The evening times., 1895-09-02
One Cent 1sa, e.
No sd~srsissmsus Tess than roe.
the CASE OF JOHN Y. PENROSE.

During my service as adjuster OF the We
suvius Life Insurance Company, quickly
discovered that all such corporations are
. looked upon as the legitimate prey of those
that deem themselves shrewd and sharp in
business. Juries, as a rule, are prejudiced
against an insurance company and there is
little use in one OF them going ifto court
unless it has the strongest pair of legal legs
to stand upon.
/ acquired SO much skill in ferre.ing out
several plots against our company that
was not only compiincnted on my success,
but given the most difficult problems that
came before US. This led 10 my connection
with " hat was known as the case OF John Y
Penrosc, the most extraordinary affair of
the kind OF which have any knowledge.
Penrose was a locomtive engineer in
Tennessee. in which capacity he had been
employed for five years, when he applied
Tor a policy in the vesuvius for $1,000.
His PHI ysical examination was satisfactory
and the policy was issued TO him for the
benefit of his wife. They had no children
1t was Increased to $4,000.
This does not attract attention in the
magnitude OF business. for the man kept
his premiums promptly paid. but when
some months later learned from friend
OF mine in the Excelsior that the same
man had taken out a second policy. this
time in the Excelsior. for the benefit of his
brother. the circumstance struck me as a
ItttI .itar N.t fvxcs
are unknown, but the annual payment of
the premium ON $4,000 of life insurance
is considerable sum of money, especially
for railway engineer whose wages are
not high.
However, the matter gradually passed out
OF my mind until six months later, just
before the senii-annuai payment became
due, we were notified of the death uf Pen
rose. The notice came officially, and in
due and regular form On the face of it
our company was disposed to pay the
claim. after the usual forrnalities, with
out any question. ] asked the president
TO allow me to look into the matter and
he consented. Within the following week
| was at the little town of BERWICK. Tenn,
near which Penrose had made his home
and from which he had been buried some
time before.
The first person / met as / stepped off
the cars was Cation, the adiuster OF the
Excelsior He smiled as he took my hand
and drew ME aside.
You may as well take the next train
hack said he. Its all as straight as
string. Our engineer struck his head
against telegraph post. was killed as dead
as julius Caesar, was folio wed to hrs grave
by a host OF mourning friends, and l have
telegraphed home that it's alright and they
must not think OF disputing the claim"
| was inclined to take Cations advice and
return with him, but. having gone thus far.
decided to look a little further into the mat
ter. SO | bade him goed-by and went to
the single hotel in the town, a ranishacEle
affair, where ! was the only guest that
night.
1t would have prejudiced my business had
my erraDd becom. known, for it did not
take HE long TO find that Peiirose, the en-
gineer, had been held in high regard by al
most every enc, and no whisper OF anything
irregular in his taking off had been uttered
by a living person.
registered under an assumed name and
took care not TO drop any hint OF my real
errand TO Berwyck. Ii was easy to pick up
from the gossip of the barroom the particu-
lars of. Penrose's death.
He was the engineer of No. II, which
drew the day express over the run Of sixty
miles to Reuwood in the forenoon and back
again in the evening to BERWICK Some
thing less than two weeks before his engine
broke down and another engineer took the
train, leaving him with No. IL to go into
4 ha 70 ire 10 fol ba
press on the night run at safe distance.
When opposite his own house, two miles out
of BERWICK. he leaned out of the cab
to shout some message to his wife, who was
standing in the door and, forgetting a tele
graph pole which stood near the track, was
struck with terrific violence. hurled out of
the cab and instantly killed. His fireman,
who was his brother Dick stopped the en-
gine, ran back and helped TO carry the dead
body of his engineer to his home. where his
widow was prostrated with grief.
An Inquest was held, the remains were
viewed by the hundreds who gathered a the
funeral, the physician who Investigated for
us was above suspicion, aud really my visit
to Berwyck looked like the most causeless
journey a ny mortal could undertake. When
I went 10 my room decided to take the
morning train home and inform the company
It was useless to make any dispute OF the
claim.
Imissed the train by five minutes and was
obliged to stay in BERWICK until late in the
afternoon. was irritated and to help pass
away the time decided upon inquiring fur
ther about the dead engineer, though with
out the slightest hope of learning anything
that could justify suspicion.
To a person disposed to build theories
learned a few suggestive facts. In the first
place the accident ofthe engineer so injured
his face that it was beyond recognition. In
the esecond place, despite itetherecommendation
of the examining surgeon some.years before,
Penrose was far gone with consumption.
Again. his brother, although offered charge
of an engine refused il and Quilted the
employ of the railroad company. There was
nothing in this last bat taken in connection
with the preparation. being made by him
and his sister-in-law tomove away, evidently
as soon as the two received the policies on
the engineers life, the whole affair caused
me renewed misgiving.
1t was only two miles TO the home of the
widow and l set out to walk there early
in the evening. 1 had no precise course of
action laid out, but intended to be governed
by circumstances as they arose
1t was clear moonlight night in May