Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1910-10-29
BEATlNC THrSll lUELLaUJL
Ingenious Means Adopted to Blk
Insurance Companies.
EXCESSIVE CARE A GIvE.AwAY
some Notable Cases of self-Destruc.
ton Planned 20 Give Appearance
of AccIdent-CIeveriy Devised
DrowntnEs.

of Accident-CIeveriyD Devised
DrowninEs.
Hardly a day passes in which we do not
read in the papers reports OF a suicide ac-
companied by the cheerful statement that
p he dead man has left his family we'll pro-
vided for. being heavily insured in several
companies. When misfortune either pres
mt or prospective, has rendered the cares
OF life too heavy, suicide is sometimes the
first remedy thought OF. The desire to
escape personal responsibility in some fin
ancial disaster and at the same time TO
make good provision Cor those dependent
upon one for their support Is often a potent
motive for self-destruction The most con-
venient means Of attaining these two ends
Is 70 take out an Insurance policy before
pressing the trigger or turning on the gas
or jumping off the bridge.
The truth Of this is 30 widely recognized
that insurance companies generally refuse
to pay any claims on policies taken out
by suicides less than one year, and some
times three years. before death When a
man IN desperate straits is compelled to
wait one or two years before yielding 10
the temptation when Furthermore he is
compelled to hustle in order 70 secure the
money for paying his premiums, the
chances are that he will let some OF his
policies lapse and get on his feet again
somehow.
great many people try TO defeat the
dreaded clause and exhaust their ingenuity
in finding, soon after becoming insured
some form OF self-destruction which will
pass for a genuine accident. Be Il said.
for those who might be tempted to cheat
the insurance companies, that the trick
generally fails. Still, many are the ex-
pedients resorted to by suicides to accom-
plish their double purpose. In fact, one
OF the earmarks which indicate fraud IL
the overwrought pains which the princi-
pal actor in the tragedy takes to prepare
and make easily explainable what might
otherwise appear mysterious in his act
Many are the cases on record whore a
man has caused his own death by over
drinking. Such cases are hard to contest,
and the only arguments in favor Of the
companies are information as to the sui
oide's embarrassments or his well-known
sobriety in the past
Excessive Care.
Captain Colvocoresses, U. g. A. was
found in a dying condition in an unfre-
quented street in the city Of Bridgeport AZ
late hour Of the night. A bullet had gone
! through his stomach and one of his lungs.
come out at the back, and then pierced a
wooden fence near by. his sword cane
whose sheath was spllntered, had been
bent and dented in the struggle with his
assassins. Some fifty feet away from the
body the police picked up an antiouated
percussion lock horse pistol, very rusty
and patched up with glue and Irvine.
The captain was Of his own admission
on his way to New York to deposit in q
safe drawer some S125,OOO worth of stock,
and bonds, a list OF which he had left on
his writing table. He carried those se
curities in a black travelling bag, with
which he had never parted one minute IN
the various hotels where he stopped afte,
| leaving home. In a crowded dining room
he had even insisted on reservinE a chat,
next to the one which he occupied or
which to place the bag. so as never to lei
It out of his sight. The bag. slit open on
the side with a very dull blade, was found
a mile away on the wharf A clear case Of
murder.
! His widow was to receive, from som,
twenty different companies, death benefit,
amounting to flS5,5OO. Sull. when the cir.
cumstances OF his death were known. no.
body could satisfactorily explain his pro,
tracted stay in several Bridgeport hotels
as he had no business to transact in thai
town. What was he doing late At night or
the deserted street whore he had beer
killed.
Then Il was found that for several year,
he had been bounded by creditors. The lIs
of stocks and bonds which the assassin had
taken out of the black bag was checked
Nth
companies. He had never owned any o.
those securities, which we're found In tn,
hands Of parties above suspicion.
! A dull. dented knife was found in hi,
pocket, and identified by his family. Jus
the kind Of blade that would produce ,
ragged cut such as appeared on the aid,
or the black bag. Particles OF powde,
found in the bag were declared Ideutlca
with few unburnt grains adherinE to hi
skin and underolothinE Finally. Il Seome,
strange that highwayman with murder
Gus designs should so about armed with ,
single barrel horse pistol and take sucl
true aim with It. Fibre from his swor,
canes bamboo sheath were found between
two heavy stones, and a dent correspond
ing TO the bend in his sword blade wa
observed in fence near by
The companies which had insured hin
for large amounts contested successful,
the suit brought by his widow, as all evi
dence pointed TO suicide with intent TO de
fraud the insurance companies
Give-Away BIundsrs.
} Some suicides commit objectionable blum
ders, which Immediately disprove the acci
dent or murder theory they endeavored {
make the world accept. One man opene
! his clothes. stabbed himself three times 4
/ the abdomen. then buttoned up his cloth
ing and jumped from a bridge into
creek. where he was stunned and drOwnet
J Some suicides tear up their coats, collar
and ties and reduce their shirts to latter
in order 20 give the impression Of fearfu
struggles, but forget that the consequences
OF such q struggle would have bee
scratches and bruises all over their face
and necks.
A farmer OF Johnson county, Missouri
tried to give the impression that he ha
been shot while riding his horse. and ths
his body had been dragged through IN
bushes. Unfortunately. the course OF IN
bullet was such that logically it shOul
have first come through his horses bod!