The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-11-12
A DESERTER'S BOLD SCHEME
SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD BUT IS
 FOUND ALIVE.


 Dead Man's Pockete-Hnd Plotted
 With Him When Alive to Defraud an
 Insurance Company-The Plot Was tc
 Rathbun's, Who Was Insured.
 Louisville, Ky, Nov. 11.-Newell c.
 Rathbun, who was supposed to have
 died in a Jeffersonville, Ind, hotel last
 Thursday, was arrested in Louisville to-day. According to him the corpse which was shipped to Little Rock for
 burial as his body was the body of w. l.. Ten Ekye. The police say that l Rathbun has confessed to desertion from the United States army and to having formed plan to fraudulently | collect $4.O0O insurance on his life, but l that he denies having killed the man who died in Jeffersonville hotel
 Rathbun was arrested this morning at the United States recruiting station in Louisville. He is held as fugitive from justice.
 The arrest was made on information from Sergeant Skinner of the United States recruiting station. Rathbun, it is alleged, enlisted under the name of Lou Root, Detroit" Sergeant Skinner had read the story of the Jeffersonville case and circumstances connected with the new recruit aroused his suspicious. One of these was the fact that the man had on a government suit of under wear. Rathbun said he had bought the garments from a soldier friend. Another circumstance was his knowledge of army affairs about Little Rock. He passed the examination and enlisted Saturday.
 At the detectives office Rathbun was put through the sweating process and under pressure made the following statement, according to his inquisltors:
 My name is Newell c. Rathbun and my home Is in Little Rock, Ark Sev- eral months ago I deserted from the army post at Plattsburg, N Y., in com- pany with another recruit by the name of w. H. Ellis. I soon lost sight of him and went to Little Rock There was married and afterwards took out the insurance policies.
 q came to Louisville about ten days ago and formed plan to make the in- surance company think I was dead, so that I could collect the insurance. I fell in with man who said his name was w. l.. Ten Eyke, in front of the Salvation Army headquarters in Louis vile, and told him of my plan and he agreed to help me. Our plan was to obtain corpse from some place, put 1t in a hotel in Jeffersonville and then set fire to the hotel
 While we were in Jeffersonville we took a number of drinks and Ten Eyke got drunk I think his death was caused by drinking. I put the letters addressed to me in his pocket and left I did not kill him. I then came to Louisville and went to the recruiting office and enlisted. My real home is iii Detroit"
 The police are trying to establish the identity of the dead man. One of their theories is that he was a tramp, that Rathbun had fallen in with. The po- lice have telegraphed to the Little Rock to hold the corpse. A gold watch bearing the name "W. H. Ellis was found on Rathbun. He refuses to say where he got 1t. The police say the handwriting of Lou Root" the re- nruit, was very similar to the signature w. L. Ten Eyke" on the Jeffersonville hotel register.
 Coroner Coots of Jeffersonville states that he examined the stomach of the lead man and found traces of Enough audanum to kill two men.