Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (March 6, 1904)
V 28 TITE OMAIIA DAILY REE: SUNDAY, MAHCTl fi, 1004. 7 "Strongest in the World" The Equitable Life Assurance. Society of the United States. Our Policy Holders are Our Best Friends. Read What They Say: CHAS. W. SAV1DOB. funt wow.f cnmc. BwUmh, Leavaawert ana Xitk At Author of "Bhots From Pulpit," "Modern Christianity." "Tha War Had Plain." Omaha, Neb Dm la, 290L Mr. H. t. Neely, Manager, Equitable lit Assurance) (Society, Omaha, Nebraska. My Dear Sir: Twenty-one jreara ago my brother, Samuel t,. Savldge. Judge of the 10th District Court of Nebraska, took out a policy In tlx Equitable Life of New York for $6,000. Ha made one payment on this policy and died before the expira tion of the year, and hi widow promptly received the 16,0uu. This fact ao impressed ma that on returning from hla funeral, twenty years tin today, I took out a thousand-dollar policy In the Equitable Life on the Ordinary Life plan, running JO years. That period Is up today, and the Company has paid ma 1367.79 dividend and permits ma to continue the original polio through my life, paying what I have paid during the pant, namely, 131.71 per year, whloh will be reduced by annual divi dends. I am highly pleased with the treatment the Equitable Society have given me, and wherever It Is possible I shall say kind word for thorn. My only regret Is that I did not take out $6,000 In 1SSS Instead of the sum I did. I have had an uncommon experience and a wide observa tion, having been a minister for nearly 27 years, most of that time In large cities, and I would advise all young men as soon as possible to take out an Insurance policy In a good company like the Equitable, and stay with It. I am very sincerely yours, CHARLES W. SAVIDOK. Outstanding Assurance, December 5 1st, 1903 New Assurance Issued in 1903 Income in 1903 ., Disbursements in 1903 BENEFIT, OF THE SURPLUS Whv Oars f till ifan&fl'td Oom Daniel Ao- rf 0 , ounnlata a land for Emargenoiai EXPERIENCE SHOWS WISDOM OF THE PLAN Bsdtlsnoro Losses Will Be Promptly Met,' bat Ooapaalti Will Be Forced to Provide Am- other Aecnaaalatloau . The treat conflagration of Baltimore on the 7th and Ith ot February baa directed anew the attention of the public to the treat tribute that thla country paya. an nually to the fire (lend, and Incidentally has called attention to fire insurance policies and occasioned an interest In the strength and solidity of the Insurance companies to whloh they have Intrusted their welfarelt similar disaster should oocur, aveajf not as sweeping aa the disaster thfj ook the metropolis of Maryland. It la now a generation ago that Chicago waa laid waste It waa a generation previ ous that New York waa stricken In a like manner and the question naturally arises. In th. next generation, what city may be the one to suffer a ilk. calamity? - It Is th. provlnc. of th. Insurance com panies to minimise the loss that occurs In on. section, to distribute over the whole country this loss and destruction of values. Fire Insurance la a tax; not ono levied by paternal government not one that Is compulsory, not one that forces an equal per capita assessment alike on everyone , regardless of that particular person's in terests; but It Is none the less a tax, ap portioned among the many who desire to provide for some return for the loss that thsy may suffer, and collected to be ap portioned among those who bav. sustained misfortune. Wisdom of the 9nrlma. The tax gatherer as a rule Is not liked, and many who have given the matter but little thought are often Inclined to think Jhat their share of contribution Is unjust. In surance companies are often criticised for accumulating vast sums which are shown Bottted QoodncuyCt Ml. -' f m uteaarx. , Brew.Ca. MILWAUKEE 'Com.sT is a lasts oSear esaor." Wiener BLtt tha embodiment of honest components tad consummate skill u the art ci brewing. Hat character and taAe that's incletcribaUw pleating. Ask lor k down town. Send homo. kBULoa .Branch Douglas tU Tel. BEER if- "Msv. Palth In OW II. Henry B. Hyde, Founder. - ' Merchants National annually in their statements aa "surplus." The wisdom of this course was shown In Chicago In 1871 and has been proven In Baltimore today. Had the insurance com panies considered this sum, set aside aa a surplus, aa a legitimate earning after the expiration of th. policies on which the premiums had been collected, their divi dends would in many cases have been of such generous proportions that the accusa tions of unnecessarily high rates would have been baaed on good