Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-05-30

the invalids room suddenly collapsed
and In his fright he forgot that he was
paralyzed. leaped from his bed and fled
across the room. In this particular
instance. however the man had suffer
ed from a species OF mental hysteria
in which he actually believed himself
to be paralyzed and the $4,000 was
; certainly we'll earned by the seven
years OF enforced invulidism.
No HystcrIn In This.
Another case OF somewhat similar
nature happened in Pennsylvania sew
crul years ago. being one of the first
cases TO enlist the services Of the claim
detective. street car accident oc
Cured at an amusement park near
Philadelphia. in which several passen-
gers were hurt. The employees thought
they had obtained the names of all tn,
persons injured. but n few months later
| the car company was sued by the ia
[, ihcr OF an unknown claimant. who Il
was asserted. had hccn crippled by tho
accident The circumstances were such
| as to make the car company suspicious
and the claim detective was put on
The job. He visited the claimants In
! the small Pennsylvania Dutch town
| In which they lived and talked TO the
| boy who was brought out in rolling
, chair. few nights later. the detcc-
tive and another man hidden behind n
tree, saw the same hoy walking vigor-
ously IN steep Hill. refreshing his
cramped muscles with little healthy
! exercise. There was little trouble In
proving tho fraud at the trial, In which,
| the boy finally explained that he had
not been on the street car at ALL but
merely an innocent and uniniured by
stander with an eye FOR detail.
Some claims flcd against street car
companies are so unwarranted as to
he ridiculous For instance. not long
ago car company was sued by pas
. senger who had sustained merely Il
slight shock when pane OF Elass
suddenly broke and fell out the win
dow. The claimant asserted that he
was now in an advanced state OF tu-
! bercu!osis on account OF the shoes
accustomed by the unusual behavior OF
the pane OF glass. Needless 70 say
the claim was rejected.
Earning Capacity us Basis.
The chief basis on which n claim is
settled Is tho injured earning capacity
of the claimant Take, for example
a man who earns his living by writing
cards. making $50 n week nj the occu-
patton. His hand IS fractured in 81
street car accident which makes the
writing OF cards permanent impos
sibility. Instead. he is compelled to
accept job as Waterman in pub
lie building at the rate Of SI2 week,
Thus his earning capacity is reduced
IS n week for the rest OF his life.
which the company assumes az Its re-
sponsiblity. 1t now becomes neces-
sary 10 estimate the number OF years
I the man will live beyond his present
age which is thirty-two. His life is
calculated by 4 series of tables. known
/ as the Carlisle tables. showing the
/ life span OF the average person un-
! der normal conditions. II now be-
! comes evident. however. that the man
| has bad case of tuberculosis and is
not expected TO live very long. Since
! there is no known method of figuring
the length of time a person will live
! with tuberculosis, sure and equita-
BILE adjustment in this case Is almost
! impossible.
In the case of person who is killed
| in an accident, his relatives or estate
, may sue for damages. and this must
be done within n certain time pre-
| scrbed by law In various parts OF the
| country. One year after death Is the
| injury in the case of n living person.
! claimant is honesty. A clear and ac-
out exaggeration or prejudice. is so
makes n favorable impression with the
poration Is really just. as 1t is to Its
advantage to keep the good will OF Its
, customers. but it has been the victim
of so much petty fraud that Ii Is often
criticized as being unduly cautious.