The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1902-05-01

lHtI StiltIupHl VI VI tut hlot WV
| prior to his second marriage, the whole
statement must be taken together. as the
true meaning and import can only thus
be aScertained.'
The general rule is that where mar
riage in fact is shown it viii be presumed
to be valid in the absence of proof TO the
contrary. In the case of Schnissuer VS..
Beatrice Q47 ILL.,, 21O the doctrine was
stated by the court as follows:
Where a marriage has once been sol
emnized according TO the forms of law
every presumption will be INDUCED IN
favor of its validity. This presumption is
SO strong that Z former husband or wife
will be presumed to be dead after an
absence of lnOtl less than seven years.
The ordinary presumption in favor of the
continuance of human life is made TO give
way to the presumption in favor of the
| innocence of second marriage.
THE presumption of the death of the
! first wife in this case is strengthened by
evidence of the sailors repeated statements
that she was dead and by the fact that
nothing has been heard of her up to the
present time. In the opinion of the De
partment the mere possibility remaining
after all sources of Information have been
exhausted, that the first wife may have
been living in 1888. ought not to defeat
the prima-facie title of the claimant based
on record evidence of a ceremonial mar
for Il period of seven years. The action
of the Bureau is therefore reversed and
| the case remanded for further cOnsidera-
ton. No point has been considered by the
department except that of marriage"
RATING INABILITY TO PER
FORM ANY MANUAL LABOR.-The
decision asst Secretary Campbell, Feb.
%, 1902 in the general law pension case
Spanish War; of Cassidy G. Cook is inn
portant in that it holds that a pension
claimant wholly disabled for the perform
ance of manual labor in consequence of
disability of service origin is entitled to
the $50 rating for the period he is shown
to have been so disabled, even though he
subsequently RECEIVERS his health to an eX-
tent that he is no longer disabled i'll that
degree. The decision says:
The Bureau issued Il certificate of pen
sion at the rate of S15 per month three
fourths total of rank as Captain for dis
ease of heart, result of typhoid fever con-
tracted during the recent war with Spain,
to the appellant in this case. but refused
to accept as established his allegation
that he was also disabled by disease of
nervous system (neurasthenia) as re-
suit of such fever.
''In the judgment of the Department
however. it is clearly shown from the
facts presented, the evidence adduced, and
the medical authorities cited that the
nervous affection or neuraSthcnia which
wholly disqualified the appellant for the
performance of manual labor from Oct
-, 1898. the date of his discharge, to
May /, 1900, the date of the medical eX-
animation showing recovery from neuras-
thenia, was without doubt a sequel of the
typhoid fever of service origin.
Held: That it would not be contrary
to, or inconsistent, with any provision of
law or rule of practice to re-ratc this
claim so as to allow the second-grade rate
during the time the appellant is shown
to have been wholly incapacitated
for the performance of manual labor by
the sequelae of typhoid fever, subsequent
to the date of filing his application for
pension"
The Pension Bureau attributed claim,
ants nervous trouble to his worrying
about business matters subsequent to his
discharge from the service. As to this
the Department says:
at is not impOssibc-or, indeed, i'm
prObable-that the claimant did worry
more or less about his business affairs
subsequent to his muster-out from the
service, as it is shown by the evidence in
the case that prior to his enlistment he
was actively engaged in the practice Of
his profession as a lawyer; but, from the
large amount Of reliable medical evidence
on file as to his mental condition inrme-
diately after his discharge, and the opin-
ions expressed by the physicians who gave
such evidence as to the probable cause of
the conditions referred to, it would seem
much more probable that his worry was
due to, instead of the cause Of, his said
mental condition. Furthermore. in a given
case, where an efficient, recognized, and
demOnstrable cause to search for some
other and much less efficient factor in the
production of such condition, especially
one that is best, but theoretical. At any
rate, a factor that is regarded as wholly
sufficient to have caused the conditions
fully established, it cannot be outweighed
by theory that is wholly suggestions,
or, as the appellant has suggested, purely
imaginary. In other words. AN ounce of
fact is worth a pound of theory"