Part 36

The Chapel is striking and picturesque, albeit there is no more reason to call it Gothic than Doric or Ionic. It closely resembles a chapel, and I should fancy Nature might have been in an ecclesiastico-architectural mood when she formed it.

The Grand Dome is seen through a large opening in the wall, and shows to great advantage, being about one hundred feet below the ordinary level, and one hundred feet above, and possessing a vastness and majesty to which few other parts of the cave can lay claim.

[Sidenote: WONDERS OF THE STAR CHAMBER.]

The amount of rhetoric the Star Chamber has given rise to is beyond calculation. It has supplied innumerable similes, and has been discoursed upon in every language. The Chamber is some seventy feet high, and the roof is composed of crystal of gypsum, and black oxide of manganese. As soon as we entered the Chamber, the guide took several of our lamps, descended into a hollow in the rock, and threw the light therefrom upon the ceiling. The effect was wonderful. The light, striking upon the crystals of gypsum, made them look precisely like stars, and—all the lower part of the vault being in deep shadow—created so complete an illusion that I could hardly doubt but that I was standing under the evening sky. Never was space so elongated. Those seventy feet seemed immeasurable. The longer I gazed, the more the shining ceiling appeared like the heavens. I could scarcely believe that I was under ground, and that the green grass and trees were growing above my head. I was completely lost for a while, just as any one will be after a long and earnest contemplation of the stars; and when the guide stepped out of the hollow with the lamps, and changed the scene entirely, I felt as if I had been awakened from a dream. My companions were unreserved in their expressions of astonishment and delight, and “beautiful,” “splendid,” “magnificent,” “marvellous” were the adjectives that dropped momentarily from their lips. The Mammoth Cave would be well worth visiting, if its only wonder were the Star Chamber. I have seen it a number of times, and each time its beauty is greater, and its illusion more complete.

The dimensions of the cave find their extremes in the Fat Man’s Misery and the Grand Dome—the former not more than twelve inches wide, and the latter over a hundred feet. The height varies quite as much. The Valley of Humility, where one is obliged to make a crawling L of himself, is offset by the loftiest rocky chambers; and the frequently smooth limestone floor is diversified by streams, ledges, and roughnesses culminating in the so-styled Rocky Mountains. What the cave lacks more than aught else is stalactites and stalagmites, though these are found well represented in the Gothic Chapel. The great cavern is noted for its variety, having nearly all the remarkable features that characterize other celebrated caves. It is no less attractive to the ordinary sight-seer than it is to the naturalist, the geologist, or the general lover of science. It appeals to every taste—to that of the poet and of the philosopher, of the curious and the enthusiastic, of the reverent and the sceptical, of the worldling and the mystagogue.

[Sidenote: FATIGUES OF THE JOURNEY.]

How did your party come out? The masculine portion of it very much as it went in, except that some members complained very bitterly of fatigue. The feminine portion suffered in various ways. The young woman who had been changed for the worse by the cave costume, grew homelier and homelier every mile she went, and so disenchanted her immediate companion—he was her lover, I think—that after the excursion he ceased to regard her with fond and favoring eyes.

The other young woman, who needed not the foreign aid of ornament, steadily improved with fatigue, drippings of water, and splashings of mud. If she had fallen into the Styx or Lethe, and then been drawn for half an hour over the floor of the cave, I have little doubt she would have appeared charming. I never knew one of her sex to make such æsthetic advances under adverse circumstances.

The plethoric widow gave out a dozen times during the journey, detained us materially, and was at last left behind, in company with a sympathizing friend, until the rest of us had retraced our steps, and literally taken her up again. She declared that she never would be able to get rested; and two weeks after her journey I heard she was still an inmate of the hotel, bemoaning her fatigue and disordered nerves.

Persons have been lost, from time to time, in the cave, but not nearly so often as has been reported. Some years ago, one of a party who made the exploration disappeared in the Star Chamber, and all effort to find him proved abortive. When they went back to the hotel, the greater part of the valuables belonging to the excursionists, which had been deposited with the landlord, had faded out of sight. Investigation established a close connection between the disappearance of the man in the Star Chamber and the watches and jewelry. The fellow was, unquestionably, a professional thief, but had pretended to be a clergyman from St. Louis. After the party had set out, he hurried back to the house, and informing Boniface that the ladies and gentlemen had altered their minds, and preferred to take their valuables with them, the latter was unsuspecting enough to hand them over. The pretended divine rejoined the excursionists, kept his own counsel, and consulted his interests by disappearing from the Star Chamber when the lamps had been removed.