grounds, but, fear ful of a repetition of the disasters of the past, reminded of It frequently by sweep ing fires In sections where they had been least expected,' these companies have laid by, not for th. proverbial rainy day, but for the day of fire and disaster, these vast sums, so that when called upon they would be ready to meet their honest obligation and fulfill to the utmost th. trust and confidence that had been placed In them by their patrons. The combined surplus of all the companies Involved In the Baltimore fire will probably reach 1125,000,000, and of this fully one third will be paid to the citlxens of Balti more. And then it will be the plain duty of these insurance companies to turn again to th. task of accumulating this surplus fund again to prepare themselves for th. next great demand. Eipcrltue of Chleaco. In Chicago in 1871 201 authorised cornpa nlea, whose capital and surplus together amounted to . 195,214,151, were confronted with a loea of 1U6.563.721. As the adjust ments proceeded sixty-eight of theeo com panies, with a capital and surplus of 124, 8(17,109, were bankrupted by claims for 124, 000.000 In the burned district. The list of the companies which were then retired la a long one and Included many well known located In Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Illinois, Connecticut, Rhode Island and California. Many of these had been in business many years and had had a long and honorable record. Tholr patrons, scat tered throughout many states, suffered to th. extent of their unexpired premiums. A few of these failures were postponed until 187S and 187J. but wer. non. th. leas directly th. result 'of th. Chicago fire. But thirteen months elapsed when, on November 9. 1&72. the whole country was startled by the news that Boston waa In flames. The Insurunc. carried on the 776 buildings and their contents that were de stroyed on that fatal day amounted to 154.000,000, about 70 per cent of th. value. Thirty-one companies, with aa? ets of some 140,000,000. many of whom had successfully withstood the drain of th. previous year In th. western metropolis, wer. forced to th. wall by losses that far exceeded that sum. This fire was followed In a surpris ingly short time by Portland, much aa Rochester produced a strenuous echo to Baltimore, but It la significant that th. Insurance failures caused by th. Baltimore fir. hare been few, and In almost every case all outstanding policies hav. been provided for. Result of Wisdom. In th. thirty or more year, that hav. passed since the great fires at Chloago and Boston. Insurance companies nave natu rally Increased their surplus with their Increasing business and also because wisely for seeing the possibility of a rep etltlon of such disasters, they hav. thus mad. provisions to meet suoh abnormal calls on their aocumnlated fund without Jeopardising th. Interests of either stock holder, or patrons. In addition to this. th. lesson of these experiences has been to scatter their lines and reduce their liability In rongetted dtotricta, especially m cities built with narrvw streets, and where the conditions for a sweeping conflagration seemed poaslblA even If nvt probable. Th. care an I foresight given to such feature, la bojt exemplified by th. action of on pyaalnskt Xuropaaa estnpany whose J. Penfold Co. 140 Paraass St. November 23, 1003. Mr. H. D. Neely, Manager, Omaha, Nebraska. Dear 81r: I was very glad to find that my policy In the Equitable waa Indeed a "Sight draft at maturity." November 10, 1883. I took a twenty year Tontine policy; November 19, 1003, I presented It at your office for Its cash .value, which was immediately paid. You offered to allow me to continue policy at old rate and withdraw accumulated dividends, which exceeded 51 per cent of the premiums I had paid, but I selected to take Its cash value. However, as I did not want to diminish the amount of insurance I carried or be without an Equitable policy In my safe, I gave you my application for a policy in an amount equal to the one canceled. This is the best evi dence of my entire satisfaction with the splendid results at tained by the Equitable. Tours very truly, II. J. PENFOLD, Condensed Statement $1,409,918,742.00 322,047,968.00 73.718,350.93 49,473,011.15' J. W- H. D. NEELY, Meager. Bnk Building. "Strongest in the World. headquarters for America are at Chicago, th. manager of which had long felt dis satisfied with tho conditions in Baltimore, and, although offered a large and con stantly Increasing business In that city, determined that he would not be Justified In continuing