The Lake County times. [volume], April 08, 1908, EVENING EDITION, Page 8, Image 8

About The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933

Image provided by: Indiana State Library

                
I
0
THE TILiES.
Wednesday, '-'April - 8, 19Q3.
J:
a
!
I
Indiana . Harbor , Physician
' Said to Have Given
Wrong Cause For Pa
tient's Death, to Protect
Casualty Company.
DEMISE ATTRIBUTED
TO TYPHOID FEVER
J. A. Teegarden Whom Mrs. John
Davis Accuses, Enters General De
nial; Says Family Would Put Up
a Job to Collect Insurance Dam
ages Which They Are Not Entitled.
There are sensational developments In
the case of John Davis, who died Sun
day night following an accident, suf
fered while employed Jn the Inland
Steel company's mills at Indiana Har
bor. Incidentally Dr. Teegarden of Indiana
Harbor is put forward in a bad light by
the widow of the deceased.
The physician on the other hand, de
nies flatly most of the story as told by
Mrs. Davis and says her reasons for
maligning his motives have no founda
tion in fact, but are the result of a de
sire on her part to get money to which
she is in no wise entitled.
Mrs. Davis claims that her husband
died of the injuries he suffered in the
accident. w3iile Dr. Teegarden declared
he died of typhoid fever and said he
would make out a death certificate to
that effect. The widow claims, the phy
sician had an ulterior reason for as
signing typhoid fever as the cause, and
that this reason was the protection of
the Inland Steel company from liability
for the death, and of the insurance com
pany from its obligations to make good
on a $1,000 accident policy held by the
deceased in his wife's name.
Dr. Teegarden, it was claimed by the
widow, is in the employ of both the
Inland company and the Continental
Casualty company in which her husband
TTtI-
was Insured. The physician admits that
he is the Inland Steel company's phy
sician, but denies any connection with
the casualty company.
The accident which caused tbe al
leged Injuries which, according to Mrs.
Davis, were responsible for her hus
band's -death, occurred on March 25.
That part of the mill In which he was
employed was filled with escaping steam
at the time, and Davis, his vision ob
scured by the heavy vapor, stumbled
while in the act of walking across the
floor, and fell heavily. He was badly
hurt about the head and body, accord
ing to his wife, and the next morning
was unable to arise from his bed. Dr.
Teegarden was called into the case and
attended the injured man. Later he was
removed to a hospital, Dr. Teegarden
still attending him. .
He died Sunday and when the widow
learned that-the physician was about
to t render a death certificate naming
typhoid fever as the cause, she demur
red. She declared it a scheme to cheat
her out of the money due her on the
accident policy and likewise hurt her
chances in a damage suit against the
Inland mill people. She demanded an
Inquest and Dr. Teegarden admitted
that it might be as well to inquire into
the cause of death more closely by
means of an autopsy, and proposed to
hold the autopsy himself, according to
Mrs. Davis. She again demurred and
insisted upon an inquest by the coroner
which was accordingly held, the inquest
taking place yesterday at Indiana Har
bor. -
The finding was that Davis came to
his death from pneumonia, "either as
the primal, or the secondary cause."
The verdict also found that the body
showed marks of the Injuries his v, ife
claimed he had suffered.
Dr. Teegarden in giving his side of
the story said: "The man was my pa
tient for a week before he went to the
hospital, coming to my office and ask
lng my advice for both himself and his
children. He mentioned the fact that
he had sustained a fall while at his
work and said that he had suffered he
loss of a toe nail. He thought little of
the Injury, however, as he did not take
the trouble to show me the injured
member. He was consulting me about
an intestinal disorder that afterwards
developed into typhoid fever. The find
ing of the coroner's jury that pneumo
nia may have been the secondary causo
of death, or the primal cause does not
affect my diagnosis in the least. Pnu
mcnia frequently follows intestinal dls
orders.
As for my protecting the Steel com
pany that is ridiculous. The case in
the first place was not a company case
and in the second place I did not treat
the patient for any injuries he suffered
while In the employ of the company
The family would never have thoughc
of attributing his death to an accident
if they had not held an accident policy
and when the man's sickness was re
ported to the Casualty company, as is
customary when with holders of poli
cies to do, he gave a signed statement
to the effect that he was ill of fever.
