The Washington herald., 1912-09-15

pneumonia. II was not until thirty years
had passed by that Hannah. who had
long been known as the wife Of a man
named johnson. suddenly recalled the
fact she had been married to Turner. The
preacher alleged to have Joined them in
wedlock was dead, but her sister and a
friend swore that they had been present
at the ceremony; ana the sister In ex-
PLANTATION OF the johnson marriage, de-
clared that it was '.just joke" The
claim was allowed. and Hannah, PEN
stoned as the widow of Dave. drew down
a neat little bundle amounting to 1890
arrears.
Easy? Why, the "softest" individual
on earth is your Uncle Sam. when H
comes to widows. real or bogus II IL
were asked what is the best imasinaols
means to encourage frauds in pensions
the fairly obvious answer would De tne
keeping of the roll and everything tnere-
unto pertaining secret. But this Is ex-
actly what is done. Nobody Is allowed
to see the roll. and there is always the
guarantee of no publicity to help en-
courage the fraudulent applicant
The most remarkable widow case, ana
in its way wholly unique. was that IN
which a woman named Newly, who had
been the wife Of a soldier, residing at
Carmi. H., was persuaded to recognize
as her husband a man who turned up
in the town thirty years after he was
supposed to have been killed and buried.
Remarkable widow Case.
William Newly, the husband, was
buried on the field of Shiloh. Accord
ingiy, many people were surprised when'
after the lapse of more than a. quarter
of century. he turned up at his own
home. At first Mrs. Newby failed to
h,tr ha
her, as well as his alleged mother, OF
his identity. Old-time neighbors were
easily satisfied. after talking over with
him many ante-war incidents Of local
character with which no stranger could
very well have been acquainted His
explanation of what had happened was
that. being wounded in the head. he ha1
been left for dead on the field of battle.
The story of his burial by comrades was
a mistake. Partly deprived of reason by
his wound, he had spent many years
wandering about, and finally had land.
ed in the almshouse at Taylorsviile.
Ill. where he remembered who he was.
II was all highly circumstantial Yet,
the only item of truth in the story was
that which related TO the Taylorsvills
almshouse. Having been domiciled in
that institution, he met there a pauper
named Joseph Newly. who was a
a garrulous old man. filled him up with
information about the history of his
family. happenings to old neighbors.
&C, and incidentally mentioned the fact
that William, il he were still alive,
would have 900 coming to him from
the Pension Bureau. Whereupon. hav-
ing learned all he could, the vagabond
| disclosed himself to Joseph as his long
| lost brotheri
al he
house. the soi-dissnt William Newby
| walked into Carmi in ragged clothes and
| without a hat Having established his
| identity to the satisfaction of pretty
nearly everybody. he applied for the pen
\ sion due him. with special reference to
the $4,000 arrears. Undoubtedly he would
| have got the money, and would be on
| the roll to-day, but for accidental recog-
| milton of him by an ex-convict who had
met him as a fellow prisoner in the peni-
tentiary at Nashville. where he was
known as 'Rickety Dan" Benton
Expose Follows.
Further investigation by the govern
ment authorities proved that this was
correct The man. born in Tennessee.
had been known from boyhood as Rick
| ETY. Dan" He had a wife and son. both
Of whom recognized him. Sixty wit
nesses supported these allegations But
l meanwhile a great many people had come
( to believe that the man was really Will
! lam Newsby. Much feeling was stirred
/ up on the subject. and. when the case
| came to trial the defense brought a
4 whole trainload of witnesses. There was
/ almost a riot in court, and Mcbride. the
/ government officer who had found out the
! facts. was obliged TO take refuge from the
/ mob in the judges room Later on he
| was hanged in effigy. Nevertheless.
| "RiCkety Dan" was convicted. and was
sent TO Jail for long term.
! Applications for pensions are some
! times made on very strange ground.
/ One man, net long ago. asked for a PEN
4 sion because his teeth were decayed- An
! other applied because his hair was getting
| thin: yet another because Of indigestion
! incurred by using his teeth to bite cart
ridges: and still another because his eyes
i had failed in old age, compelling him to
! wear speCtacleS one wOuld-be pensioner
complained that his feet had been dis
| abled by corns attributable to long march
es; another based his claim upon "obes-
\ ity'-having got fat "on account Of hao-
its acquired in the army.
National Roll of Honor.
! 1t has been said. and with truth. that
! the pension roll is the national roll OF
honor" These who fought bravely for
| the Union get none too much money
| from grateful government in consider
alton of past services. But II is not 10
be denied that many frauds have been
successfully operated at the expense OF
! the system. False personation. manu-
! factured evidence, and all sorts Of in
| genious tricks devised by unscrupulous
attorneys and claim agents have cheated
the Pension Bureau in a multitude or
| instances. One man. detected finally by
merest accident, had put in twenty7one
! ing in every case his own principal and
witnesses. A pension agent in the city
of Providence drew nineteen pensions
for years. helped by a clever forger
named Draper.
George B. Howard, whose photograph
| is preserved in the large album which
contains the rogues' gallery of the Pen
| sion Bureau served in the navy in the
| civil war. He afterward personated no
/ fewer than eight of his former comrades
| on the same ship. collecting pensions for
| all Of them. A negro veteran named
Laws, in Philadelphia, drew four PEN
sions for himself and one for his wife.
| the persons represented oeing dead SOL
| diers and a defunct widow. The sum
| of S3,332 arrears was paid in one lump
to the attorneys OF "Blind Patterson.
\ a drunken beggar who for many years
was led about the streets of Elimra.
| N. Y, by a dog. II was claimed that
he had been struck blind on picket duty.
! and on this account a pension of 81 a
| month was granted, but the whole case