The Washington herald., 1912-09-15
LATEST PENSION LAW
BOOMS WIDOW MARKET
Girls Set Caps for Old Soldiers to Get Widows
Stipend in Case Veterans Shuttle
Off This Mortal Coil.

The new pension law has markedly
stimulated the widow market. For
while adding considerably to the num-
Der OF veterans on the roll. it augment'
by total of t5o.oco.ooo the>annual stipend
of a multitude OF old soldiers already
drawing allowance from the government
This renders them by SO much the more
desirable as husbands-those of them
that is TO say. who are not yet attach
ed matrimonially.
But the chief attraction of the yeter-
ans. apparently. from the viewpoint oi
the young women who are constantly
marrying them, is the widows pension
which will be theirs for life after ths
old soldiers have departed from this
world. So thoroughly is this business
organized that women, many OF then
hardly more than girls, camp out in ths
vicinity of Soldiers Homes. and literally
lie in wait for the inmates of those in
stitutions. The more aged the pensionei
the more desirable he is as a husband
because the prospect of becoming his
widow Is ~ much the nearer. lf-espe-
cialiy on Or about quarter day." wher
the intended victim Is more or less like
ly TO indulge in a little jolIification-he
can be enticed into the presence of a
parson or a magistrate, IL is all that Is
required. The bride is willing enough tc
allow him to return to the home, herself
secure in the possession of a marriags
certificate, which. when exhibited later
on. will guarantee her a small but per.
manent income
To show how this widow enterprise
works out, II may be mentioned that
Esther s. Damon died at Plymouth
Union. VT. November II. 1906. aged nine.
ty-two. She was the last surviving
widow Of a soldier who fought in the
Revolution. and she was still drawing a
pension for her husbands services In
that conflict a century and a quarter
after It came to an end. 1t is estimated
that there will be at least l,cO0 civil wal
widows alive and on the pension roll ir
1855. and quite a number of these will
survive the beginning of the twenty.
first century. Which fact will be more
easily understood when it is realized
that at least few of the destined civil
war widows are not yet born.
Government Liberal.
The government exercises a remark
able liberality in its treatment of widows
For instance. there is one woman now on
the pension roll who has had three hus-
bands. the first Of them a soldier in
the civil war Neither the second hus-
band nor the third was a soldier But,
having lost both of these. she is enabled
under the law to draw a regular stipend
as the widow OF her first husband. An.
other case is that or a half-breed In
dian woman in North Dakota, who killed
her husband, and who gets a pension as
| his relict. He was drunk. and she slew
him in self-defense. so that she was held
| to be justified.
Equally remarkable in its way is tbs
well-known Roscommon case, bearing tn,
| number 2S2,Js2 on the roll. in which Z
| woman married two old soldiers success
lively. being divorced from the first. Hav
! ing secured a pension as the widow o.
the second. she went back to live will
the first husband. without formality o.
marriage. He also was a pensioner, anC
consequently. at the present time, thi!
precious couple draws two pensions.
II is understood. of course, that wheI
! a widow marries again she loses hei
pension. Nevertheless, il is undoubted
| " a fact that thousands OF pensionet
widows in this country are married agail
secretly, thus perpetrating a fraud whici
has to be backed up by a false oath ev
cry quarter. Every now and then
case of the kind is brought to light
| hut the detectives OF the Pension ONCE
as a rule, do not bother to inVestlgat
! such matters. They are too busy run
ming down fictitious widows-that is 4
say. women who falsely impersonate III
surviving wives of veterans.
The manufacture of such widows ha
been for many years a profitable IN
dustry Dishonest attorneys and clair
agents have made a business OF study
| ing the records of national cemeterie:
finding out the names and services q
the men there buried. and employin
women TO represent themselves as thei
/ widows. 1t is not an easy thing for tn
government to disprove a marriage tha
is alleged TO have taken place thirty o
| forty years ago.
some Of the Frauds.
Not long after the close OF the civ
war three brothers. named McGindley
| buI, In Iar-e and profit able buSines