The interior journal. [volume] (Stanford, Ky.) 1912-1984, 1912-05-17
PROMINENT PINEvILLE MAN
CONVICTED OF ARSON
John L. Savior Found Guilty Of De-
frauding insurance Companies
And Sentenced TO Pen
Lexington LEADER

think that they do not believe in
'luck," the story of the Henry Clay
Fire Insurance Co.'S first prosecu.
ton of person who burned prop
erty to get insurance on 1t will be
a hard blow.
John l.. Saylor, of Pineville, KY,
formerly county clerk of Bell county
of which Pineville is the county
seat, and a man who is reputed to
be worth more than $4,000, was
convicted of arson last Saturday
night at 10 o'clock by a jury at
Pinevine and his punishment fixed
at one to five years in the peniten-
tiary.
According 10 information secur-
ed here, Saylor and a woman were
indicted at Pineville for securing
double payment of insurance on a
small dwelling owned by the woman
by burning it after they had taken
out double policies on it, stating to
each company that there was no
other insurance on the building
Thus they secured $1,000 of insur-
ance on a dwelling worth about $500
Half the insurance was with the
Henry Clay Co. here and the other
half with the National Union Insur-
ance Company's Ashland office.
Shortly after they secured this
insurance the building burned, about
the first of October, 1911. Saylor
and the woman compromised with
the National Union Co. and got $3.50
insurance cash. Two months later
Saylor. who was the Henry Clay
Company's Pineville agent, notified
that company of the loss that had
occurred two months before. An
adiuster was Immediately sent to
Pmeville and the loss was COM
promised on about $500. Adjuster
John L. Stewards Of the Henry Clay
Co.. reported that there was some
thing CROOKED" about the loss, but
that he could not prove it, so there
was nothing for the company to do
but pay.
Several weeks later Adiuster So
wards was in Madisonville, Hopkins
county, in The western part of Ken
lucky. There was several inches of
snow on the ground and during the
evening he was sitting about the ho-
tel lobby. While there he met
man who proved to be Adjuster II.
A. Haskell of the National Union
Insurance Company. They began
swapping hard luck stories and
finally Stewards told Haskell Of the
Saylor case in Pineville, saying al
though he believed the case to be
one of fraud he could not prove it
and had been forced TO advise the
company TO pay the loss. They
compared notes for a few minutes
described Saylor and the woman to
each other and the mystery was
started on its road to solution.
Stewards quickly notified the
Henry Clay Company here, and De-
putty Fire Marshall Jordan Peel Of
Nicholasville- was hurried to the
scene. The rest was quick work, for
within ten days Peel had worked the
case up, had Saylor indicted and Sc
cured a conviction and penitentiary
sentence.
Manager Claude F. Snyder, of the
Henry Clay Co.. complimented Mr..
Peel very highly for this exception
ally good work and declared that
the valuc OF the victory was not so
much in that it will enable the Henry
Clay Co., to recover its $500 insur-
ance money secured by Saylor
through the fraud, but that it will
warn other "fire bugs" in all parts
Of the State that the fire marshaPs
office is now really prosecuting Of
Tenders, as more indictments and
convictions have been secured. he
said within the last four months
than during all the other eight
years in the office has been in ex-
istance,