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THE OMAHA RFNDAT BEE: MAY 4, 1913.
Liability eor lightning
One of the Joints In the Omaha Tor
nado Matter.
WHAT BAR COMMITTEE REPORTS
Cnaes from Wisconsin nnd Iorrn At
Cltnl as Cnrerlnar Lossrs 3n
falhed by Otnahn rropertr
Owncm from Tornado.
Question concerning liability of in
surance companies whose policies provide
for protection ' KgMhst' lttfhtnlrtfr and
whoso polloy holders Buffered losses In
the tornado Of March 23 are the principal
Issues discussed In tbo brief prepared by
the committee of three of the Douglas
County liar association for guidance of
etorm sufferers.
The wording of lightning clauses In tho
various Km Insurance policies Is the de
termlhlnc factor In seating- the possible
liability-' of tho companies. 'It fs In the
lightning clause,' says the committee,
that "tho liability will usually bo found,
These clauses differ from" policy to
policy "
Where (hd policy makes tho company
liable f)r "Any loss or damage caused by
lightning trie committee ha found ft
decision made by the Wisconsin supreme
court regarded as very favorable to the
Insured. In th,e larger number, of oases
whcro;thewltgbtnln;, clause .reads, "t Is
understood and agreed that this policy
hall cover any direct loss or damage
caused by lightning (meaning thereby
the commonly accepted use of the term
lightning and in no case to Include loss or
damage by cyclone, tornado or wind
storm)" courts have held that Juries must
be required to limit the recovery of the
Insured to the direct loss caused by the
lightning.
Ilrata with, thf Jn'ry.
In a New York case, however, it is held
as tho brief soys, "to be the peoullar
province of the Jury, not reviewable on
appeal, to say how much damage was
caused by lightning under a policy strictly
limited to (he direct lots caused by light
nlng where bams "Were destroy ed-wlthout
nny fire, during a tornado and rain storm
accompanied by lightning, arid the proof
of the action of the lightning was only
Inferentialljr drawn from .evidence of tho
appearance 'and effect -of' heat upon' the
(soldering of tin roofs."
In ' the Wisconsin case, Spensley vs.
Lancashire Insurance company, 11 North
western, SW (54 Wisconsin, 4U), the facts
are recltod as follows:
"On the afternoon of May 23, 1378, a
heavy, dark thunder storm, giving evi
dence of considerable electrio discharges
along the , lower edge, was seen from
-Mineral Point, stretching along tho
northern horizon and apparently eight,
ten or twelve miles from tho city. At tho
western part of the storm an ordinary
wind cloud sprung out and moved south
ward until it became distinctly separated
from the thundercloud by clear sky and
reached a point west of the city, when
there appeared o.n the outer edge of this
wind cloud and some eight or ten miles
west of Mineral point, a whirlwind or
tornado moving rapidly eastward, and
continued to move in that direction at the
rata of about twenty-flvo miles an hour,
through the courses of Iowa, Don and
Jefferson, u distance of sixty-four miles
and varying In width from seventy yards
to eighty rods.
Tain of the Tornado
"The tornado was narrow at the bottom
and widened out at the top, having a re
volrlag.motion.ln the. opposite direction
to lljo, hands ofji wtch, and occupying
about tbirtyx seconds )n passing ' a
stven point at the center of 'Its tfaok.
The fftrco or forces within the tornado
were so powerful as to take up, shatter,
destroy, earry away and scatter In
jromlscous confusion buildings and al
most everything, animate and Inanimate,
within Its track not firmly attached to
the earth. Among the buildings so de
stroyed, was th plaintiffs dwelling house,
situated a little northeast of Mineral
l'olnt, and whlah was at tho tlmo covered
by a policy of Insurance Issued by tho
defendant to the plaintiff, indemnifying
Mm against 'all damage or loss by tiro'
to tho property and expressly agreeing
la the written juMIon of the policy, 'that
this policy Is llaJMe for any loss or dam
age caused by lightning to the property
Insured, not-exceeding tho, sum insured
nor the Interest of the assuredV and sub
ject In all other respeata to .the. .terms
and condition tierolrt 'mentioned and re
ferred to.' Duo notice and proofs of lose
by 'lightning' were made and served as
required by the policy. The defendant.
however, dented all liability -on the
crounds that lightning waa not an agency
In tho destruction of the building In
cured: and whether it was or not Is the
only tsue Invoked in this action."
