The Washington weekly post. (Washington, D.C.) 1878-1916, 1900-07-31

ruU TIE lllfaTapc'fs Jr-rnal
THE strange disappearance % Seth W.
Tuley and his dramatic reappcdrance
formed the basis OF one OF the most fGsci-
mating legal cases I was ever connected
with, said Deputy Attorney General Mes-
rill MooreS in the lobby ~ q local hotel
last night. Mir. Mocres was a member OF
q sroup Of weii-known Indianapolis law
yers ~ho were Willing aNay the lime
with "reminiscences OF their careers.
Seth ". TUIcy was a young business
man Of New Albany. Ind. who somehow
seemed not TO SET along very vel. lie
had wife but no children. Physically ne
was Is handsome a specimen dr a man 4s
one could wish 70 see. He was six feet
three inches tail. gNquisi-ely I-opayJiuued.
and possessed q face chat was almost
IDEAL in its manly beauty ! once heard 4
gentleman remark tina. seth TuIey had
the nnest complexion he ever saw on A
man. Guley's brother. Col. William "
IuIey. New Aibau. lawyer. was yr8ul-
rent IN state politics then and afterwa,d
one morning IN the spring OF 1879, Seth ".
tEiey LEI his wife, presumably 20 80 70
MS place OF business bat disappeared a.
II suddenly removed bodily from the
earth. y decidedly interesting feature OF
ms disappearance was The tact that a.
mad insurance policies for large amounts
IN seYerel companies Naturally the in
Surance companies desired 10 ma soma
trace OF the man. pTcfcTTIng. Of course. ~
discover him in the flesh.
Worked with Vigilance.
They We're spurred on to renewed dill
sence In the investigation by knowledge
OF law on the statutes books OF Indiana
at that time To the effect that I'm the case
OF a mans Disappearance from his usual
haunts, he would be presumed 10 be dead
IN the eyes Of the law when the dlSap-
pearance had continued for a period "
five years. In a modified form that stgt-
ute Is still in force in this State I'm most
states the limit Is placed al seven years.
one OF the shrewdeSt pieces of legislation
which ever TELL under my notice WAS in
tc luced and passed through both
branches OF the Indiana legislature in con
DcCUon with the Tuipy diSaUprITaUCe
Col, W. ", Tuley. Scth's brother WAS 4
member OF the house of rrpr -srntatives
In I'M l. February Of that year alousy
about the time for his brother TO be Legal
ly presumed TO be dead. Col Tuley intro
dUCed into the house a bill amending the
disappearance statute 80 as 10 make the
legal presumption of death In such eases
relate back TO the day of disappearance.
Col. Tuiey's idea was TO preplre against
possible defense by the insurance com
panies against payment Of the policies on
the ground that they mad lapSed thruu-h
non-payment Of premiums. If the insured
could be declared legally dead on the div
he disappeared, Of course the pOlioi,
would have 70 BE- paid, since h went
away leaving them in full force bV keep
ing UP the premiums II Is inter, sting 20
note how eagerly the members of both
houses of the legislature were 10 pass the
bill. OF course no one would be- cruel
enough to intimate that they might have
been actUated BY the common d-siTe 20
soak il to corporations. such as inSur-
anee companies, for instance.
CoercinE ihr Insurance People.
THE bill was introduced in the house
February p. 1888. and passed within
very few days aftCrWdrd. Among the
representatives who recorded their votes
for the measure were William ID. Bynum,
John .. Ferriter. Jesse Whitsit. John X
Wilson. aHG Elisha J. Rowland. members
from Marion County. The voyage through
the senate to the haTbor OF final passage
into law was accomplished with re-
markable SmOothneSS and ease on March
?. 1853, Jess than one week alter the bill
was first launched OH the stormy sea Ut
legislation.
THE present generation viii no doubt
ma many familiar names in the list Of
senators who assisted the bill TO become
q law. The list includes William Dudley
FOulke, OF Richmond, Or FldYius Jose
DhuS Van EOrhis. OF this city, Robert e.
