Page:North Dakota Reports (vol. 48).pdf/334

 deceased, and that Andrew Weber, the plaintiff in this action, is the duly appointed, qualified, and acting guardian of their estates.

“(2) That the defendant, the Interstate Business Men’s Accident Association of Des Moines, Iowa, is a corporation engaged in the business of insurance against accident, and that during the lifetime of Fred J. Bodman the defendant issued a policy, in which policy it insured the said Fred J. Bodman against injury or death by violent, external, and accidental means, and that said policy was fully paid up and in full force and effect on the 12th day of May, 1919.

“(3) That the wards of the plaintiff, hereinbefore named, are the beneficiaries named in the said policy, and are entitled to the full benefit of all of the benefits thereof.

“(4) That the amount payable under the terms of the said policy in case of accidental death of the said Fred J. Bodman is the sum of $5,000.

“(5) That no part of the same has been paid to the wards of the plaintiff nor to any one authorized to receive the same in their behalf.”

The plaintiff claims that on the 12th day of May, 1919, insured came to his death by external, violent, and accidental means, to wit, by the wheels of a railroad coach running over. his neck.

The complaint states a cause of action for recovery on the policy. In substance, the answer admits the issuance and delivery of the policy, the payment of the premiums, and that the policy was in full force and effect at the time of the death; and, after denying the allegations not admitted, it alleges that the death of Bodman was not caused by external, violent, and accidental means, but was caused by the willful and premeditated self-destruction of the deceased, with suicidal intent, and was due wholly to his own acts, and not to the acts of any other person or agency.

The only issue presented by the pleadings is whether the death of the insured was due to an act of suicide committed while he was sane. The answer does not allege that he was sane. It states, however, that the act of self-destruction was willful and premeditated. If it were premeditated, it would tend to denote sanity, and to some degree the word means deliberation. If there is any other issue in the case—and we do not think there is—it arose from the introduction in evidence of what purports to be a portion of the by-laws of the defendant association which, so far as material here, is as follows:

“Limitation of Risk—The accident department of the association does not assume any liability for accidental injury sustained * * * if the