The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-16
SUING "THE COMPANY
EAsY ENOUGH TO GET UP a BIO
DAMAGE CASE.

Net So EASY, However. 60 Get tho Case to
Trial or 20 Prove the uniury ana tho
Damage-some striking Cases or Fer.
jured Testimony and Fictitious Damage.
I'm the eyes OF a certain class OF lawyers
there arc two lucky sets Of people," said n mem.
Der Of the legal department Of a big street rail.
way company doing business in several States
in the Union. 1.-THE first Ia tho individual who
obtains n cash beuucst. Tho other and even
luckior is the man or woman. particularly tho
woman, who has n suit for damages against a
street railway corporation.
"a woman Is the special favorito OF fortune
with n suit because. to almost any jury, n cor.
poration is n soullcss conglomcration Of greed,
and every drop OF blood money possible should
DO squeezed out of 1t. Moreover. few juries
will withstand tho sight of u crippled woman on
the stand or ono who swcars her health has
been ruined for life. And tho more the jury
knows of tho lifo husbands with sick wives
lead tho better tho case is for the plaintiff.
"All this Ia 30 thoroughly understood Ne
that o surprising business ia done In damage
suits brought on false grounds. And. to the dis.
grace of their sex, the majority of the tools In
these cases are women. The legal departments
OF such q corporation as ours is as big rs that Of
the city OF New York before tho consolidation,
and for the detection of these false suits II large
force is supported. nll Of which is made necer-
sary by the lying and cupidity Of the plaintiffs.
It was much easier q few years ngo to rush
through such a case than it is now, and
1t IL steadily becoming more difficult to hood
wink the street railway companies. The in.
slant q company becomes suspicious that a suit
has been brought without sufficient grounds,
tie plaintiff is at once put under such complete
espionage that It Is almost impossible for the
plot to DO carried through successfully to tho
point of collecting the sum sued for. Many
such cases never come to trial. and not until
some Of these perjurers are punished by inn
prisopment will there DO any cessation in the
increasing string of these false suits.
"A notable case occurred to q New York
street road. Tho girl bringing the suit had had
an accident. Tho road admitted that and boz
lieved the girl had been injured. but not Be-
verely, by any means. Nevertheless, when .
suit for 10000 was brought the company of
fered $2.50O. Her relatives Indignantly re-
fFure to $4,000 claiming ini sSi absolute HELPLESS s%e
ness for the girl: When, the case came to trial
sr plhGP5S SFE BOAT Of w ths o R%lslesif n re evidsn ia g 81 G sss
fine physical condition.. and the counsel In the
eSsei GSo asked TSs Pp sG1eiisl{I hG fpem The Il 9 GourPt sf t.
withdraw and the suit vanished. Further evil.
d fSs so% of snGh ,S { Sh ssSsrsT w was : in P9 %onid S,S Of
proved themselves ,perjnrers If the trial had
Eone ON Who B Sas al 1ais case ssr was t an east far side naet poll
Another case which has not yet come to trial
Il fn sfp so lhe p BED q % S1d %ili Tb Be aneBfs the the r rs con- Of
her life to perform her duties as q housewife. 10
W sn an t easy n msiteF p6 for the COMPANY rnpinS o detectives to
her singing ana snjo sfssi herself sastHfn Whi hS' bending sH ling
More than a match for these two is a case
which concerns Philadelphia. 1t is for q large
small daughter. who is naturally expected to
add to the sympathy for her injured mamma.
suit was suspicious Of the woman and believed
she had received only a slight fall and shock. 1t
nafa IL u n n dafnnftpn nnvf doom 20 hAr 1Na
r. a place outside Of Philadelphia;, For 9 long
shnS; d ssEftal ob Tisk'i the the stri sF5iGlley ev HHwt,
he was hunting for. but did make sure
that his patient was anything but an invalid.
q party silently left the Womsn's house and tho
detective took the same ferryboat. He trailcd
l%sy y InsiSded d', ,Ro 4 p%lss az lffiI' RRsr RfaTss; and and
NJ. on a ha ,ns 6 5f' the f sslP on ma sss 1s1sy; w sS0q foa : a;
four Of 81 the fae p Gaye dan etSVe on { eh s9 dsck pa az 5 K. a N.
One couple was the lawyer and his hopeiessiy
the trolley MaWkshaw. Who Vi did not force Himself
upon them. Tho boat hands were called to wit
Counsel se Is .hs Wiz lH'l iin slF int " the ' eost MeseT sa aee th hsy
are ever likely, to attempt when the woman's
snit against the railroad company comes up for
"In all the cases where such suits como to
woman. So far I know of no prosecutions for
perjury or attempt to defraud.
1 u II easlest lllnB III Inc NoTlu 10 COOk
up, a suit for $4,000 damages. A woman falls
and is unconscious for a few moments OF
course she doesn't know Just what happened
home she has miles Of Mysteries. Old troubles
are revived, an. operation or n couple of weeks
In a hospital follows. and then the woman finds
herself in a chronic state of hysteria and some
doctor declares her entire system is a wreck.
If she isn't a nervous wreck she finds 1t con-
venient to appear one, and a suit 10 started i'm
The victim maintains a seclusion
or thinks she does. which amounts to the same
way she is getting the best of the company, and
limits her excursions to the hours after night
fall. Most of these women readily give their
own cases away, through their WI folly and