w
would appeal to practically every one. That is, to explain the
operation and advantages of such a law, we give, as one unit, the
concrete example of this old man. Actual examples are preferable to
hypothetical ones, but the latter may occasionally be used when real
cases are not available. Imaginary instances may be introduced by
such phrases as, "If, for example," or "Suppose, for instance,
that."

To explain why companies that insure persons against loss of their
jewelry are compelled to investigate carefully every claim filed
with them, a writer in the _Buffalo News_ gave several cases in
which individuals supposed that they were entitled to payment for
losses although subsequent investigation showed that they had not
actually sustained any loss. One of these cases, that given below,
he decided to relate in his own words, without conversation or
quotation, although he might have quoted part of the affidavit, or
might have given the dialogue between the detective and the woman
who had lost the pin. No doubt he regarded the facts themselves,
together with the suspense as to the outcome of the search, as
sufficiently interesting to render unnecessary any other device for
creating interest.

Another woman of equal wealth and equally undoubted honesty lost a
horseshoe diamond pin. She and her maid looked everywhere, as they
thought, but failed to find it. So she made her "proof of loss" in
affidavit form and asked the surety company with which she carried
the policy on all her jewelry to replace the article.

She said in her affidavit that she had worn the pin in a restaurant
a few nights before and had lost it that night, either in the
restaurant or on her way there or back. The restaurant management
had searched for it, the restaurant help had been questioned
closely, the automobile used that night had been gone over
carefully, and the woman's home had been ransacked. Particular
attention had been given to the gown worn by the woman on that
occasion; every inch of it had been examined with the idea that the
pin, falling from its proper place, had caught in the folds.

The surety company assigned one of its detectives to look for the
pin. From surface indications the loss had the appearance of a
theft--an "inside job." The company, however, asked that its
detective