[Sidenote: ACCIDENTS IN THE CAVE.]

In 1835 two men from Bourbon County, Kentucky,—their appearance indicated that they had for a long time quaffed the fiery beverage of that region,—arrived at Bell’s Tavern, and declared that they could go all through the cave without a guide, and come out safely. They even laid wagers to that effect, and though they were warned against such folly, they started upon their expedition. They certainly went in, but they have never come out; and as thirty-seven years have elapsed, it is highly probable they have deferred their return indefinitely. It is supposed that they got lost in some of the windings off the main route, and starved to death.

In the summer of 1840, a middle-aged lady from Boston suddenly swooned from fatigue, while making the underground journey, and sinking to the earth in silence, the remainder of the party went on without missing her. On their way back, the guide observed her sitting on a stone, chattering to herself like a monkey. The poor woman had become insane. Recovering her consciousness, and finding herself in the darkness,—for in her fall she had extinguished her lamp,—she had believed herself lost, as it is supposed, and the terror had shattered her intellect. The excursionists had not been absent two hours; and yet that brief time was sufficient to destroy her reason utterly. She never recovered, and died two years after in the Worcester (Massachusetts) Insane Asylum, a raving maniac.

To be lost in the Mammoth Cave would be enough to overturn the strongest brain, since, with all its beauties and wonders, it has capacities for terrible tragedy and ineffable horror.

XXXII.

INSURANCE AND ITS MYSTERIES.

HISTORY OF FIRE AND MARINE INSURANCE.—LIFE INSURANCE.—OBJECTIONS OF A CALIFORNIAN.—HOW HE ANSWERED AN AGENT.—FRAUDS UPON COMPANIES.—A DEEP-LAID SCHEME.—JOHNSON AND HIS THIRTY THOUSAND DOLLARS.—OPENING A GRAVE.—A FICTITIOUS CORPSE.—PURSUIT BY DETECTIVES AND CAPTURE OF THE SWINDLER.—LITIGATIONS ABOUT INSURANCE.—CHINESE TRICKS ON AGENTS.—SUBSTITUTES FOR EXECUTION.

The system of fire and marine insurance has been in use for centuries. The Chinese claim to have invented it, as they have claimed nearly everything else; but the probabilities are, that it was of western origin. It is alluded to in the English laws about the middle of the thirteenth century. Its earliest form was in that of marine insurance; afterwards the system of fire insurance was invented. Still later came insurance against death, which has grown in recent years to very great proportions.

Many people are unable to understand how insurances can be effected against an event which is sure to happen. There is a story of a man in California who was approached by an insurance agent with a request to take out a policy on his life. The agent painted in glowing colors the advantages of insurance, and the man listened to him very patiently. When the agent had finished his story, the victim said with great deliberation, “Stranger, I have lived in this yere country twenty-five years. I have bucked agin nearly every game that they have ever brought out, but I’ll be hanged if I want to play at anything where I have got to die before I can win.”

[Sidenote: OBJECTIONS TO INSURANCE.]

The objection which this individual made against insuring his life, was a very natural one, and is an objection made by many people, though in a different form. The insurance companies, some of them at least, meet this objection with a plan by which a man arriving at a certain age without dying, can draw the money that would come to his heirs in case he died before the specified age was attained. They have devised other plans to meet the objections of all classes of people, and it is safe to say, that the system of life insurance is about as near perfection as it is possible to bring it. It is a question whether, in many cases, the companies do not reap a much larger advantage than is their just due. It is noticeable that the companies, as a general thing, pay enormous salaries to their officers, erect costly buildings, pay heavy dividends, and have a good time generally. The conclusion is natural that the rates of insurance are altogether too high, and the advantages are much greater for the companies than for their patrons.

It is possible, sometimes, for dishonest men to defraud the insurance companies, though it is not always easy. The companies are generally on the safe side; they require the most positive proof of the death of a person whose life has been insured, and they throw a great many obstacles in the way of the collection of the amount of the insurance. I have known them to demand one certificate after another, and compel the person who was endeavoring to collect the insurance money to make ten or twelve visits to the office before meeting his just demands. Very often, after the death of an insured person, questions are raised which were never before mentioned. The premiums may have been paid for years, and the officers of the company claim to make a discovery that relieves them from all responsibility. In some cases their action in this respect is just, but in many others it is about as unjust as anything that can well be conceived. It would seem proper that where a person has been accepted for insurance, and the premiums on the amount of money called for have been regularly paid and received without objection, no objection should be raised after the person’s death.