business there contrary to his best Judgment. He therefore with drew from the state of Maryland, replacing the business In force with some other com pany, and on the day of th. great fir. had the satisfaction of knowing that his caution had saved his company many thousands of dollars. Companies that suffered, and paid, hun dreds of thousands of dollars at Chicago, though far better able today to stand a similar drain, are found to have at Balti more one-third or one-fourth th. amount at risk; although Baltimore In 1904 had fully twice the population of Chicago of 1871, and was built up with sky scrapers and massive buildings the like of which had not been dreamed of In the latter city thirty years ag That the Insurance loss in Baltimore is comparatively less than Chicago Is attributed to the fact that owners of many fire proof buildings, relying on th. excellence of the construc tion, carried little insurance, while often th. tenants carried none whatever. Enphuliri Interdependence. A great fire Ilk. this disaster at Balti more emphasise! the Interdependence of on. community upon another; of the In ability of one city or one section to assume that the premiums which It produces (1. e. the rat. fixed to produce a certain pre mium) should be based on the fire record of that city or section alone. Had the Insurance companies not accu mulated a surplus composed of the profit In carrying vast numbers of risks located In alt sections of the United States, on which they never had a loss, th. mer chants of Baltimore, bankrupted because of their Inability to collect their losses; would be numbered by th. thousands; and Baltimore, Instead of rising phoenix-Uke from Its ashes, aa did Chicago and Boston in th. past, would rema n for years a mass of monumental ruins. Food for thought can be obtained In this reflection; that In Baltimore the annual premiums paid for fir. Insurance are ap proxlmately 11. 438,000. Deducting agents' earnings, taxes snd th. normal annual loss ratio, w. compute the annual net earning to be about 1574,600. Supposing the amount of insurance loss to be 145.000,. 000, It will be seen that hereafter the net earnings from Baltimore will pay about 14 per cent Interest per annum on th. amount paid by the insurance companies with no prospect of even returning the principal. What is true of Baltimore, and it will b. som. years before It Is rebuilt sufficiently to produce Its normal receipts and earnings. Is true of Chicago, wher. not a single year since 1871 has produced a net revenue sufficient to pay S per cent Interest on th. amount paid by- th. In surance compsnles. T-rlfcete to Iaa.rwnee Ac. meat. On. may well be moved to profound ad miration of the business acumen and Judg ment exercised by the insurance profes si on, when In contrast to the scores of companies wrecked In 1845, 1871 and 1872, th. victims ef the Baltimore fir. can b. counted on th. finger, of on. hsnd. Nor hav. these companies aught of dishonor or disaster in their retirement. Conducting their business on principles of business honor, strictly adhered to, all outstanding rlfcks have been placed with ether com panlee, more fortunste in their losses than themselves, thus fully protecting all patrons who hav. relied on th. security of their policies, and havs thus been en abled to meet their losses in full as well As In mercantile lines, one regrets to see an old established house succumb to finan cial reverses; so Is their regret equal at for Year Ending December 31, Alexander. President. the enforced retirement of a company like tho Greenwich of New York. .With an honorable record of sixty-nine years, dur ing which long period it bravely and promptly met the stringent demands and unusual losses In New York In 1846, Chi cago In 1871, Boston In 1872, Paterson In 1901, Jacksonville In 1902, never calling on Its stockholders for one cent. It has pointed with pride to the fact that during Its long career never a year had passed that a dividend was not paid to its stockholders, averaging about 17 per cent, yet had the stockholders of this company been satisfied with say 10 per cent, a generous dividend even when considering th. hazard as sumed, the accumulations of the difference would have produced a fund that would have enabled them to meet every demand upon them by th. Baltimore fire and to have continued in business in the future as In the past. Points for Consideration. A careful and thoughtful examination of the demand upon th. Insurance companies and the way that It has been met will curb" perhaps the too frequent criticism that has been made