Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-04-26
TIE SD|CL|FF[ CASE
Important Questions Raised in
Insurance Case Before the
Supreme Court.
Serious Accusation Against the
lis. I. M. A. Relative to Pur-
chased Testimony.
History of the Case and Trial
in the Lower court.--Capital
Gossip.
special to Times-Republican.

supreme court, at the term which COM
mences two weeks hence. will be asked
to determine whether or not one of the
most prominent of the fraternal acci-
dent insurance companies of the state
is, by and thru it's officers, guilty of
evading payment or losses by procured
and purchasable testimony. In the ap
pealed case of Mamie Sutcliffe vs. the
ton the plaintiff and appellant relies
on the ability to convince the supreme
court that the testimony of the defend
ant on which the case was won in the
lower court was not credible. The case
IL strange one. Frank Sutcliffe was a
Chicago travelling man and one Sunday
night three years ago he was preparing
to start out ON trip and he and his
wife were out in the city. They stopped
at cafe for a late lunch and reached
their rooms about midnight. He turned
into bedroom and proceeded to open
a grip which he was going to pack. AS
he did so revolver which was lying
inside of the grip was discharged, the
bullet tearing hole thru the grip and
taking effect in Sutcliffe's abdomen. He
died few hours later. The widow. at
the coroner's instance, made an affida-
Wit in which she said Sutcliffe was in
the best of spirits and there was no
reason to suspect suicide. 1t was found
that Sutcliffe had left policy of in
surance in the Travelling Mems Asso-
citation, but instead OF being in favor of
his wife 1t was in favor of his mother.
She sued on the policy and the COM
fpany resisted on the ground of suicide.
The grip with the big hole in it was
brought into the court to show just
bow the accident occurred. But it ap-
gears that the widow turned up as a
witness for the insurance company and
against her mother-in-law, and on the
witness stand testified that she and her
husband had been drinking and had
guarreled and talked of disagreeable
matters and he accused her of being
untrue to him. She admitted that she
had been intimate with him before
their marriage and when she was the
wife of another and admitted she had
not lived a virtuous life since his death.
1t was also shown that she had her ex-
penses paid from Chicago to Des
Moines to appear as witness in the
case. The lower court decided for the
insurance company and the mother of
the dead man has appealed. The issue
is whether or not the testimony Of the
widow, in view of her confessed char
acter and contradictory statements, is
sufficient to establish that Sutcliffc
killed himself The grip with the hole
In 1t has been taken to the supreme
court rooms as an exhibit in the case
and oral arguments will be made. The
officers OF the association thus attacked
in court are of high standing In the
state among travelling men and the
case is one which has attracted great
deal of attention in the association and
among members.
The dairymen of Iowa are watching
congress closely with view to taking
note of what becomes Of the new bill
for taxing oleomargarine. Under the
present law oleo is taxed 2 cents a
pound. and this applies, no matter If
the stuff is colored to initiate butter.
The proposed law is made discrimi-
|
oleo, the tax on the colored or imitation
butter being 10 cents a pound, while on
the uncolored it is only fraction of a
cent pound. Hon. Byron P. Norton,
the efficient state dairy commissioner
is in favor of this bill or some similar
measure to discriminate against the i'm
itation butter, and believes that the
creamerymen of the state generally
would be pleased if the bill should be-
come a law. "The plain fact is," said
Mr.. Norton, that the opposition to the
pending bill is due to the fear of the
packers that they will lose their trade
by cutting off the sale of oleomargarin
as butter. Something has been said by
opponents of the bill about the effort to
deprive the poor man of his cheap food.
Tears have been shed for the poor
American workman who is thus to be
taxed when he chooses to have oleo on
his table in place of butter. But the
consumer is not to be taxed. Very
little of the oleo is ever sold to con-
SumerS except as butter and at butter
prices. The American workingman is
not so poor that he deliberately chooses
oleomargarine because it is cheap. The
bill would simply reduce the enormous
profits to the makers and to the dis
honorable dealers who palm off the
stuff as butter. Under the present law
the manufacture of oleomargarine is
constantly increasing and there is more
of it being used than ever before. The
manufacturers know how to reach the
consumers with 1t. They are putting 1t
UP in attractive packages and are imi-
tating butter very closely. have seen
it put up in neat boxes of pure white
wood. with shelves just far enough
apart for the packages, each package
wrapped nicely-and in this form it is
nicer to handle than butter. Then 1t is
sometimes put up in rolls and packed
in barrels to indicate country butter.
and different shades of the product are
mixed in, to carry the deception fur
ther. A good deal of the product is sold
by the small merchants whose custom
ers are not very discriminating, and ii
lis sold as butter"
"How is oleomargarine prepared for
the market, and where?" was asked of
Mr.. Norton.
1.-THE large packing houses in Chica-
go, Kansas City and Omaha are the
places where 1t is manufactured in