Tho supreme court reversed the dis
trlct court, which had entered a nonsuit
against tho )ollcyhblder, and remanded
tho case in order that the Issue of the
fact might be' rawnltted to the Jory.
-What the Court Held.
The supremo court said tho policy cer
tainly covered all Known effects of light
nlng. It fqund the word "tornado" de
fined in the dictionaries as "a, violent
KUet of wind, or tempest, distinguished
ly a whirling, progressive motion, usually
accompanied with severe thunder, light
ning And torrents, of rain and cpmrnonly.
in snort duration ana small orcaatn.'
It found, one definition including the In
lormaUon that tornadoes "appear to have
electrical" origin.
The court found the Issue to be
"whether wo can' eny from the evidence
that llghtnlog was present as an active
agency In the destruction of the dwelling
house In question." in determining this
the. condition of the atmosphere before
und after the destruction; the seared
condition of vegetation; the rending of
-an oak treo a few feet from the house t
nfo in. the basement after the storm: the
shattered and splintered condition of the
timbers and almost every part of the
building and other similar circumstances
were considered.
The court Inquired whether the mro
presence of wiud in great force should
tntltely remove evidence of damage by
jiuninioff, woion omerwise wouia nave
been considered conclusive.
Abont Wind Storms."
In an Iqwa case where the plaintiff
sought to rccqver under a tornado and
wind policy for loss of live stock in a
blUxard and the company claimed ex
emption under the clause "Nor shall 'It
bo liable for damages to live stook ,by
blowing of anow or haH," the court hsld
it was a question for the Jury as to the
proximate cause of the loss and as to
whether the windstorm waa an efficient
caugu.
Two decisions in cases where plain
tiff a sought to recover for damage done
by tornadoes, under lightning claaes re-
sirjcieu 10 "ine commonly accepted use
of the term 'lightning,'" are quoted by
the committee. Is both the courts ruled
that Juries could allow policy holders only
direct damages, done by llgbtslng and'
that the companies could, not be held for
loss .paused by M, -The determining at
Heads of an Active Omaha Agency
the amount of damage caused by light
ning to be awarded against the company,
however. Is held to be the duty of a
Jury.
K suit under the lightning clause of a
fire polloy where the policy read! "If a
building or any part thereof, fall,, except
as the result of fire, all Insurance by this
policy on such building or Its contents
shall Immediately cease," was carried to
the Iowa supreme court by the defendant
company. A brick wall of a build
ing felt during a violent , rain and
hall storm and the structure and Its
contents tvero badly. damagod. The com
pany claimed the falling of the wall was
due to a stream of water which formed
and flowed rapidly past the wall, but a
Jury agreed with the plaintiffs claim that
It was caused by lightning.
Iovrn Court on I'otnt,
The higher court In reviewing tho case
sustained tho Judgment 'for the plaintiff,
saying)
Surely It could not have been Intended
In stipulating Indomhltr for loss by light
ning at the same tuna to eliminate the
natural consequences of a stroke of light
ning. Manifestly the clause quoted has
reference to tho falling fit a building con
sequent of causes other than those in
aured against and the lightning olause Is
subject to the condition as so cqnstrutd.
Moreover the walls In falling precipitated
the goods of the Insured Jn the water and
debris, and no time appears to have
elapsed between the falling of the wall
and the .Injury upon which tho claim, of
damages is predicted. In any event.
then, the damages are within the terms
of the oontract Certainty It might have
been found that the fall of the building
was caused by tho stroke of lightning;
and as a natural coneequonco that the
goods were precipitated In the water and
debris."