upon the Insurance companies for what many hav. termed their excessive earnings, which policy holder and property owner thinks has been wrested from him. The amount of Insurance premiums col lected by the companies, less the expenses Incurred In handling the business and the losses sustained produces the only profit in which the policyholder should b. con cerned. Intereut earnings on th. invest ment of funds temporarily in the company's possession should not enter into the ques tion of whether or not th. rates for Insur ance are excessive, or are a correct esti mate to take car. of the' losses. Insurance companies, unlike most other corporations, are compelled to make sworn statements to the proper state officials In every state In which they do business, and are subject to frequent examination by the proper au thorities to verify such statements. The official figures show that all com panies doing business In th. United State, during the ten years ending January 1, 1900, mad. an average underwriting profit of about of 1 per cent out of each dollar of premiums received; In other words, that in the grand aggregate fire indemnity has been sold to the American people for the preceding ten years at cost. The records of the three years following would not im prove these figures, but with the unusual losses at Jacksonville, Fla. (115.000,000). and Paterson, N. J. (127,000.000), . would probably reduce th. one-third to about one-sixth. We do not wish to enter into invidious comparisons, but while dealing in statis tics, we find that in the official govern ment reports on national banks, covering a period of twenty-eight years ending Jan uary 1, 1899, the S.5S9 that wer. then in ex istence had a total capital and surplus of 1703,667.169. on which the average annual net earnings had been for the period over 156,000.000, or an annual average of over 8 per cent. The assets for twenty-eight con secutive years have thus earned nearly three times the profits for the same ppriod of fire underwriting. In view of this fact. It Is scarcely to be wondered that about seven times as much American capital has sought employment In banking 'as in fire Insurance, for other things being equal, a dollar, like a man, will seek the most liberal employer. W. are inclined to think from th. above figuros, collated from official sources, that criticism of Insurance companies for ex cessive earnings, as compared with other legitimate financial enterprises. Is mis placed and may well be dismissed. EDWARD P. FITCH. Of the Brennan-Lov. Company. Th. state of Minnesota ts enriched to the extent of 110.000 by th. recent death of Mrs. Pureheart Wakeiey Sharon, seed 111 years, who l'ft no heirs. 8he lived sdon. lot many years. BURLINGTON & MISSOURI RIVER RAILROAD IN NEBRASKA. CIICAG0. sllLINGTO QUINCY IAILWAV COMPANY, LESSEE Office el Ocoeral Manager. Omaha, Neb.', February 20, 1904. Mr. IJ. 1). Neely, Manager, Equitable Life Assurance Society, Omaha, Nebraska. Dear Sir: Your statement of the results of my policy No. 273,048 has been received. You offer me a paid-up policy for $5,710.00. the orig inal policy being $4,000.0020 Payment Life plan; also several other options. I have decided to accept the cash value, and have taken a new policy with you for $10,000.00 20 year Endowment. My dealings with the Equitable and. with you as their representative have been most satis factory. Yours truly, G. W. LOOMIS. Assets December 31, 1903 Assurance Fund and all other Liabilities. Surplus Paid Policyholders in 1903. ......... ...... J. H. SOLIDITY OF FIRE INSURANCE Risks Aggrea-ate Over 300,000,000 ' Held in Baltimore, but Kerr N Failures Likely. Before the Baltimore fir. had been checked, the thought foremost in tho minds of business men all over the world was: How will the insurance companies stand It? It was recalled that the Chicago fir. put fifty-six separate companies into bank ruptcy, and this In itself seemed to fore cast a blow to the business interests of Baltimore which would be paralysing for years. It was soon found, however, that although the aggregate losses of property were greater than the ruin of Chicago, fire insurance was in far stronger hape to stand th. heavier blow than were the com panies in the field thirty years ago. The publlo was surprised to learn how widely the risks had been .distributed, and with what elaborate precautions the business of insuring against fire loss hod been safe guarded In th. evolution of financial method. , In th. list of -companies Involved for large or small amounts wer. dosens whose names the average merchant