As to my wanting to hold the lnust
I did not dream of such a thing until
the family requested me to hold it. I
did not want to hold It. as I was in the
Aemploy of the Inland Steel company and
I wanted some one else to officiate
A
U 11
: ; -
i I.., ,u mi l.i .ijMiajwwi .j. ul ii ii mi iimim im m ihjiij. i ii'p- mu..w j, .itiiaiMyijiwwpwwiLijiuu..iwMWM i.u.uuim.mi ii nm-mmmma xmiwwmvHjm"mmmm ju ! i.wmmmtmmmi 'mm njnnm m.i .1 1 n"?11 T!:'.'.':"" auiii mmrmmmmmmmmmfrmmrm'nmmtmuw in .,f
kin'"'!- ' I -i .. ,..-M-,-..--m--.-,..,-i.....hiln--...i man ,,.,, munra.n Hi mri-.ai.iP I nn I III! Ifil IIBn.i TUMI llnfMt I III I rill 1101 llllllllllHIH iiMftH MM ' til mill III! T111I III H)i1 7 r I in I .... ,i. .-.if, I ! iniilitn I I in I III II I r ' II HI I II lllllll 111 IT III II T IT fflll 1 1 II lUllllllir II III r HI Ml W irnni.l tirf in "mi T 1 1 Bill 11 ifilfw
HAMMOND BUILDING,
CHARGE FRAUD IN
GARTREALTY CO.
Well Known Real Estate
Company in Gary Gets
in Court.
FOREIGN CLIENTS PLAINTIFFS
Charge That Ecalty Men Have
Misrepresented Sales They
Had Made.
Several sensational cases were filed
this morning in Justice of the Peace
Fitzgerald's court in which one of the
most prominent real estate firms in the
city is alleged to have used fraudulent
methods in disposing of their property
to foreigners. There have already been
seven cases filed against the Gary
realty company and there will un
doubtedly be as many as a dozen more
filed in a short time if the present plans
of the attorneys for the plaintiffs, Har-
i ib os jai eiscii, are carried oui.
The context of the charges are that
the firm misrepresented the location
and value of certain property which
they disposed of to the foreigners and
that they made other assertions in re
gard to the sale which were entirely
false. The sales were mostly made by
agents of the company to people liv
ing many miles from Gary where they
were unable to see for themselves what
property they were about to purchase
and ascertain its value. As soon as
they began to arrive in Gary they
flocked to several of the attorneys of
the city and demanded that their money
be refunded. Harris & Bretsch had
their desk piled high with the abstracts
and deeds brought into them by for
eigners who claimed that they had been
frauded. The latter part of this week
Attorneys Houren, Sefton and Kennollet
will also file a number of cases against
the Gary Realty company with prac
tically the same charges that are em
bodied in those of Harris & Bretsch.
Nearly all of the stories of the for
eigners were the same but the com
plaint refered to is that of John Nlzan
and Stephen Vorkulitz vs. the Gary
Realty company: Here the complaint
alleges that the Realty company claim
ed to own the steel mills at Gary and
that if the prospective purchaser would
invest! in a lot that they would insure
his employment while he was in Gary.
That they could work for at least two
or three years at wages of from $2 to
$3 per day, and because of the hard
times which exists at the present they
readily grasped an opportunity to se
cure employment They also represent
eel the lots according to the complaint,
to be but five minutes walk from the
steel mills, which would necessarily be
FEW BE
SLOd
West of
in the first sub-division when in reality
they- were forty-five minutes walk
from - the steel mills. The complaint
also Btates that the foreigners illiterate
and Ignorant, unable to speak the Eng
lish language, unused to the ways and
customs of this country and ignorant
of . the wiles and trickeries of the
shrewd agents' of this defendant. That
they made these false representations
for the purpose of cheating and de
frauding the plaintiffs and hundreds of
other foreigners whose names are un
known to these plaintiffs. The de
fendant in the case mentioned was from
Youngstown, Ohio, and paid' his own
car fare to Gary. It is expected that
the cases will be tried the latter part
of this week.
