The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-02-13
QUEER PENSION CASES.
TAGARIEs OF HUMAN LIFE NET
WITH M THE LAW DITISI0N.

Lone search. fs- Mas nuowa only - ''Pss-
seu n~-Aavnntsge 90 Rsseahiins an APE
Rneeh Auaess n Pieuty-p,ohsty pas TRIES
to Pcrsonate . solder ara Get . Pepsisu.
WASHINGTON. Feb. 5.-The denunciation by
the Commissioner Of Pensions of-fraudulent
pension attorneys recalls q number Of notable
attempts to defraud the Government in the last
sight or ten years. The task of investigating
these cases falls 10 the Law Division, which,
with the assistance Of tho special examiners in
the office and In tho field. has succeeded in do
ing some remarkably clever detective work.
To give an idea Of the difficulty that attends
some Of the Investigations one case of interest
may be related. There was a man who applied
for n pension on account Of q wounded knee
which he received near Lexington, KY, by be-
Ing knocked down andsrun over by q Govern
ment ammunition wagon. He made his afh-
davtt. but could supply no witnesses, for the
reason that he was on q special detail at the
tins OF the accident and the detail was COM
posed Of non-commissioned officers and pri-
Yates from different regiments who were stran-
Rers to him. II was finally discovered that in
the detail he remembered two men, one Of
whom his companions called "Possum" and
the other Coon" The case was SO evidently
q Just one that the examiner made q favorable
report to the Office, and the office set about OBJ
tanning some information in regard to POS
sum- and Coon After q voluminous cor
respondence all the men in the detail were dis
covered except one man named Adams. Il
was found that Adams was in Mexico. He was
O mining engineer and was engaged in work in
a small interior town. A letter was written to
him asking about Postum The letter was
returned marked Not found" with the in
dorsement that Adams had gone to Nevada.
The office got a clue to him, and q letter was
written to a small mining camp with injunc-
lions to the Postmaster to look him up. 1t was
found that Adams had left:Nevada two weeks
before the letter arrived. The office was in
ions that he lived in the vicinity Of a small town
In Maine. Another letter was written to the
p rssea tSe Information Sa shif sG sSn; t see; Wss T az adams sons
Der Of it was shortly expected home from the
was discovered, and he proved to be "Possum.'
On his testimony the pension was granted;
gard to detail, a number of fraudulent cases
have. slipped. through the fingers of the exami-
2. ii I. Dupapt OF New Orleans, who, after vsri,
Gus traps had been laid for him. was at last
caught trying to FIX up a widow for q dead sol,
in the case were fIed it was found that the
claims Of the living soldier for the pension were
took the deposition Of a woman named Luey.
The latter had been drilled so carefully by the
but it happened that the real soldier looked 50
| like an ape that he had been called Monkey
by his companions, and he easily established
man and went out after Dupart and Lucy.
It which. il true. would involve marriages at
the contracting parties were at the age
of 10. Three persons have figured in twenty
piaees for The purpose Of obtaining pension
money are n favorite means of defrauding the
A short time ago IN examiner went to take the
deposition Of a woman in a mall New England
town as to certain facts in regard to her hus-
pension, md the woman had believed him dead
for some years. Believing him dead. she was
week. but when the examiner showed her the
papers she ell in a faint. Special examiners
s Het ins he sea ats si'e fam Mi mean so Gn efns,nf they sS;
don't wish to be reunited. and the result is
One Of tho most remarkable cases involving
a question Of identity ever known came before
the Law Division Ave or six years ago. 1t is
incidence. In 1854 Ferraby saS the widow
Of William Newly. who was killed at the battle
S ct ansdon' r sRensc ter YEARS. &c Psns a%fterw Wa!fn there @@s
cam? to the Pension Office an application for a
%as the fT Wiilia ano'S SewS Ssai to Whose se %id ssaa the he
careful Investigation by the Law Division.
1889. the year before the second claim was
h fhs . a tramp az J met IN q N pooS5ho use .d in Illinois I,iah
him Of his war experiences. In 1890 the tramp
turned up in the neighborhood where Newly
eral Of Newby's old neiehbors that he was the
dead hs soldier He The s,fd ramp 1hntP S WAS ba sao Sean as Is LICK sar
sss Pe ON the h iel sp, at ssaSdiSi oh he but atf had sfs been Hes saved ed
by, n Confederate surgeon. Members of New:
by's, company who buried him on the field of
battle were confident that they had not in
tered another man by mistake and swore that
Rickety Dan lied. The soldier was a blond.
dark. There was a wonderful coincidence of
scars and marks upon the body. There was q
there had been one upon the left temple Of the
soldier. They both had birthmarks on the alb,
d dome 5.t Newly tSs had A. e scar CA -, on sl his foot w fsTsf ed
was cutting wood. The tramp Newly had the
same scar.
some correspondence Il was discovered that in
the penitentiary at Nashville a man answering
horse stealing. Riekety Dan was then positivs.
ly identified by detectives as q horse thief and
distance from that city. The xanine took
Rickety Dan to q store near Nashville and ar.
ranged to have the old woman come In, She
said famiiiarly. Hello, Dan" The examiner
watched the tramp i caErefSslly; n. D oS5 w never
in an impudent way and said slowly;
Il don't know YOU"
piled. You are not Rickety Danf'. and she
walked over to him and pushed back his hair
ana pointed 70 the scar on MS leIt temple.
But Dan maintained hiscomposure through
our, and the examine was. more mixed than
ever. The old woman said that Dan had a wife
and son in the county poorhouse and there the
examiner went. He found that the report OF
the old woman was true, and as corroboratiye
evidence Rickety Dams wife and son were found
suffering from the ricketts,, the ailment from
which the tramp got his name. Then the Law
Division prepared its case most carefully. The
Government had sixty witnesses and Dan had
200. The trial OF the case lasted two weeks.
and not until the last moment was the Govern
mont ahanlutely aura of winning. In fact. at
so, But they had prepared a surprise at the
ton and defence had been heard, there strolled
into the court room Rickety Dams rickety son.
He walked around to where the defendant was
sitting and said carelessly, Hello. Dad" and
the case of the Government was won. The peo-
Pile at the Pension Office say that they do not be-
1ieve to this day.that the widow of William
Newly is really convinced that Rickety Dan Is
not her husband.
The letter files in the Law Division Of the
Pension Office are quite entertaining. Here is
an interesting communications:
II took my money and bought, me a pig and