had never heard, corporations whose headquarters are In Sweden, Austria, Germany, Spain, France and Great Britain. For tho most part, these represented the reinsurances scattered a few thousand dollars in a lump. one risk perhaps split up among a dozen companies In order to minimize the possible loss by one great conflagration. There was no better evidence of the ap palling magnitude of the disaster than that for several days the scores oi agents wno had flocked to the scene were unable to agree on figures for the total losses and Insurance within the limits of 150,000,000 of estimates. These guesses ranged from 126,000,000 to 1100.COO.000 when the first sur vevs were made. Of the companies In volved twenty-two hav. their headquarters In New York alone, twenty-nine are for eign, and eleven were organized In Balti more and elsewhere In Maryland. The last named group la hardest hit, and a number of them will be ruined. Some of them were small, and most or them were doing a heavy part of their business In Baltimore compared with their total field of distributed risks. It is a wonderful tribute to the solidity of this business In general, however, that the per centage of unpaid insurance will be a small one. Th. big companies were holding con ferences within three days, and agreeing to pay 60 per cent of their losses at once, waiving routine delays. In order that the merchants interested might be put on their feet One of the largest corporations In th. world was able to report that no com pany doing a well distributed business would suffer embarrassment by th. fire. The president of the National Board of Fire Underwriters foresaw that the great losses would still further concentrate the insur ance business in a smaller number of com panies. This, however, Is th. trend In other finan cial enterprises, such aa the consolidation of banking Interests. The Baltimore fire came on the heels of the three other un usual conflagrations of recent years, at Jacksonville, Paterson and Waterbury. and although most of the companies are still solvent. It Is safe to say that this series of fire, has eaten up the bulk of profits of last year, and for several years to come, so that fire Insurance at present would seem to appear In the nature of philanthropic enterprise of world wide ex tent. , Th. settlement of this vest smount of Insursnce Indemnities will cause a read justment In the security markets, for many of the companies wfll hav. to liquidate their Investments to meet their losses The large companies which carry heavy UNION NATIONAL BANK, ONARA, NEtlASlA. Capitol. $250,000. 90. Omaha, Neb., January 27, 1904. Mr. II. D. Neely, Manager, Equitable Life Assurance Society, Omaha, Nebraska. Dear Sir: We beg to acknowledge receipt of draft of the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States in the sum of $G78.G3, be ing cash value of policy No. 271,210, which our bank held as security. ' We had figured the value would be about 500. We find the dividend much larger than expected, and we congratulate the Equitable. Society and you, as their representative, on the large dividends you are earning and paying. , Yours truly, O. W. WATTLES. 1903: Hyde, Vice President. deposits with New York banks will hav. to enoroach on these funds to meet Initial payments. Foreign companies had 165,- 000,000 worth of risks in Maryland, while the American companies held risks in th. city of Baltimore alone to the amount of 1250.000,000. Such a disaster' shows that fire insurance is one of the strongest bul warks of modern economlo organization. Collier's Weekly. SAY8 TIES TO OLD LINE COMPANIES. A. C. Kennedy Believes They Are tho Beat Kind. When asked what he had to say upon Insurance matters, Alfred C. Kennedy of the firm of Howard Kennedy & Son, rep resenting the Orient of HartforJ, Conn., said: "The Baltimore fir. emphasizes the neces sity of sound, old line fire insurance and the short-sighted foolishness of Insuring In mutuals and the like. It also teaches tho wisdom of the old proverb, 'Never buy a' pig in a poke,' but in Insurance, as in all other business matters, know with whom you are dealing, and before placing your business look up the company In which you propose to Insure. "What do I mean by a sound company? A sound company Is one with sufficient capital to provide for an emergency and a conservative, wide-awake management that selects and restricts the classes of risks taken and scatters them over a wide territory. Insurance Is a science, and capital alone Is not sufficient to make a sound and successful company it needs experience, good