The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1902-06-12
NOTES FROM THE CAPITAL
Des Moines. June @ 1907

T Des Moines, June 9, 1909.
me supreme court holds that the
Edison Light company must nav the
estate of Charles Downs, young man
Employed by the Mutual Telephone
company as lineman, $500 for caus-
ing ms death. Downs was engaged in
repairing wire on pole Jointly oc.
eupled by the street railway, the Mu.
.ual and the Edison companies. The
telephone wire lay across the Edison
wire. The repair was being made at
nine o'clock a. M, an hour when the
EDISON was not expected to turn on the
street lights. 1t nevertheless turned
on the power without warning and
Downs was electrocuted. The Jury
awarded a verdict of $4,000. The
Edison company asked for new trial
on the ground that the verdict was
exorbitant. Judge Holmes gave the
estate the privilege of accepting $500
or new trial. The administrator &C.
cepted the $500. The Edison com.
pany appeals from the judges decis.
ion and loses,
The state board of control has Just
let the contract tor the tobacco supply
for the state institutions. There was
about $1,100 worth. The Amana So
ciety at South Amana secured the
contract for Spear Head chewing, and
Sprague-Warner company Of Chicago
the contract for smoking tobacco.
There are $500 pounds of chewing
and 600 pounds of smoking tobacco.
The board tried to slop the tobacco
habit in the institutions, but conclud.
ed that it was subversive of discipline
The state treasurer has received
1928 in checks from DR.. A. M. Linn,
president of the state board of health,
this being the product of the sale of
the residue Of blankets left after sup.
plying the Tama Indians out of the ap.
preparation made by the last general
by the state amounted to $1,000.
Superintendent Barrett Is sending
out to various firms the suggestive list
o. books for school libraries, as pre-.
pared by the state board of education.
al examiners. The object is to obtain
proposals from book concerns as to
the lowest figure for which they will
furnish these books to school libra
ries. Firms will be given until June
26 to bid. There are about 500 books
adopted by the examiners to supple
ment the old list of suitable books.
In the district court Judge A. H.
McVey rendered a decision in the case
of Muller, administrator, VS.. the Nat.
ional Life Insurance company of Min.
nesota, which if sustained by the SUI.
preme court, will be of vast import.
ance to the insurance interests and
those carrying life insurance. Muller,
who was chemist and lived in Valley
Junction, committed suicide about two
years ago. Some years before his
death he took out policy for $4,000
on his life in the Federal Life Insur.
ance company Of Davenport. This pol
ICY, unlike most life insurance poll
cies, did not contain cause reliev
Ing the insurance company of liabils
ty in the event that the insured took
his own life. Later the Federal went
out of business and relnsured all its
business with .he National. The poll
cies of the National contain a suicide
clause. When Muller's administrator
made application for payment of th,
policy, the insurance company refused
W pay, cldllplHg lnaI tne insured mac
violated the suicide clause. The ad
ministrator claimed that in reinsurine
the business of the Federal, the Ma
tional had placed itself in the posi-
ton of the Federal and was bound to
carry out all promises made to FEEDER
al policy holders, and sued. The court
held that by reinsurance the National
could not escape the liability Of the
Federal; that it assumed all promises
of the Federal, and ordered that judg.
ment be entered for the full amount
of the policy.