Bell, Of Fort Wayne: Eugene Bundy. or
New Castle, DR. w y. Fletcher. of this
city; Jason =. Brown, the deceased ex-
member Of Congress. Rufus Mage of
LoganspOrt; Gabriel NJ. Overstreet, father
0t our Representative in Congress, and }.
+. Mccullough, who is being talked Of
Tor Congress on the Seventh District Dem
Ocrdtlc ticket on, yes, / mustn't forget
that Warren q. Sdyrr. whom everybody
over the state knows. Was OIL the roll OF
honor
Having fortified himself with this law,
which materially lightened the burden Of
coHtClnL ire insurance on his brother
= IN life, Col. Tuley 'bided his time
until the statutory period Of five years
should elap%e. The day Of trial Of the
famous lawsuit finally rolled around and
regular battle royal seemed about 10
be begun Col. Tuley and Charles /, low
cit, aftcrWard judge advocate generaI
IN the [ nItcd States volunteers in th,.
philippines. were piIted against AleXan-
der Bowling. now on thc supreme bench
ana the great law frm Of Baker. HOrd 4
Hendricks / was clerk in the office Of
thc batter firm at the time ard knew my
chiefs had some high card w their
sleeves. bat the results Of their inves'i-
cations into the case were 50 carefully
guarded that none Of the employees ia tho
Office knew much about them ] knew thu
The insurance companies had kept detcc-
tites constantly employed upon the cIae.
ana that AZ the time Tuley disappeared
MS ClDlIES were tbAlQ on liit iiNlAtd rtilis
o. the Ohio River, near Albany. Wei,
the ease was opened. and the ia-
surancc companies allowed Col. 1u-
ley ana Col. JeWett To intro
ducc every scrap Of evidence they had.
AUu4rentlv a perfectly clear ease vas
made out against -he Companies. When
tho plaintiffs rested thesT case. the she--
~ proceeded 20 call witness for The DE-
feHEe The first name uttered fc.l Ike
clap Of thunder bpoE the ears Of al
fr
was Seth ". Tuley.' Sure enough. there
h,. was. staIVart, handsome, and - good
10 look - as The day be left New Albany
five years before.
Taicy'- Strange story.
"On the witness stand be told strange
taIe H. had not succeeded iu business ~
ne desired. and. besides, ~as unable -
gel aInug with mis- wife quite harmonious
lv becoming discouraged, boz mad" up iis
mind one morning that he would br~aS
away from bis iTksome surrounding, 80
Ia new place and begin Owe. again. Ac-
ccrdirgly. be- icft some OF Hi- clothes on
The river bank 20 give Use 20 ne D'l-i ~
mis- death s.d --t slt Tor Texas HF-9
nj got 90 the Lone star State be- com
raenced the strugg.e for success. Tn time
Le got into D.iflcs, having mdhdEre -
make himself pretty popular in certain
81 lust before Cleveland went into OFT 20
clsrkshlp ID the Treasury Department.
under the name u Philip Nolan, which
name be had .uml.l HueE h- abandoned
81 Ola lite philip Nolan 81 the hero u
Edward Everett Ha!e'- famDur rryel The
Nan Without q Country. ana 10 dou5t
Tuley had road the book anJ received 3
deem impre sion from 30. II you Mil get a
government 'htIe book Of the year lsB
V0u VIII aud among t8c NEt " clerks ;r
The TrelalTy Department that 81 Philip
Nolan. CuTiOBsly enough ne o. STU a
clerk IN the Post Office Department ~
WashiugtOu- al salary % N.AO year.
puf mis- name b. now entered Ia the blue
book a. seth ". Tpley.
''Of course. t.e gu!t 20 recover on Tu-
ley's policies OF insurance was dismissed
al once ! want 10 say tals for cOl. Tuley
and Col Jewell, WHO prosecuted he case
thar thsy were both perfectly honest ia
everything they did Two more eslimab.-
gentlemen could not have been found ia
fhe state 81 Indiana They we're simply
mistaken. az mauy men have been before
and since
when Edward Everett Hale was Ga IN
elanapOlis last Stay I tod him the ssory
n Tuley'z strange disappcGrance AID 10
vas intensely inierested in me case. Mr
Hale took an especial Interest in the fact