The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-07-28
SUFFER FOR A PRICE.
SCHEMES DEVISED TO OBTAIN Acct
DENT INSURANCE.
p.ople Main Themselves, and Some Hor-
ribIe Results Are the Consequence-sev-
eral Interesting Instances of Peculiar
Casualties.

What some people will suffer in order
IN secure money fraudulently is often
shown in the accident insurance bust
ness. There is as much moral hazard
connected with accident insurance, and
probably more, than with any branch of
underwriting. 1t seems incredible that
men will purposely MAIN themselves
and suffer the agony that is sure to fol-
low simply to secure weekly benefits
and insurance from accident companies,
and vet there are thousands Of just such
cases.
Men devise every possible means to
iniure their bodies and disfSure them
selves for life to obtain insurance. One
of the favorite methods is TO fail from
moving train or to lie near the track and
have d train run over ones leg. IN this
way hundreds of voluntary accidents"
have taken place, some Of them horrible
in their results, usually meaning the
loss Of one or more members Of the body.
One Of the most terrible cases was
brought to light by Il Chicago company.
A man had taken out $40, 600 accident
insurance. He lives in "a small town in
lts
a sawmill at the edge of town and
finally found an opportunity to get near
the saw when no one else was in the
vicinity. 1t was his intention, as he
afterward confessed, to allow the saw
towound him slightly, so that he would
have an excuse to get some insurance.
Instead, however, the machine plowed
through the bone and cut one of his
arms in two, the one hand holding the
other dangling one with Il viselike grip,
showing that he held it next to the saw.
Another well known method is pre-
tending to get hurt by street cars. Not
many weeks ago man carrying con-
siderable accident insurance boarded an
electric car running to Roby. He waited
until no one was looking and then al.
lowed himself to fall and be dragged
several feet, during which time he was
horribly mangled.
Being accidentally" shot while ex-
amining q gun is favorite scheme,
many shooting off foot, necessitating
amputation.
A noted accident swindle was brought
to mind by an application for insurance
sent down from Wisconsin by man
whose family had been paid the full
amount of the insurance on his life, as
he was supposed to have been burned to
death. His cottage burned one night
and in the ruins was found a skeleton,
or the part of one, which the family
identified as being the remains of the
man of the house. A funeral was held,
and the family seemed sorely distressed.
The companies paid the insurance In
full. 1t afterward developed that the
man was alive. He had set the house on
fire and procured body to be identified
as his. which was in the debris. He
went to Australia, and the companies
attempted to corral him, but could not
get him. He now returns to another To-
cality and applies for accident insurance.
There are hundreds of most peculiar
accidents. A claim came in to COM
pany recently for the loss of an eye, IL
having been injured by swallow dart
ing its bill into a mans eye as he was
walking along the street.
Another claim came i'll for injuries TO
a mans face. 1t seems he was sleeping
on an old fashioned bedstead when the
heavy slam of door caused one OF the
large balls on the bedpost to fall and
injure the sleeper.
Another peculiar accident befell an
Iowa man. He had leaning on mantel
an unsheathed sword. One evening, as
he sat in a chair, musing before the fire'
the jar from slamming door shook the
sword from the mantel and 1t fell,
piercing the mans leg.
A grocer at Louisville had remark
able thing happen to him. His family
consisted of wife and three children,
and they were dependent upon him. he
took out accident insurance, and lew
days later, after having closed his
store, he was sitting in his parlor, over
it, when he heard the postman's CHAR
acteristic knock He threw down MS
paper and hurried down stairs. When
in the middle of a long, steep flight
his foot slipped, and he was forclbiy
precipitated down the remainder OF the
stairs to the hall below, where he
struck his head heavily against metal
letter box, which caused conclusion Oh
the brain, from which he soon died.
The remarkable point was that IN the
letter box at the time OF the accldent
was the policy for which the grocer mao
been negotiating. 1t had just been de-
livered by the postman to whose KNOCK
he was responding.
Another strange case happened, when
man was on the following day TO SAL
abroad on a mountain tour through
Switzerland. He went to an acciden'
insurance agent and took policy. Lhls
was done, and he left the office III new
York, which is situated on stree'
whero the track is seriously congested'
Turning straight out of the office, WIN
out looking where he was going, ne ran
into a horse attached to hansom' py
which he was knocked down and fatally
injured. Chicago Inter Ocean.
Woman President?
Tn sreakino IN n TEMPERANCE audience