[Sidenote: NEAT FRAUD ON A COMPANY.]

Some interesting stories are told of the way in which insurance companies are sometimes defrauded. One was told to me by the secretary of a prominent company in New York, which indicates great ingenuity on the part of the swindler.

“One day,” said the secretary, “a man called at our office, and said he wished to effect an insurance of ten thousand dollars on his life, and was ready to submit himself for immediate examination.

“The physician of the company was called in, and made a careful examination of this man, whom I will call Johnson. Johnson was pronounced a good subject. All sorts of questions were asked, and he answered all of them satisfactorily. He was closely inspected. His limbs were pinched, and his chest was thumped in the orthodox way, but no defect could be discovered. To all appearances he was good for three-score and ten, and possibly more. He gave us references, stated that he was a clerk in an up-town house, and his statement was fully verified. I called upon his employer, inquired about his clerk, and was told that his character was of the best, and that he was a very industrious and strictly temperate young man. We were satisfied, and insured his life for the full amount.

“In a little while he made a request to be permitted to travel west, and of course we granted it. His parents lived in a small town in Connecticut. He had married in New York, and had been married for three or four years. Occasionally he took his wife on a brief visit to his old home. He went west soon after his application, and we lost sight of him. His wife accompanied him, and he announced his intention of finding employment and settling in one of the western cities.

“Six or eight months after his departure, his wife telegraphed to her friends in the east that her husband was very ill with pneumonia. Two days later she telegraphed that he was dead, and that she would bring the body to Connecticut for burial.

“In due course of time she arrived, dressed in deep mourning, and evidently suffering from deep grief. The funeral was held, his parents attended, the coffin was opened, and the features were visible through the glass plate, though they were much dimmed by the moisture which collected on the inside.

“A few days after the funeral, the widow, whose name had been inserted in the policy at the request of her loving husband, called at our office, presented the proper papers, and made the necessary application. We made an investigation, were satisfied that everything was correct, and paid over the money.

“We lost sight of the widow after that, but learned casually that after a short residence in New York she had gone to California.

[Sidenote: AN EXTENSIVE SWINDLE.]

“We happened to learn also, soon after, that the same man had insured his life for ten thousand dollars in another company, a Massachusetts one, having an agency in New York; and also in a Hartford company for the same amount. Of course this naturally raised our suspicions. The premium on thirty thousand dollars is a very heavy one for a man on a clerks salary, and we became convinced that all was not right; so we began an investigation.

“We saw the merchant that had employed Johnson while in this city, and learned that the young man went west at the time indicated. The merchant had heard of his death, but had no positive proof or knowledge of it. Then we went to the village in Connecticut whence Johnson had hailed, and though we made the most searching inquiries, we could learn nothing to confirm our suspicions. His parents were positive of his death. Had they not seen his widow? and had they not seen his features through the glass plate of the coffin? and had they not seen that coffin buried in the public cemetery? To their minds everything was perfectly straight, and they were indignant at our supposing that there might be something wrong.

“I had a suspicion that the body in the coffin might be a ‘dummy’ with a wax face, in imitation of the features of Johnson. So I hired the sexton in charge of the cemetery to open the grave and allow me to examine the interior of the coffin. We did the work at night, and unknown to Johnson’s parents, as we knew they would be greatly offended if they learned what was going on. But I was doomed to disappointment, as the corpse proved to be genuine, and as good a one as ever was buried. Plainly I was on the wrong scent when searching for a body of straw and a face of wax.

“The three companies agreed to work in concert, and share the expenses of an investigation into the whole affair. We sent a detective to the city where Johnson had died, and after a little inquiry he ascertained that a man answering to the name of Johnson, and the proper description, had actually died in that city. His body had been sent to the east, and that was all that was known; but it was ascertained that instead of dying of pneumonia after a few days’ illness, the man had lingered some time with a disease strongly resembling consumption. Here was a clew which we determined to follow up.

[Sidenote: PURSUING A WIDOW.]

“As the widow had gone to California, we told the detective to follow, and trace her out. She had written no letters to the parents of her dead husband, except a single one announcing her arrival at San Francisco, and giving a brief description of her overland journey. She said she had friends living near San Francisco, and she expected to reside a short time with them; perhaps she might remain in that place through the winter, and perhaps not; could not tell; would write again.

“The detective had a long search for the widow, and visited every place around San Francisco, and even advertised for the missing Mrs. Johnson. His advertisement stated, after describing her in sufficiently explicit terms, that by sending a note to a certain address she would learn something to her advantage. This was not exactly true, as she would have learned something greatly to her disadvantage, had the detective been able to find her; but in the pursuit of criminals, it is generally considered proper to tell a few falsehoods in order to serve the ends of justice.

