The Fatal Breakfast
A Seattle widow sues an insurance company for $10,000 after her husband died from a fish bone injury, triggering a grim post-mortem examination.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
In a rather unusual suit filed in the federal court yesterday, Addie A. Burns of Seattle sues the Fidelity & Casualty company of New York for $10,000 damages for the death of Francis J. Burns, her husband. In 1896, Burns took out the accident policy in his wife's favor. Six days prior to that date, Burns was eating breakfast in a Seattle restaurant when a fish bone penetrated his mouth. Blood poisoning set in, and he died November 3. After his body had been embalmed and buried, it was exhumed and dissected by surgeons in the presence of representatives of the insurance company. Although it is said proof was found in the form of wounds in the throat and mouth, the insurance company refused to pay the $10,000 accident policy.
“After his body had been embalmed and buried, it was exhumed and dissected by surgeons.”
This case highlights the long-standing, often adversarial relationship between insurance providers and policyholders, where the fine print of 'accidental death' creates tragic, bureaucratic battles. The disturbing requirement to exhume a body to prove a claim underscores the lengths to which corporations would go to avoid payouts at the turn of the century.
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