AY RESUME " BUILDING
South Chicago Shipyards
May Reopen Its Con
struction Department.
There may be a po'ssibility of the
Chicago shipbu. dlng company taking
up construction work at their East Side
plant. Superintendent A. G. Smith
left yesterday for Cleveland on a mys
terious mission to confer with the
company's head officials. Before leav
ing, Mr. Smith was interviewed, but re
fused to state just what was doing in
the head offices.
When asked whether or not there
was a chance of the company taking
up construction work at their ... East
Side plant he laughed saying he would
tell all about it when he came back
providing there was anything doing,
The East Side plant adandoned con
struction work over a year ago, which
resulted in laying off over 3,000 men.
Since then, only repair work has been
taken on at the plant. However, from
time to time the matter of taking up
construction work has come up before
the officials, but each time the work
has been turned over to their plants
at Milwaukee or Cleveland. If ship
building was again taken up at the
East Side plant it would mean the re
employment of 3,000 men which would
be a Godsend at the present time.
BRYAN CLUB MEETS
AT GARY LAST NIGHT.
Forty Members Wax Enthusiastic
Over Speeches Made.
The South End Bryan club, of Gary,
a political organization recently
launched, held a great meeting last
night at their hall and over forty
were present. Speeches were made in
English, Roumanian and Polish and
the prospects for a good club was en
couraging. The Born Leader.
Many a man who was born to be
a leader has been out of a job most
of the time because he couldn't find
anybody who wanted' to be led.
win
Columbia.
DOWN AND BALANCE IN
MONTHLY PAYMENTS Of
PIP. AH
DELEGATES ABE ELECTED
Hammond, Gary and Whit
ing to be Represented
... at Meeting.
The Chicago Association of Commerce
has taken hold of the matter of the pol
lution of the water of Lake Michigan
and at a conference of delegates from
all of the cities in the Calumet region
which will be held at the Great North
ern hotel In Chicago, April 11, there will
be delegates present from Gary, Ham
mond, Whiting and East Chicago.
At Gary Dr. T. B. Templin and,
Thomas E. Knotts were-selected to rep--
resent that municipality, in Hammond
the matter will be taken up soon and
delegates will be appointed to represent
this city, in Whiting the Commercial
club will take the matter up and ap
point their delegates, and In East Chi
cago the delegates will be appointed by
the president of the Booster's club.
The meeting is to be one of the most
Important from a sanitary point of view
that has ever been held In the west and
Instead of considering the matter of re
lief through the medium of the drainage
canal it is proposed to interest the cl
ties which will never have access to
this canal and get them to adopt the"
system of sewage filtration instead of
poluting the water of the lake.
- Dr. T. B. Templin will address the
meeting on the advantages of the
sceptic system of sewage purification
and will illustrate the system that Gary
is installing.
The governor of Indiana will be
asked to appoint several delegates at
large to attend the meeting and rep
resent the interest of the stat as a
whole in this most Important matter.
It is believed that If the interest of
all of the smaller cities in the region
about Chicago can be aroused in the
advantages of sewage filtration that the
lake water will some day be as pure as
it was before the white man came and
polluted it.
It is understood that the delegates
will be royally entertained by the Asso
ciation of Commerce and it is expected
that the meeting in Chicago will be an
epoch making one from a sanitary
standpoint.
HOBOES FREELY USED
Gray Authorities Put Al
Tramps ; at Work
Yesterday.
In an effort to protect a cofferdam
which was' being constructed for the
purpose of receiving the surface water
which has accumulated in large quan
titles in the vicinity of the . Wabash
wow
LE LOTS "ON
Avenue
HAMMOND, IND.
tracks and. Washington street in Gary,
a force of twenty hoboes were put to
work, many of them against their will,
to fortify the sides of the cofferdam
until the water could be ""pumped out
of it.
Some of the hoboes who had figured
on a month of rest and recreation at
the county jail, were very much put
out when they were compelled to get
out and fill, sand bags in order to pre
vent the collapse of the cofferdam.
