Evening Republican, Volume 59, Number 84, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 April 1917 — O’CONNOR NOT [ARTICLE]

O’CONNOR NOT

Rensselaer Man Receives Verdict In Case Instituted By Continental Insurance Company. Benton County Review. The jury in the Continental Insurance Co. vs George A. Chappel and John R. O’Connor returned a verd«» for <371.84 against Chappell Friday evening after being out about three houis. The verdict was a victory for Mr. O’Connor, from whom the insurance company attempted to collect the <371.84 which represented insurance premiums collected by their agent, Chappell, and not remitted to the company. The complaint in the case alleged that Mr. O’Connor, who is a prominent farmer in Gilboa, was liable for the above amount, as his name appeared on Chappell s bond. There was much conflicting evidence during the trial and |be attorneys for O’Connor contended that the alleged bond was procured by fraud; that he was tricked into signing the document by Chappell wl-ile a farm loan through Chappell was .being made. While on the stand Mr. O Connor testified that on October 6, 1915, he was in Chappell’s office closing up a deed for a faun loan and while signing his name to different papers, discovered that one of them was a blank bond and that he called Chappell’s attention to it, informing ham he did not care to put himself under the obligation end ‘did not know that the bond was afterwards filled in and sent to the company until it was learned that Chappell was a defaulter. It seems that Mr. Chappell, who was named as a defendant in the case but was used as a witness for the plaintiff, had been a defaulter several months prior to the alleged execution! of the bond and that he had sent in a number of checks that had been protested by the bank at Remington and the defense contended that money collected by Chappell since the date of the bond had been used by the company to apply on Chappell’s shortage prior to the alleged execution of the bond, which showed that the insurance company had not acted in good faith with Mr. O’Connor. The alleged bond was also introduced in evidence and showed the blanks filled in were in two and three different hand writings. An acknowledgement by Hubert Cornwell, a notary attached to the bond, was alleged to be a fraud by the defense and the fact that Mt. Cornwell was in court but not used as a witness by the plaintiff, was a factor in favor of the defense contention that the acknowledgment and bond was a fraud. Lon McConnel, a special agent of the insurance company, Stated that Mr. admitted to him that he was responsible for the shortage but asked for time in the hopes that he could induce some of Chappell’s relatives to help pay the imoutit, Mr, McConnell’s statements were denied by Mr. O’Connor, who said he never intended to pay the amount and 'both witnesses told conflicting Stories of conversations which took place at a number of meetings held prior and after the suit had been filed here, Chappell, when cross-questioned by the defense, admitted that he was a defaulter and admitted that some of the blanks on the bond had been filled in after O’Connor had signed it. Mr. Chappell has been one of the leading citizens of Remington fpr yeans and rlcial reverses is said to have gothim into- his preflent trouble.