The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-02-01
PENSION ROLLS
 NEED PURGING Extensive Frauds Are Believed to Exist In Georgia VERY ROMANTIC WEDDING AtIanta's Bond Issue Is Almost Ready to Be Ratified By the People. The Council Will Restrict
 Near Beer.
VERY ROMANTIC WEDDING

Atiahld, January -tSpec1al.) )-
 Evident fraud in Georgias pension roll will again be brought to the at tention of the general assembly this summer in the hope that steps will be taken properly to purge the pension rolls.
 There is not a particle of doubt in the mind of Pension Commissioner J. w. Lindsay and others who have in- vestigated the subject that extensive frauds have been practiced and that in many instances money is now drawn from the state by those who are not entitled to it.
 It is. to say the least a remarkable fact that more pension money is drawn from the state treasury by the Ninth congressional district in the north eastern section of the state, than by any other three districts in the state with the exception of the Fifth. in which Atlanta Is located. And the amount drawn by the Ninth far exceeds that drawn by the Fifth alone.
 It Is a well known fact that as com pared with other sections of the state the mountain counties furnished few soldiers to the Confederate forces. and yet the pension rolls show far greater proportion of pensioners in that section. This is confined to no one or two coun- ties, but includes practically all of them.
 Banks country, for instance. with population of 1O,5Ss, according to the last census. draws $s660 in pensions. or almost $l for each inhabitant. while Chatham county with a population of 1l,2S9 and which Is said to have fur nished more soldiers to the Confeder- acy than any other county in the state draws only $95S5, something like ls cents per capita of population.
 Richmond county, which gave liber- ally to the ranks of the Confederate army. draws about 35 cents per capita in pensions, and Muscogee, which was also represented extensively In the ranks, about 50 cents per capita.
 On the other hand, White county without railroad and way up on the North Carolina line. draws 80 cents per capita, Rabun about 75 cents and Ha- bersham, in the same section, slightly more than $l. Other counties of the Ninth district show similar propor-
 
 comparatively few soldiers to the Con- federate army
 Ihls discovery cannot be explained on the Idea of poverty, nor does the fact that veterans have moved into those counties account for it. While some may have moved in, many more it is said have moved away In fact many pensioners have moved from various sections of the state to Atlanta and Fulton county. This Is attributable to the old system under which the Full ton county veterans were paid first with cash right from the treasury.
 Under the law where an applicants papers are made in proper shape with required witnesses and affidavits in due form, the pension commissioner can do nothing but approve and pay the claim
 A persistent applicant for d pension from one of these north Georgia coun- ties brought every possible influence to bear recently to get on iEe rolls but by mistake he disclosed the fact that his service consisted only in being a guard at conscription camp. He was never a member of any military organ ization. When he found that his ap- plication had been disapproved he at tempted to abstract the paper from the commissioners office. it is believed with view to presenting a new one with a different statement of facts, of course properly certified and sworn to-
 Commissioner Lindsay thinks the state ought to have a pension examiner In each congressional district. He is firmly of the belief that 1t would re- suit in a great saving of money to the state.
 Bush DooittIe Wedding.
 The wedding on Tuesday, February 2. of Fred Bush and Mrs. Charles V. Doolittle. which will take place at Mrs Doolittles home at AA7 East Geor- gia avenue, will be the culmination of one of the most interesting life dramas in Atlanta's annals.
 Two years ago in May 1907 Mrs Doolittle was Miss Kate Mccarthy. One night while she was at the theatre with her future husband a package ad- dressed to Miss Mccarthy was delivered at her home by a bicycle messenger. Her mother. Mrs. Julia Mccarthy, ex- ercising a natural curiosity, opened it. There was a loud explosion, Mrs. Me floor and the room was wrecked. It was several weeks before Mrs. McCar- thy recovered from her injuries.
 Fred Bush, who was at that time Doo.ittle's partner in the commission business, was arrested and charged with the crime. In default of s1000O bail strong was the suspicion
 
 after his trial.
 The prosecution proceeded first upon the theory that Bush was jealous of Doolftti and that he himself was In love with Miss Mccarthy. This view, however was soon abandoned and the trial was held upon the theory that Bush had a remarkable and rather un- natural affection for Doolittle and ob- jected to his marrying Miss Mccarthy CT anyone else The chief evidence against Bush was that of the messen- ger boy who said Bush had given him the package which he delivered at the Mccarthy home. The jury, however, considered the weight of the evidence in Bush's favor and he was acquitted
 Nearly a year after the bomb ex- plosion Charley Doolittle, who had dis solved his partnership with Bush and moved to Florida, married Miss Me Cartby In Jacksonville. Within few months he was taken sick and brought to Atlanta where at his wffe's home he died shortly afterward.
 During Doolittle's illness here Bush was, if anythlos, more attentive to the sick nian than his wife. He was constantly at his heGside and nursed him tendsrly until i,ta death. Bush personally bore mRny or the heavy expenses attaching to the a.ad mans sickness and burial.
 About five weeks ago Charles V. Doo- little. Jr a posthumous child, was born No father could ever have made more over his first child than has Fred Bush owe the baby of his deceased partner. He has spent all his spare time at the home nursing and fondling Doolittle's child
 few days ago came announcement of the wedding, and 1t has recalled the not far distant history of these incidents