Judgment and a constant keeping in touch with the situation; It Is not only get business, but get the right kind of business. When you find a com pany that combines with this sort of soundness, a practice of fairness and lib erality in the adjustment of losses, you have found a good company to tie to," BISIXES9 METHOOS Ml til 3ETTKII. Great Advance In Present Over Former System of Insurance. H. K. Palmer Son & Co., agents of the Horn. Insurance company, say: "The condition of tho fire Insurance busl- j nevs today shows a wondrrrui advance over the methods employed twenty or thirty years ago and the Baltimore fire serves to Illustrate the wonderful Im provement In the selection of buslnoss. Today a large conflagration such as th. Baltimore fire, only causes the failure cf a few local companies and does not even cripple the larger and older companies, whose officers havs been carefully making provision for Just such catastrophes. For example, In 1871 the Home Insurance com- mm as ST No woman who uses ''Mother's Friend" need fear the suffering and danger incident to birth; for it robs the ordeal of its horror and insures safety to life of mother and child, and leaves her in a condition more favorable to speedy recovery. The child is also healthy, strong and good naturei Our book " "Motherhood," is worth its weight in eold to every UUIJ woman, and wilt be sent free BradfieJd Regulator Co. Atlanta.Ga. U LluULaU G. W. WATTLES, rresieeat W. A. SMITH. Vkc-rtuM.'St J. W. THOMAS, Caskter CltS. MARSH, Aul. CnMcr 381,226,03553 307,871,897.50 73,354,138.03 34,949,672.27 pany of New York had assets of a little over 13,000,000 and Its losses In the Chicago fire reached approximately the same figure, so that the stockholders had to pay a 100 per cent assessment. This they did, pay ing their losses In full and resuming busi ness. Today the Home, with over 118,000, 000 In assets, has less than 11,000,000 loss lit Baltimore, showing how thoroughly the lesson of the Chicago fire has been ob served and that the underwriters of the larger and more experienced companies are considering carefully the conflagration hazard In every( city and town in which they do business. "Another great advance in the business Is the scientific method now employed In making rates by schedule and inspecting risks through bureaus, so that the en gineering and underwriting features of risks are both passed upon in an Intelli gent manner. ' In former daya this work all was accom plished through the medium of Inspectors who used as their guide their own Judg ment, both aa to the physical hazard, of the risk and aa to the rate they thouifhV. should obtain. Nowadays schedules are prepared with great car. and contain th. combined experience of men who are speci alists in their line, and the result is a much greater uniformity In distributing the tax. "The Baltimore Are cannot help but causa the discriminating buyer of Insurance to appreciate the value of policies In com panies whose loss-paying ability has been tested and provon and the agent who con fines his representation to the better class of companies Is sure to note an Increase In his business." Ol'T F TIIK ORDIAKY. The British Board of Trade has found that the life of the average seaman Is twenty-eight years. The most valuable ring In the world Is In possession of one of tk anderhllts. It Is set with a dlHinond valued at l!5,0u0 and many smaller gems. The first American baby to be born on the Island of Ouam ' the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Kugene D. Ryan, and she Is now nenrlv 2 months old. Her father Is a paymaster in the navy, and was on the Concord during the battle of Manila bay. In Kngland. where automatic coupling cars are yet unknown. 150,Oi railway em ployes are klll-d or Injured in tun yenrs In making couplliiKi". hown by re ports of the Hoard of Trade. This offsets In a way the mortality for aasengers. which Is verv much smuller than on Amer ican railroads. The fire commifxloner of New York re jects all ciuaretti) smolcers who apply for places In his department. It is the same with men who drink to excess, even occa sionally, no mHiter how well they may stand the examinations. "A 'man without nerves will never make a fireman." says the commissioner, "and cigarettes and whisky are not good for the nerves." And many otlirr painful and serious ailments from which most mothers suffer, can be avoided by the use of Mother! frill.. This great remedy is a God-send to women, carrying them through their most critical ordeal with safety and no pain. in plain rp l" f fp H 1& J