Continued from previous week
A telegram was sent to Thrun’s wife, who had taken the children to Neenah to visit friends and family.
“Mrs. Thrun returned home… and to neighbors she stated that her husband held only $4,000 insurance on his life,” a Marshfield News and Wisconsin Hub story stated.
The reporter did a little digging, contacting insurance providers and learned that “within the past five months” Thrun had taken out a $10,000 policy with Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York, $10,000 with Northwestern Mutual of Milwaukee, $10,000 with Aetna of New York and also submitted an application with a $15,000 with Equitable, but no payment had been received yet.
“The question now naturally arises in the middle of all who knew the man and supposed they knew his financial circumstances, how was he able to carry such a large amount of insurance and on what grounds did such careful insurance companies as the above issue policies to him. Hereby hangs a tale which will put the Arabian Nights to blush,” the article stated.
“Thurn has been in business at Romeo and other points for a great many years back, principally in operating a planing mill or saw mill.
“Four times has fire heretofore destroyed his all but each time he was able to rebuild until the last and he had to go into bankruptcy.”
The article added that Thrun had been employed at Gardner’s Mill in Spencer until six months earlier, when he left to start a new business.
“About that time, a patent was granted to him on a boiler which he had invented, and he claimed that he had invented and he claimed that he had organized a stock company which would put up large boiler works in Chicago, where a big bonus had been offered for them to locate,” it said.
“Thousands of dollars of cash were to be put into the venture by the other members of the company, against which he put in his patents on the boiler.
“This all seems plausible, but was not enough to secure the issuance of the big insurance policies to him.”
According to the article, Thrun told others confidentially that his wife had a considerable amount of money and was backing him, and that she had requested that the life insurance policies be taken out.
“Conversation with Thrun as to where and how his wife came by her money, how much she had and where it was kept brought out the following tale, which if true, beats romance all hollow (is better than romance),” the story stated.
To be continued
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here