorant persons are
entertaining Here Is one: one night
on picket duty at the seige of Nicksburg,
| saw by spiritual sighta light shining
on the side of my, face and the bottom
of my feet. / was sanctihed, and what
allied me was Christianity. l have it in
my head, heart and whole system. and
1t troubles me most when / have, the
ague and attending cAAgch feel there
out when it getEe loOse&s In, he investi-
the claimant had Suffered from a severe
case of sunstroke, which he had con-
tracted at the seige Of Nicksburg, and
that he was insane. The pension was
granted. tsueq
persons in regard 40 ~ nat pty Nlsetn 10
be delicate law questions took my
money" says one, land bought mo a pig
and some seed potatoes and / kept the
pig all summer and he has become fat
hog, and / dug my potatoes last week,
and now John Jones has LEVIED on my
pig, and he wants TO take my potatoes.
i want the government to protect me.
Has he the right to- -taate government
There Is no better example of the care
and perseverance of the bureau to arrive
at the truth in doubtful cases than the
following incident: A man applied for "A
pension for a wounded Knee which he
had received near Lexington, Ky, being
RIM over by an ammunition wagon while
he was on a special detail. The man
was asked to furnish the atfidaVits OF
some witnesses OF the occurrence Dqt.
owing to his being, az the time or the
injury on a special detail taken from
several regiments, he did not know the
names of amy of the, persons in this de-
tail He only remembered that his COM
rades had called one of the men Pos.
sum-" and that anotheu was called
The mans story was so straightfor-
ward, and his claim was apparently so
just a one, that in spite Of the Difficult
dies attending "a search for 'Possm'
and Coon" the bureau went about it
Systematically. 1t was found that there
was one Kentucky regiment at LeXing-
ton. After considerable correspondence
all the non-commisstoned officers in the
detail were found, except one man by
the name of Adams. 1t was subsequent
ly found that Adams had been in Mex
inc him who "Possam" was.
The letter was returned uncalled for.
1t was ascertained that Mr. Adams, who
was an engineer, had gone to some min
ing town in Nevada, where he was finally
located When he was written to- 1t was
found that he had gone again. but no tope
knew where. i WAS QeNelODttl, however
that he had told some one that he lived
somewhere in the vicinity Of one of the
small villages in Maine. The postmaster
of this town was correspouded with,
ily by the name of Adams lived in the
vicinity One member Of the. family he
said had been in Kentucky. was a mining
engineer, and was expected home soon.
A letter was addressed to this Mr.. Ad-
ans in the care Sof the postmaster, who
delivered it to him on his arrival soon
"a
this Mr.. Adams was ,vP0sspnl, +" and he
described the accident of the ammunition
wagon so clearly that the claim was al
lowed. ay4N y'c4Ft ~ ~ a..