NEW THEORY OF RHEUMATISM
Expert Jfovr Bar derma Knte,r tho
System' Thronsh ,ta
Tonsils,
If Sr. Edward C. Rosenow of Hush
Xf1lntl nrnllAa-. ha jl renllv Aimn.nvnrnA file.
germ of rheumatism, as was announced
In Chicago recently, the discovery Is ono
of the most Important In the history of
medicine, for It ic the first step toward
finding a euro for the terrible disease.
"Wo know no more about rhoumatlsra
today than the physicians of the middle
ages knew," said ono of tho most eminent
physicians of Now York a few weeks
ago. '
Many -theories about rheumatism have
been advanced. It has generally been de
scribed as duq to urlo acid In tho blood,
the fain in the Joints being caused by
minute crystals of the acid forming in
tho 'tissues ' But -'soma , physicians ridi
cule tho urlo acid theory. An eminent
professor at Johns Jlopklns advanced the
theory a few years ago that rheumatism
had Its origin In the tonsils; that ton-
sllltls and rheumatism went so generally
together that It was Impossible not to see
In them cause and effect. The removal
of tonsils was advocated as the cure
for rheumatism. This worked well in
some coses, but not in alt
Then It was suggested that not ton-
sllltls alone, but any gathering of pus
at any place In the body whence It could
not escape an ulcer at the root of a
tooth, for example was the cause. This
has recently been one of the moat gen
erally accepted theories.
Cures have been sought vainly. One
meets men constantly who have tried
very course of treatment without re.
Accident, Health
Fidelity, Surety
Bonds
Plate Glass
Burglary
Liability
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Ilef. One meets men who, after trying
many treatments for many years, have
suddenly found themselves free from
pain, seemingly cured, and yet unable-
to- trace their cure to any remedy.
From what Dr. Rosenow has said
about his discovery this seems to be con
firmation of the theory of the relation
between the tonsils and rheumatism. lie
Is quoted as saying that the germs of
rheumatism enter the system through
the tonsils. These strange glands at
the back of the throat have some use In
the life of the body, but what this use
Is has not yet been discovered. It Is
definitely known that they aro peculiarly
susceptible to Infection. It has been sug
gested that they may be a sort of sentry
at the gateway of the alimentary canal.
If this be so, it is strange that they are
theKseat of so many distressing troubles.
Soma surgeons have insisted upon ex
tirpating the tonsils. But the operation
is a dangerous one, owing to the liability
to severe hemorrhage and to the diffi
culty of preventing Infection of the
wound. New York World.
The Provident Darky.
"The aarxy." says a southern con
gressman, "although proverbially im
provident, sometimes has his weather
eye open.
"In Mobile, ono any. I cave a Quarter
to a colored youth, .who had dono me
some tririlm service. The coin was
handed back to roe, 'Excuse me, boss,'
said the negro; yo' Ttnows I don't want
no nay ro' what I does ro vor. Yo' 1-v
gimme dat ole suit of clothes yo' has
on." juage.
Commonwealth Life
8 HERMAN W, SAUNDERS.
The Commonwealth Life Insurance com
pany has added to Its surplus from the
very Inception of the business. This is
an unusual accomplishment and augers
well for tho future of this home company.
While the company la only In Its third
year It has already written nearly 6,000,000
of business and has a substantial sur
plus on Its books, The lnorease has been
a steady one and the growth of the com
pany has been made on a sound and
healthy basis. It has established a repu-
National Fidelity & Casualty Company
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AROUND mSURANCE FIELD
Life Insurance Companies Attack
Proposed Income Tax.
PARTIAL SUCCESS OP CAMPAIGN
Chaotle Condition of Affairs In Fire
Circles tn Mlssonrl -Probable
Action Under Iteferen
dnm Ijavt,
Prompt and vigorous steps taken by
life Insurance companies to protect them
selves and their policyholders against
unjust taxation under the proposed In
come tax brought quick results. The
democratic caucus has agreed to ex
empt from taxation the proceeds of life
Insurance policies paid on the death of
the Insured. This was one of the many
objectionable features of their proposed
law. Several obnoxious taxing details re
main to test the strength and staying
powers of tho life insurance campaign.
