El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-03-09
MEN
DEAL SQUARELY
DR.. Witherspoon Hasn't
Found Them Crooked, But
Says Injured Frame Up

! - AuAnO4O4o anu lib NY AAA1N- N~~-N
talk on unusual workings Of the
Texas compensation act was made by
DR.. L. G. Witherspoon at the banquet
Of the Ell Paso insurance exchange at
the Sheldon cafe Friday night. Rob
ert H. Rinehart followed DR.. Wither-
spoon. with a talk on government in
I surance. Milton Dargan, who was
scheduled to be the principal speaker
Of the function. failed to, appear, on
account Of other engagements.
President Dexter Mapel, Of the ex-
change, presided and introduced the
speakers.
I'm all my experience as physiciant
for the large liability companies" said
DR.. Witherspoon. q have never been
approached by an insurance company.
or by an insured company. with
proposition that was the least crook
ed. have, however, IN several cases
had the injured person attempt to
frame up a worse injury than he
really had, to get a larger compensa-
ton. We handle in the course OF a
year about 1000 cases that come under
the compensation act, and attempted
IEauQS DE Lnt luJuEGu arc NAAO OAA-g
crooked cases have ever known OF
Employed Don't Cooperate.
The companies assuming risks on
the employed Of large or small
corporations do not receive the
cooperation Of the insured that they
should Vast sums Of money could
be saved to the insurance companies
every year, without any loss to the
injured, If employers and their repre-
sentatives would take just a little
trouble to look after the case. When
any man is injured by employment
covered by the compensation act, the
insurer should get an immediate re-
port of the accident II there IS any
doubt as to fracture, an x-ray photo
should be made Immediately. Any de-
lay in these cases may mean the ex-
penditure by the insurance company
Of hundreds, or possibly thousands. Of
dollars, that might be saved by
proper precautions
MaIfngering, One Method.
''dalingering IS one Of the methods
by which persons attempt to take ad-
vantage of the insurance company.
Many a man will try to obtain dam
ages by seeming to be hurt, when he
isn't Malingering is much easier Of
accomplishment than many think, and
the best way to prevent it is for the
insurance company to insist that
every man employed by the insured
be given a thorough physical eXami-
nation before being employed. Per-
sons with severe hernias have been
known to go to work for companies
protected by compensation and liabi-
ity insurance. expressly for the pur-
pose of getting treatment This sort
of thing could be avoided by physical
examination The physical examina-
ton system of the FL Paso smelter,
has cut down their accidents and in
juries by fully 25 percent It IS a
known fact. and a natural one, that
the man with defective eyes, or any
physical disability. is more liable to
injury than is a fit man / have
known men in splendid physical con-
dition. to fall As feet, and get up and
walk away"
DR.. Witherspoon's talk was pune
tuated throughout by vivid illustra- |
tics, and humorous instances Of at |
tempts made by supposedly injured |
persons to defraud insurance com |
panies-
Mr.. Rinehart made q short, informa- |
tive talk on government insurance.
War Insurance Greatest Aid.
Il regard the system of government |
insurance as the greatest thing any
government has ever done for the en-
listed men Of the army and navy and
their branches. That the enlisted men
themselves realize this is proved by
the fact that the vast majority OF
them carry it. Until February u
every member of the United States !
army and navy was automatically in /
sured. whether he applied for it or
not Thus all the men lost on the /
Tuscania were covered by government 1
insurance, and all the men who have /
been lost in France, in action, OF by l
disease. or other causes, have been /
covered by Insurance. There are about /
1,sO0, 900 men in the United States
army and navy, covered by the gov
eminent insurance plan
Does Away with Pensions.
Government insurance does not 1
only protect a mans family in case of /
his death, but 1t also protects him in 1
case he is incapacitated during the /
war. Men totally disabled may re-
ceive compensation considerably over 4
500 a month. under certain condi-
tions. The system does away entirely
with the old system Of pensions. with
its infrequent inequitable features,
and II insures a just distribution Of
reward among the men who are called
to serve their country in this great
war"
New Rate Books In Month.
The members Of the exchange en-
gagged in a short business discussion
relative to the expediency or commits
sion division with outside insurance
concerns. Secretary P. W. Williams
EEdQ several COulIl uulC6l4Du5 anu pres
ident Mapel read a telegram from the
stat fire insurance commission an
nouncing that the new rate books for
FL Paso would not be ready for an
other 80 days.
Those present at the banquet were:
Dexter Mapel, P. ". Williams, H. 3.
W. NJ Parker, Douglas c.
NJ G. Clumm, Otis Coles, j.
B. Gooch. ". K. Ramsey, Fraser
Charles, Tom Crutcher, H. Y. Bou-
ehier, Charles r. Foster, William B.
A T. Mueller, G. o. Ever
nan, Harry Reynaud, Sol Goddard. L.
R. Villars, Tom Scales and Leo r.
Schuster.