[Sidenote: A SHARP EYE FOR MONEY.]

“One day the detective visited a ship which had just come in from the Sandwich Islands. He went there with an acquaintance who knew the captain, and was invited on board. While they were in the cabin enjoying the captain’s welcome, the detective heard the ship’s steward telling a friend, who had called to see him, something about their last voyage out. He said there were a lady and gentleman, very nice people, who occupied a state-room, which he indicated, and who seemed to be very fond of each other. ‘They had a good deal of money with them,’ said the steward, ‘and they were pretty liberal with it, though they would never allow me or anybody else to go into their state-room, unless one of them was there. They had their money in a small trunk, which they kept under the lower berth; and whenever they were both out of the room at the same time, they always carried the key with them.

“‘When their room was fixed up in the morning, one of them always stood near the door; and if we wanted to steal ever so much, we would not have had a chance. To make everything sure, they had a spring-lock on the door—a lock they brought with them, and fixed there with the captain’s permission. They were not going to have anybody get into their room with a pass-key.’

“The steward went on to describe the couple, and the detective found himself interested. So he questioned him very closely, and became pretty well satisfied that the gentleman was the veritable Johnson who was supposed to be dead and buried some months before in Connecticut, and that the lady was the disconsolate widow who had drawn the money from the insurance company.

“Here was a dilemma; the captain and steward only knew that their passengers had gone to Honolulu. They sailed not under the name of Johnson, but under the very rare name of Smith. John Smith, I believe, was the gentleman’s name, while the lady was Mrs. John Smith. It is not easy, as everybody knows, to trace out a man bearing this name; and even if he could be traced, very little good could come out of it, if the man were in one of the South Pacific Islands, or, in fact, in any place where our extradition laws could not reach him.

“While we were about it, we thought it would be well to know the whole truth of the matter; and so we sent the detective down to the islands, and told him to follow them up, but not to make it expensive. He went to the islands, and there found that the parties had gone to Australia. Then he went to Australia, and traced them to New Zealand, and in New Zealand he found that they had gone, according to the best of his information, in about three different ways; so he went back to Australia. After a long and vigilant search he found them in Melbourne.

“He had no authority for the arrest and detention of Johnson, though he made him believe that he had, and frightened him into giving up half of the money he had fraudulently obtained, on condition that he should not be further troubled, and on the condition also that he should tell the whole story of the accomplishment of his fraud. As long as we could not get the fellow, we thought his story would be an interesting one, and would serve to put us on our guard in future. The detective obtained what he believed the whole story, and with the money Johnson had returned he made his way as speedily as possible to New York.

[Sidenote: HOW THE FRAUD WAS ARRANGED.]

“The deception began at the very outset of the scheme. Bear in mind that the man’s name was Johnson, that he was from a town in Connecticut, had married his wife in New York, and was in the store of a merchant of the great metropolis. There was a clerk in that store by the name of Johnson, and he was from Connecticut; we will say Smithville. He had married in New York about four years before this occurrence. He was a steady, well-behaved man, and contemplated going west. His wife had a small amount of property in her own name, but she was not personally known to the merchant, and the merchant did not know that Johnson hailed from Smithville. There was another clerk in the adjoining store whose name was likewise Johnson. For convenience in designating the two men, I will call the second one Roberts. He came from Brownsville, in Connecticut. He had been married about four years. He was a fast fellow, and rather unscrupulous, though his employer did not know that he was in any way dishonest. The two clerks had become acquainted by accident.

“When Roberts ascertained that Johnson conceived the idea of going west, he (Roberts) laid a plan for swindling somebody. His wife was as unscrupulous as himself, and so she entered into the scheme. Roberts was of vigorous health, and could pass an examination with a life insurance company without trouble. He was of the height, complexion, and general appearance of Johnson; and this fact, added to the other coincidences greatly favored his scheme. So he came to us, and obtained the insurance, as before stated. When we made the inquiry of the merchant, his answers were satisfactory, and all the references were exactly as he stated them.

“His plan worked completely. He waited patiently until Johnson went west, and then he went likewise. He did not, however, go to the same city.

“He explained that it was his intention, a month or two after his arrival out west, to obtain from a body-snatcher a corpse which would answer his description, and then his wife would send the proper telegram to her friends in the east, and proceed there with the remains, which would appear to be those of her husband.

[Sidenote: FORTUNE FAVORS THE WICKED.]