New-York tribune., 1911-01-15
TWAS A SCENE OF HORROR

'The place was a sight There were four
barrels OF paste. and sacks Of coffee leak
ing brown ink, and all kinds OF packages
soaked, with the colored printing on them
smeared around. They would have proved
a good stiff water loss, all right"
The stories OF fraudulent policyholders
that circulate among insurance men change
rapidly. Every week brings UP fresh
auirk Of dishonesty. One Of the new stories
is about a clothing merchant In small
country town who was In prayer meeting
when fire broke out In his store. The
place was almost destroyed; only heap Of
charred and drenched clothing remained in
the middle OF the floor.
An insurance adjuster came and looked
at the remains. The burned clothing had
evidently been piled on two planks laid
across a pair Of trestles. The insurance
man lifted the planks. There he found Q
kerosene lamp, a cat. a copper wire and Q
piece of fish. The cat was fiat, singed and
dead. The wire was twisted firmly at one
end around the burner Of the lamp, while
the other end was fastened to the tish.
The insurance man went out and askei
some questions. He found that the store
keeper had borrowed the cat few days
before and that on the night Of the fire
he had taken a piece Of bluefsh from the
restaurant where he got HIS meals. The
plan had its points. The man left his
lamp baited with fish, standing among oil
soaked kindlng. and went away to prayer
meeting. The cat had tugged at the fish.
turned over the lamp and set of an 'acci-
dental" blaze. The storekeeper still has
three years OF his prison term 10 serve.
There was a fire in the general store"
of a little Connecticut village ten miles
from the railroad. A letter from the store
keeper to his insurance company brought
an adjuster of claims TO the scene. There
was nothing to the village but church,
school, a parsonage, three farmhouses and
a cellar where the store had been. The
storekeeper, who was, Of course, the post
master, told how he was burned out in
dead of night. No one had even entered
the store, which was furnace when tho
fire was discovered. Even the safe door
had been left open by accident. He had
not saved a cent, not even the money in
the cash drawer, nor the postoffice papers
and cash.
Then" said the adjuster, where did
you get the stamp you put on our letter."
| The question sent the postmaster 10
prison. OF course, In a larger town II
would have meant nothing. but everybody
for miles around knew that the postmas-
| ter did not carry stamps about with him
He realized this, realized that he could
name no one from whom he had borrowed
a stamp, and confessed. OF course, he had
first written his letter and then set the
| fire himself.
Another country merchant, this time ths
owner of feed store, made afhdavtt that
| he had had in stock q certain number or
tons of hay and cottonseed. The nre left
nothing but a few nails and some burned
wire. The man produced his books to
prove the amount he had had on hand.
| Incidentally with a 'ths-is-a-mere-for"
mality" air, the insurance man asked him
the exact dimensions Of his building and
verified them from the carpenter who put
il up. Then he sat down and fgured OUT
the number Of cubic feet the building
would hold and the amount OF space ths
stock" of hay and cottonseed would tsko
up. II would have filed a storehouse nine
times as large. The insurance man laid the
paper with his calculations on the table be-
fore the dealer, and the latter saw the Ar
gIIment and owned up. he had not set tn'
fire; he had simply lied about his loss.