The Income tax proposition is a part of
the coming tariff bill, which the demo
cratic congressional caucus Is whipping
into shape for aotlon by congress.
President Wllllnm A. Day of the
Equitable of New York, succinctly states
the objections of life Insurance Inter
ests to the threatened tax. The bill as
it stands, he says, would require policy
holders to pay three taxes in addition to
the tax already required on their prem
iums by the states. The four taxes which
he enumerated are these I
Money applied to payment of prem
iums Is directly taxed as part of the in
come of the Insured if a "taxable per
son." Bill specifically requires payment of a
tax on "the proceeds of life Insurance
policies paid on tho death of the person
insured." and in addition requires pay
ment of a tax on "Income derived from
any source whatever," which may in
clude proceeds of endowment policies,
cash surrender yalues and annuities. The
bill also requires life insurance companies
to pay a tax on the annual savings re
turned to policyholders as dividends, or
refunds, whether these refunds have been
accumulated In the year or over a long
period of years. It also requires a tax
on sums set aside out of premiums for
what Is known as "the reserve," or the
amount accumulated from year to year
to pay the policy. This reserve has al
ways been cdnsidered as the equivalent
of a savings bank deposit and therefore
has been free from taxation.
States already tax policyholders all
over the country through their companies
on an average of about 2 per cent on all
premiums.
Continuing, President Day says: "It Is
therefore of the utmost Importance that
all policyholders should write at onoe
to their senators and representatives and
urge that If their Insurance funds are to
bo taxed they bo taxed only once, and
that a hearing be granted that the facta'
may be presented."
Reports from Washington lndlcato a
Shows Steady Growth
Superintendent of Agencies, Common
wealth Life Insurance, Company.
tatton for conservative dealing both as
to the policy contracts and Its Investment
department, and has succeeded In doing
business at a reasonable cost, which Is
also unusual with new companies.
The Commonwealth is on a legal' re
serve basis and has now over 3,000 policy
holders. The officers of the company,
elected at the date of organltation, Au
gust 9. 1910, are Sherman Saunders, presi
dent; Paul Wupper. vice president; Franr,
Nelson, secretary, and q. H. Clancy,
superintendent of agencies.
National Fidelity &
OMAHA.
"Zf you buy Omaha made goods your
money stays at home. It helps to nulla
up the seoUOn In which von and' Omaha
axe equally interested."
From Omaha Commercial Club's Made-ln-Otnaha
Directory,
StBSgKB Workmen's VI
8flHHHIRHH Compensation Law HI
PRESIDENT OF A BUSY LOCAL
AGENCY.
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W. A. TONSON.
President of the B. I Baldwin Insurance
Agency.
determination among democratio leaders
to resist further changes in the measure
asf drafted. Pro teats from life insurance
companies and from policyholders are
pouring in upon oongress and causing
Irritation. Leaders of the party caucus
declare that the provisions In contro
versy were worked out with great care,
and that It might Just as well be recog
nized now as later that with a great
many neople the Income tax will be un
popular for a while. They are opposed
to any exemptions except those already
provided In the bill, and intend to stand
pat on the provisions taxing the divi
dends of mutual Insurance companies as
well as policies that are paid upon death.
THE HUB OF INSURANCE ACTIVITY
C30 Omaha' National Bank Bldg.
General Agent for
Nebraska
and Western Iowa.
GLOBE
INDEMNITY GO.
of
New York,
H
A
R
R
Y
L.
M
A
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O
Points of Interest
To the Insuring
PuMic:
HARJIY I
1IALLO repre
sents only tho
strongest 1 n
surance com
panies doing
business in Ne
braska, HARRY I
HALLO gives
each individual
risk his per
sonal attention.
HARRY U
HIALLO adjustu
all losses, as
suring prompt
and satisfac
tory sottle
menta. Local Agent
ROYAL EXCHANGE
ASSURANCE CO.
