New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1902-12-07

Sergeant had also pawned a watch with the
agent Of the insurance company, 10 pay the pre-
MUM. and although this watch had been sold by
the agent. it looked UP and secured, and
upon inquiry 1t found that Henry J. Allen
had left the watch be repaired in Rock
ford, not long prior the transaction in question.
The minister who married Sergeant and also the
witnesses to the ceremony testified that Allen
was the man who appeared before them. and
married to the plaintiff in the suit. the alleged
widow
On the other side the widow testified absolutely
that Allen not her husband, that her husband
was drowned, had been testified to by the
other three She produced photograph of
man not at all of the appearance of Allen, whom
! she said her husband, and the other three men
testified that the picture was a correct likeness
Of Sergeant, who had been drowned, and that they
had each known him for some time, While. there
fore. the testimony seemed convincing that Allen
the who secured the policy and that
fraud was committed upon the company, the tes-
tmony submitted by the plaintiff was so strong and
unequivocal that it looked if the jury would be
called upon to determine who was telling the
truth. when incident happened which made
further proceedings unnecessary.
AS soon as the alleged widow produced the
photograph. note taken by the Defendants
counsel the photogra pher who made the pict-
ure. and a was Immediately dispatched to
town distance away to find out what he
could about the photograph On the fourth day
OF the trial the photographer had been carried
many miles across country at a considerable ex-
pense witness, and the photograph which
had been introduced in evidence was shown to
him. He said that he photographer by oc-
cupation and he had made that identical picture.
In proof of this he produced the negative from
which the print had been made. He was asked
of whom il was photograph, and he replied that
it was a picture of named James Clure, a
tailor who he said lived in Batavia, Ill He
further said that Clure still living, and that
he had him nearly every day for long
time and that the last time he haG seen him
about hour previous.
This testimony produced profound sensation in
court, and a moment later the name of James
Clure was called witness. He had heretofore
been sitting retired seat in the room. He
came forward, and 1t easily that he
the uumstakable original of the photograph which
had been introduced in evidence by the widow as
a picture of her deceased husband, Sergeant. Cure
testified that his photograph; that it had
been taken by the photographer who had been on
the witness stand few moments before that he
had never been the husband of the plaintiff: that
he had never been called by the of J. H
Sergeant and that he had never been drowned in
the Pecatonca River This, of course. closed the
case and the defendants counsel withdrew in dis
gust and Allen and the Widow Sergeant" We're
! subsequently indicted for conspiracy.
Horrible details brought out on the trial of
| Dr. Hermann w. Mudgett otherwise known as
| H. H. Holmes. in Philadelphia, in the fall of 1885,
| He was convicted of the murder of Benjamin r
PietzeI and the three children of the murdered
man. His first crime. the killing the father was
perpetrated for the purpose of securing the pay
ment of policy Of insurance of $4,000. and Holmes
| actually secured this money that the insurance
children 10 prevent PetzeI's wife from discovering
that her husband was dead. In this Holmes
| conspired with PietzeI to defraud insurance COM
psnies by having PietzeI disappear after the policy