The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-02

his and his wiies troubles by jumping
into the murky waters.
This soldier rsckoned without tho Govern
ment, for he continued 30 draw his pension
regularly, and his wife was spprised OF
the deception he had practised and the in
jury he had inflicted on her by not dying
according to his promise, while she, acting
upon the theory that he was dead, applied
for a pension a. a soldiers widow.
Tho department. has many Enoch Ardcn
cases. An officer in the bureau recalled
one which he as a special examiner brought
TO light in a far Western State a few years
< o II happened this way:
A soldier had made application for q PEN
sion. and in looking up his record and dones-
tic relations the special examiner visited q
town where he had formerly lived. he
was surprised to find q woman VINO pre-
tended Go be the widow OF the soldier resid-
ing in the place. He called on the woman
who sharply resented an inquiry into her
dead husbands affairs. h q never
applied for a pension and was disinciined
20 rake up the dead past.
BY sharp questioning the examiner
brought out the fact that b woman really
believed her husband to have been killed
in a railroad wreck some ten years before.
She brought out newspaper clippings and
the usual letter from a friend spprising
her OF the news.
The newspaper publication was manifest
" m error and the soldier had taken ad-
vantage OF it to desert his wife. The ex-
aminer handed the woman conclusive PROOF
OF her husbands duplicity by showing her
his signature at the bottom OF the apphca-
ton for a pension.
She tainted as she recognized the familiar
handwriting. Later 10 was disclosed thas
she was 70 have been married In . fow
days to another man. .'
OF course, the divorce court was the only
remedy for such a case. and when she had
recovered from the shock she promptly
availed herself Of the legal remedies. and
her remarrisge followed in logical and
romantic sequence. The examiner said
that the only feature OF the story that had
always puzzled him was the fact that the
alleged widow had shown so little interest
In her supposed deceased husband that she
had made no request for the return OF his
body, and had apparently shown no In
terest in what disposition had been made
Of IL.
Another case Of a soldier who sought TO
deprive his deserted wife OF her share OF
pension money was recalled at the bureau.
This veteran departed without taking his
pension certificate with him and absented
himself without explanation for several
years.
His wife meanwhile carefully treasured
the certificate, which is always necessary
70 the execution Of a voucher for pension.
After the veteran had concluded that he
had been absent for a sufficient length Of
time to prevent his wife from sharing intbe
pension with him, he wrote 70 the depart
ment and applied for a duplicate certificate,
stating that the original had been lost.
The bureau meanwhile had taken steps
TO ascertain why the vouchers had not been
executed and had been paying to the de-
serted wife half OF the pension allowance
under the law. In writing for a duplicate
certificate the veteran had given as a reason
for desiring il hat he wanted to draw the
accrued pension. He was promptly advised
by the commissioner that if he would call
on his wife he could secure the certificate
and that no duplicate would be issued while
the original was in existence.