New-York tribune., 1910-10-02
Commttng Suicde in Order to Sndle Insurance Companies
Buf They Nearly Always Overlook or
Overdo Some Little Pofnf That Re
x,eoLs 6beir LaSf DupHcnY.

Of drowning cases. for rivers. lakes ana
seashore resorts lend themselves too COM
placently to mysterious disappearances OF
poiicyhoIders-
Some years ago a Boston business man,
who had embarrassed his affairs by a long
continued series Of forgeries. endeavOred
to solve the difficulty by making ''mys-
teriOus disappearance" He took passage
on a Fall River boat, chatted and played
cards late into the night with friends who
happened to be on board. The next morn
ing he was not 70 be found anywhere on
the boat; the door OF his stateroom was
open. and there were his clothes, hat,
shoes and his dress SUIT case. with other
belongings. He must have fallen or Jumped
overheard during the night
Unfortunately, Insurance detectives found
hair trimmings on the floor and the towels
looked as though they had been freshly used
to wipe of a razor's blade. B. wore a fun
beard and mustache.
Following this elew. the detectives tTailed
him to San Francisco. where. under an as
sumed name and with clean shaven face,
he was employed in a department store.
After retiring on the night OF the 'accf-
Gent" he had shaved Off all his facial
growth. clipped his hair short. put on
cloth cap. cheap shoddy suit and a labor
er's black shirt. which he had brought IN
hts grip Completely changed IN appear
ance he had left the boat unrecOsnized by
any one
one OF the large companies in this city
is puzzling out a somewhat similar case
which occurred recently. "A young business
man disappeared and his clothes were found
in a bathhouse at one Of the beaches Every
"a fup~ theory until ~
was noticed that the watch found IN his
clothing was his wife's watch. a watch
maker had returned TO him his own gold
watch the day before the accident"
He wore a heavy solitaire ring on his
finger when he left his office; the only
ring he had left in the bathhOUse's wrap
per for vaIuabIes" vas cheap gold filed
affair: he used TO carry a large amount OF
cash about his person; he only checked &
and a few cents with the keeper
Not a few drowned mem are discOv-
cred thousands of miles away from their
former homes, living with women for whom
they deserted their wives thus doing away
with the bother Of divorce proceedings A
few dead men whose wives were constantly
watched by the companies sleuths have
been arrested when their widows went 70
/ live v1th them. or even married them again
under a new name after a year or so had
/ elapsed
| A quarrel over the spOils brought 70 light
an interesting case, when woman VINO had
gone through a fictitious marriage ceremony
with her own brother, received deatn
claim. Her brother-husband had fallen
\ through an airhole In the ice in the pres
/ ence of three witnesses. Too many accom-
pIices spoiled the otherwise successful trans
action. The clergyman who had performed
| the marriage ceremony recognized one OF
/ the three witnesses as the very bridegroom
who was then testifytng as to his own death
But for the greed of one Of the confed-
| crates another fraud would have been per-
petrated. for every detail OF the case had
: been so ingeniousIy calculated that, IN spite
| Of the fact that the body had not been re-
| covered. the testimony Of the three Wit
nesses had never been questioned
In a great many cases when Insurance.
| specialists scent fraudulent manipulation
their position is very delicate, for contest
| ing too many claims at court may inIure
I cOmpany'S standing. ANDRE TEIDON.