Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-05-03
tfce Of their claim, who were later
forced to admit the fickleness of man.


man. md all believing it. when .nvesti-
cation showed that but one had a legal
claim
Or. woman has applied for a widows
pension later to find out that her hus-
band was not even dead but instead
was living elsewhere with anothe.'
WIFE"
such cases as these are by no means
fraudulent. but merely show the wt6c
range of cases which come to the ONCE
and illustrate. in addition. the fact tina.
many of them form far from pleasant
chapters in the life OF the bureau Tn
Willingly and unintentionally the bureau
has unearihed many a fact which has
brought sorrow TO at least one woman
About twenty-five years ago q law was
passed by Congress which removed the
limitation as to date OF filing of certat.,
claims for widows pension. no matter
now long the husband had been dead
When this law went into effect thou-
sands of applications came into the ~
ice. and many were Justly allowed Rut
with the rightful claims came scores NJ
fraudulent ones. such a one was III.
case of the woman who claimed to he
the widow of a veteran who died near,
twenty five years before Her claim was
allowed and $4,000 paid her. tho total
amount due as monthly pension since
the date of his actual death Later II
developed that the woman was no rel.-
ton even OF the dead soldier She was
convicted and the greater portion OF tho
money recovered.
Such cases as these came I'm with sta-
ting regularity at the time of the pas
sage of this act So frequently did This
occur. In fact, that some persons even
claimed the existence of organizations to
forward that end. belief, however not
entertained at the bureau But certain Il
Fr,o 1N+
cure WIDOWS pension. which when in
vestigated were found absolutely fraudu-
lent
An account of the attempted frauds In
the pension bureau would be incornnlete
without relating one case which show.
more plainly than any other perhaps, the
almost invisible line that sometimes ex-
lists between the valid and invalid claim
for pension. 1t illustrates also the care
which must constantly be exercised by
the bureau In order not to grant a pen
sion to one unworthy. nor vet deny Il to
one by whom it is deserved
An application for a pension came in
from an old veteran. Following the Gus
tomary procedure, request was sent 10
the War Department asking for a verifi-
cation of the mans statements in his ties
timony. The Forthcoming report stated
emphatically that the man was dead; had
died in certain hospital as the result OF
a wound received in a certain engage
ment during the war. There was nothing
indefinite in the matter whatever The
facts We're positive. and the man conse-
quently was dead so far as the War De
partment was concerned.
This information was forwarded to the
applicant, who, upon receipt of the letter
hastily came in person to the pension bu-
reau. bringing with him undeniable proof
of his identity. He absolutely and con
clusively proved himself alive and the
owner of the name he had applied for
pension under.
Such contradictory statements needed
investigation. and the bureau lost no time
in looking into the matter. Little by lit
tie, after much ferreting this explanation
was unearthed:
During one of the sieges of the civil
war a detachment of Union troops was
sent on a forced march. All unnecessarF
accouterments were discarded. During
halt that the men might get a short resi-
one Of the soldiers caught sight of a
knapsack, which he picked up and tooh
with him on the rest of the march.
At the end of that march came an en-
gagement, and the soldier with the knaf-
sack was wounded. Upon peiig .ahe IL
the hospital, unconscious. he was regis
tered by the only identification fouho
upon his clothing, the name on the KNAPP
sack Later he died, and was buried uii
der the same name. The man VINO ~
piled to the pension bureau for a pension
was the rightful owner of that knapsac> :.
There is one man alive today, and
in fact, recently released from the
penitentiary, where he served time iot
attempting to defraud the pension OF
fice. who has perhaps given that bureau
more trouble than any other ten Grim
mails with whom they have ever mao
to deal. He was a man OF many wives
and of many aliases. He was possessed
of a cold tenacity Of purpose, whici
sent him back. time and time again
though foiled repeatedly. TO try othel
frauds on the officials VINO guard ,he
COVE. ument's pension tuno. ana maj
he has come to be known unof1clallN
among pension officials as The Man
Who Came Back.
He was the son of an army ofhcer, anu
as such received a pension as inihot-
while he lived through his early hoy
hood with three uncles, one OF whotn
was Union veteran. But early in NE
the boy developed into thief, hlchiie
SIS. with which he purchased vioIin
upon which he was deStlned 10 pecofhe
a wonderful performer
In early manhood he married his
first wife But shortly thereafter, con
victed of stealing. he was sent TO
prison, and during his term there hiS
wife married another man, believins
that her first husbands imprisonmehf
legally terminated the ceremony.
So, when 1.-The Man Who Came Back
was released he promptly sought out .
second wife. and il is at this p"in'
that the pension office enters the stort
His first attempted fraud on thaf
bureau occurred when he induced W.
second spouse to apply for pensi"'
by impersonating the mother of one OF
his three uncles who had died.
While the tul was thus engage
"The Man Who Came Back" set aboui
launching other schemes for pensloh
frauds. About that time numerous al
vertisements We're published. asking
for information concerning the where
a bouts of various old soldiers. Thest
the young schemer answered, forging
the names of the missing men. Hut
the schemes of the young man and has
wife fell through. Each was caught
The man was sent to prison for -four
years; the woman was fined $1,000 And
when sentence was passed on the mah
another case was pending against hin
for having impersonated his dead uncle
and having applied for a pension In
the dead mans name. But this case
was nolle pressed
With his sentence behind him. which
had proved to be no deterrent in his case
1.-THE Man Who Came Back set about de
yising another bout with the pension hu
reau He happened to fall in with an old
soldier. and managed TO get a copy of the
discharge papers, on the plea
that he would help him obtain pension.