El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-09-14

women when suffering from senile debll-
itv in its last stages or from total break
down of the mental faculties. In no
wav very extraordinary was the case
of Francois Delair, a French Canadian,
who crossed the border for the sake OF
the bounty and enlisted as private IN
the 18th Illinois volunteers. Most OF
his after life was spent IN Montreal as
blind beggar At SO years of age, only
four DAYS before his death, he married
a woman of bad repute. She applied
for a pension as his widow, and received
S12, 64S arrears.
Uncle Sam Is Easy"
On the pension roll today is a negress
calling herself Hannah Turner. Before
the war, on plantation IN MISSISSIPPI;
she was acquainted with a negro named
Dave Turner, who enlisted in the Union
army lust before the fall OF Vicksburg,
and died a few months later OF pneu-
monia. 1t was not until 80 years had
passed by that Hannah, who had long
been known as the wife OF man named
johnson, suddenly recalled the TACT that
she had been married to Turner Inc
preacher alleged to have joined them IN
wedlock was dead, but her sister and
friend swore that they had been present
at the ceremony; and the sister, IN eX-
PLANTATION of the johnson marriage, de
clared that it was ''iust Joke; The
claim was allowed, and. Hannah, PEN
stoned as the widow of Dave, drew down
neat little bundle amounting to $4,000
arrears.
Easy? WHY. the "softest' individual
on earth is your Uncle Sam, when it
comes to widows, real or bogus Ii 1t
we're asked what is the best imaginable
means to encourage frauds IN pensions,
the fairly obvious answer would be the
keeping of the roll and everything there
unto pertaining secret. But this Is ex-
actIv 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
Remarkable "Widow" Case.
The most remarkable widow case, and
| in its way wholly unique, was that IN
which a woman named Newly, who mad
been the wife of a soldier, residing at
/ CarIni. ILL., was persuaded to recognize
as her husband a man who turned up in
! the town 80 years after he was supposed
| to have been killed and buried.
| William Newly, the husband, was
/ buried on the field of Shiloh. According
". many people were surprised when,
! after the lapse of more than quarter
| of a century, he turned up at ms own
] home At first Mrs. Newly failed to
7 recognize him. but he soon convinced 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 char
acter with which no stranger could very
well have been acquainted His exPla-
nation of what had happened was that,
| being wounded in the head. he had been
| left for dead on the field OF battle. The
| story of his burial bv comrades was a
/ mistake. Partly deprived OF reason BY
| his wound. he had spent many years
wandering about, and finally had landed
in the almshouse at Iaylorsvllie, Ill,
| where he remembered who he was.
1t was all highly circumstantial. Yet,
! the only item of truth in the story was
that which related to the Taylorsville
! almsbouse Having been domlclled IN
that institution. he met there pauper
named Joseph Newly, who was broth
! or of the soldier William. Joseph, gar
[ ruIcus old man. filled him up with IN
! formation about the history of his fam
| ilv. happenings to old neighbors. etc,
and incidentally mentioned the fact that
| William. if he were still alive, would
I have $4,000 coming to him from the
pension bureau. Whereupon. having
learned all he could. the vagabOnd dis
closed himself to Joseph as his long
lost brother
Fraud Is Exposed.
Obtaining his dismissal from the aims
house the sol disant William Newly
walked into CaFmi in ragged clothes and
without a hat. Having established his
identify to the satisfaction Of pretty
nearly everybody, he applied for the
pension due him. with special reference
TO the $4,000 arrears. Undoubtedly ne
would have got the money, and would
be on the roll today, but Tor accidental
recognition of him by an eX-conylet who
had met him as a fellow prisoner IN the
Denitentiarv at Nashville, where he was
known as "Rickety Dan" Benton.
Further investigation by the govern
ment authorities proved that this was
J correct. The man, born in Tennessee
had been known from boyhOod as Rick
ETY. Dan" He has a wife and son, both
of whom recognized him., Sixty witnesses
supported these allegations. But mean
while a great many people had come tc
believe that the man was really William
Newbv Much feeling vas stirred up or
the subject. and when the case came
to trial the defence brought whole
trainload of witnesses There was al
most 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 efflgy. Neverthe.
less. "Ricketv DAN was convicted, and
was sent to Jail for long term.
Strange Applications.
! Applications Tor pensions are some
! =
man. not long ago. asked for a pension
because his teeth were decayed. Another
applied because his hair was getting
thin: vet another because of indigestion
incurred by using his teeth to bite cart
ridges: and still another because his eyes
had failed in old age. compelling him tC
wear spectacles. One wouldbe pension
! er complained that his feet had been dis
abled by corns attributable to long
marches: another based his claim upor
Obesity Having got fat ION account
of habits acquired in the army"
An old soldier wrote: Il claim a Den
sion for vertigo got chasing Lee" Thi:
was disallowed. with the official com
ment: IF claimant had asked for a pen
sion for vertigo got from being chased
by Lee, it might have been allowed; but
it was not necessary for him to chase
Lee so hard as to cause vertigo. Wher
he began to feel dizzy. he should have
sat down until his blood recovered it:
equilibrium"
The drv files of the pension bureau
are full of nuggets of humor. On ono
occasion. not so very long ago. the bones
of a mans leg were sent to Washington
to prove that the limb had been lost il
4 l. 81 -