They were forced to do the work.
however, and were then fed and paid
off by the city. As a result of the
successful effort to save the dam, the
water on the south side has gone
down several Inches in spite of the
heavy rains of the past few days.
GOiSSIOPS MEET
County Council Will be
Called for April 25
By Board.
Crown Point, Ind., April 8. (Spe
clal.) The county commissioners
transacted a grist of unfinished bus!
ness carried over from Monday's ses
sion.
In the matter of the Crown Point
Gary Interurban franchise, the com
missioned granted the ' right-of-way
for the proposed routeacross the in
tersecting roads. According to the
law, the commissioners recommended
a meeting of the county council about
the 25th of this month, for the spe
cial purpose of appropriating money,
for the Gary bridge and recommended
an appropriation of $50,000 for this
purpose. The party composed of the
commissioners, county council and
representatives of the Business Men's
association, will make an examination
and survey, of the proposed improve
ment, and Gary is now practically as
sured of her long desired bridge.
FLINTS MAKING BIG HIT.
The Flints, who have Just closed a
successful week at Towle's opera house
in Hammond -with their hypnotic per
formances, have created a furore in
Michigan City where they , are per
forming this week for the first time,
Hammond has been the only city in
Northern Indiana which has had the
pleasure of seeing the Flints in action
They have, however, visited Lafayette
during the past year. The Flints have
established the reputation of drawing
some of the largest houses In Ham
mond and they promise to break the
record in Michigan City.
. . GARY CLUB MEETS.
There was a meeting of the execu
tive committee of the Gary Republican
club at which the first draft of the
constitution and by-laws was made
The committee put considerable work
on the document and another meeting
will be held in the near future at
which the constitution will be finished
and later presented to the club for Its
approval.
nPA
S AFTER . Bay SURVEY
. 1 i
Representative E. D. Crum
packer Introduces a
New Resolution.
Representative Crumpacker has in-
troduced a resolution In the house at
Washington providing for a prelimia-..
ary survey by the war department of
the Grand Calumet, from Calumet har
bor to the mouth of the river, In the
northeastern corner of Lake county.
He 'would have the .board of engineers
in the department Investigate with the
view "of recommending the improvement
of the river and "harbors along the
south shore of Lake Michigan from the
Calumet harbor to the east line of Lake
county. The scheme is not entirely
new. The government has made 'one
preliminary survey of the Calumet and
has done some work on the channel of
the river. Mr. Crumpacker believes
the time will come when the govern
ment will see the advisability of de
veloping the south shore of the lake.
CITY ENGINEER REED
- RESIGNS AT . EAST CHICAGO,
East Chicago, April 8. (Special.)
The resignation of City Engineer Rob
ert W. Reed has been accepted by the
city council, and the council adopted
resolutions Monday night deploring his
loss and paying flattering tribute to
his capabilities as an engineer.
Later in the session the question pf
a successor came up and the names
of J. Lawson of Chicago, and A. G.
Dorland of Laporte were submitted.
Quite a heated discussion arose among
the, councllmen regarding whom to ap
point, some favoring Mr. Lawson, some
Mr. Dorland and some preferring to
continue in charge the broher of En
gineer Reed, who is at present looking
after the work. No decision was
reached, it being decided to call a spe
cial meeting for next Monday at which)
the question will be settled.
COMMITTEE REPORTS ON" '
FIRE STATION LOCATION.
East Chicago, April 8. (Special.)
The committee appointed to look Into
the matter for a site for the location,
of a fire and police station for Indi
ana Harbor have reported. They hava
decided upon a triangle lot on the
southwest corner of Elm and Guthrie
streets, with 126 feet frontage on Elm,
and 111 on Guthrie and ninety-six feet
in ' the rear. The lot belongs to Mrs.
Mary Crawford and the deal is being
put through by W. J. Tiley, her agent.
The price agreed upon is 2,050. The
council has sanctioned the location and
work will be begun in the near fu
ture, as soon as possible after the pa
pers are signed up. - i'
Hare yon ver tried an ad in The
Times? Try one and eee the results.
I