OP LONDON.
VVA ew.. .1 -
Casualty Building
aH3right SpoH
IEUBHBKm in nun SsSsHI
DEATH RATE AMONG MIDDLE
AGED MENJS INCREASING
In a recent issue of tho Scientific Amer.
lean there Is an Important article based
upon mortality statistics respecting mid.
dleaged men In America. The startling
statement Is made that within fifty yearj
the death rate among such men has in
JOHN R. RINGWALT
Ringwalt Bros.
Established 1884
Brandeis Theater Bldg.
Insurance-- All Kinds
Certificates of our companies aro published olsowhoro.
Wo are pioneers in tho liability business. Oall us up
and wo will tell you about tho effects of the new etato law.
Our companies show a larger proportion of assets to lia
bilities than those of any other agenoy in Omaha.
Our automobile policy includes the tornado hazard.
Does yours?
Losses Paid in Omaha Over Half a Million Dollars
BETTER BE INSURED THAN SORRY
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CERTIFICATE FOR PUBLICATION" STATE OF NEBRASKA, OFFICE OF" AUDI-
TOR OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS. Lincoln. Ft. 1st, III. It U lUr-br Certttlea. That
tn Glob Indemnity Company of New York, In tho Stata of Now Tork, saa oompllol
with tba lnsuraneo Law of thl Bute, appllcaU to men companies and Is theraforo
authorli-d to contlnua tho builnoia of Fidelity Surety, Liability. Burtlary and Thett,
Plata Dim, steam Dollar, Aecldent and Health Inauranc tn tbla State for tho current
year ending January lUt, lilt. XZCCOHI2
Premiums $2,125,740.06
All Other Sources ) 661,667.09
Total J2.687.307.15
1?a.ll.?olie Holders 1 860.856.16
All Other Payments t 856.089, 01
Total I1.215.955.1J
ADMITTED ASSETS 12,807.218.73
LIABILITIES
unpaid Claims and Expenses 173,101.21
Unearned Premiums 11,019,419.07
All Other Llabllltless $ 359,980.85 $1,662,501.13
Capital Stock Paid Up , $ 760,000.00
Surplus Beyond Capital Stock and Other
"ab'Htle , $ 604,717.60 $1,254,717.60
Total $2,807,218.78
..-J""!"6" mr. hin- the ' of the Au iil0' PuWIo Aoeounta the day and year
'Llt..ove "rlt,en" W. B. HOWARD. Auditor of Pnbllo Aeeounta.
(SEAL.) l. rj, drian', Deputy.
Associated with -
HARRY L. MALLO
are
John G. Lund and
L. M. Hnnkinson.
creased 30 per cent Several reasons are
given for this which would ocour to
the average reader, yet the author
frankly admits that the reasons named
do not oover tho case. They are Just
as puixllng as are the statistics, whtoft
show that there is more insanity among
Inhabitants of sparsely settled regions
than among thoe of any other locality.
Outdoor life Is said to be conducive to
good health of both mind and body.
THEO. L. RINGWALT
Douglas 423
Phono Dong;1784,
Local Agent
LIVERPOOL & LONDON'
nnd GLOBE
INSURANCE OO,
of
New York.
AUTOMOBILE
DEPARTMENT.
H
-A
R
R
A
vL- '
Why Brokers Should
Place Their Business With
Harry L. Mallot
no represents com
panies writing, all
forma of Fidelity
and Surety Bonda,
Caaualty, Fire and
Tornado Inturance,
and luues all
Bonds and Follelca
direct without rob
mlttlns to Homo
O f f I o e, tneurlns
prompt and ef
ficient tarrtco.
All Poller Forme
are strictly up-to
date and gtro ab
solute Protection
which uakea them
eailer to aell than
any others on the
market.
L I b s ral commit
alone paid to Lira
Ones,
Copies of tho
Workmen's Compensation
Law of Nebraska
Furnished Upon Request.
