State

Arson— Tough Crime And lough lo gel away with in North Carolina, as I he records show. By GFOKGi: MILLER People who think a roaring good way to solve their business problems is to light a match, haven’t had much luck in North Carolina. Arson not only is a serious crime in this state — it’s be¬ coming more and more of a hazardous venture. One reason for that is the Investigation Division of the State In¬ surance Department, headed by Charles Lewis. In addition to other work, it investigates suspicious fires. In 1951 it looked into 161 such cases and so far obtained 19 convictions, with another 1 1 cases pending in court. Two special assistants — С. C. Dun¬ can at Raleigh, and R. L. Turnage at Winston-Salem — devote themselves principally to the arson cases. They get assistance from two investigators assigned to this state by the National Board of Fire Underwriters. Not all arson cases spring from pe¬ cuniary motives, Duncan says. One of his unusual cases was the burning of a church in Sampson County by a reli¬ gious fanatic who didn't believe in go¬ ing to church. His “torch" in this case was a young boy who was persuaded to do the actual fire-setting. Blood¬ hounds led to the boy, but he wouldn’t talk, until his grandmother appealed to him. An interesting sidelight of that case is the fact that the boy, now in the pen, is a heavy contributor to a fund to rebuild the church he de¬ stroyed. Just sheer circumstances lead the in¬ vestigators into a chase sometimes. When all the elements of a man’s busi¬ ness arc analyzed — his credit, inven¬ tory, and other items — and the answer is: all he has left is a fire, then a probe of an expensive fire often is launched. And even if incendiarism cannot be proved, a fraudulent claim conviction often can be obtained. It's pretty hard for a phoney pack- house fire to pay off. Crop controls require records, and it is difficult for a man to secretly sell his tobacco and also collect insurance on a mythical loss. Not long ago, a man insured nis household goods heavily, and had a fire. He still owed for some furniture, and the furniture collector went out to see how his account stood. Not find¬ ing the fire "victim," he walked over to the home of a neighbor and knocked on the door. When he was admitted, he was amazed to find the home nice¬ ly furnished — with the very stuff his customer had claimed was lost in the fire. But professional arsonists arc rare in this state. Duncan thinks two un¬ solved fires were the work of skilled fire-setters. But firebugs are more nu¬ merous and dangerous, and they are hard to handle. The case of an 11- year-old child, a confirmed fire-setter, was solved by appeal to welfare work¬ ers, who assisted in adjusting a bad family situation. Among the senseless fire-setting cases the insurance department has confronted was the case of six boys and girls, apparently out for a thrill, who traveled through two states leav¬ ing behind them a trail of burning hay¬ stacks. They were finally run down in Tennessee. Due to the interlocking assistance of the National Board’s investigative network, a close tab is kept on psycho- pathetic fire-makers. One, recently dis¬ covered in a central Carolina town, went back home, but he is under con¬ stant surveillance. The family of one confessed firebug moved from Vir¬ ginia to North Carolina. This was im¬ mediately called to the attention of the North Carolina officials, who in turn tipped off local officials in the new home of the family. Such a check doesn’t cure firebugs, but it helps in the constant fight to keep down incen¬ diary fires in North Carolina. JEFFERSON PUSHES UNIQUE CAMPAIGN Perhaps the largest and most com¬ plete insurance sales campaign ever launched in North Carolina is being conducted by the Jefferson Standard. Newspaper, radio, television, direct mail arc all being used in telling the "4 per cent" story to North Carolin¬ ians. Briefly, this story emphasizes the fact that Jefferson Standard pays 4 per cent interest on policy proceeds left on deposit to provide income. The long-run difference to the policy holder and beneficiaries arc pointed up by a symbolic "Mr. 4 per cent," who is the trademark of the campaign. Blue Ridge Now Has Multiple Line From a fire and automobile com¬ pany only, to a multiple-line enterprise, is the story of the growth since 1944 of Blue Ridge Insurance Company, Shelby, headed by President Don Car¬ penter. First were added crop hail lines, then a casually department. Co¬ incident with the expansion, Blue Ridge entered Kentucky and Tennes¬ see, and in 1951 added 80 agents to its staff. Service offices also were opened in Charlotte, Wilson and Columbia, S. C. ZB THE STATE. APRIL 19. 1952