The Sun.
London, England, 1860-10-13 00:00:00

INSURANCE PREMIUMS WITRIA TBE
FIFTEEN- DAYS' GRACE.

(From the Times)
Annexed are c mmunications in relation to the
fact of certain insurance offices having demurred to
the demand of Mr. Goodhart to keep his fire poli-
cies in force by the payment of the premiums
within the 1 5 day' grace purported to be given in
the notices issued. One writer asks for the names
of the offices in question, but these will necessarily
transpire in regular course:—

" 16, Cornhill, Oct. 12.
Sir,—The paragraph in the City Article of the Times of
to-day (suggested by the late fire at Lb-nob/ruse), opening
the question of the liability of Fire Insurance Companies in
the event of the premiums being paid subsequently to their
becoming due and within the 15 days universally allowed,
demands most serious attention.

" Having the management of some of the largest lease-
hold estates in Belgravia, involving, of course, attention to
that most important covenant of keeping up insurance, we
are naturally much interested in the result of the inquiry
that must be rai=ed from the course adopted by certain in-
surance companies in relation to the Limehouse fire.
" We have now before us a notice from a company stating
the day of a certain premium falling due, and ending in
these words :---‘ And for your security it is requisite that
the amount should be paid within 15 days from that date.'
" This is plain enough, one would think, and either means
what the writers state or is a clear deception. The argu•
ments used by the companies in question would, we pre-
sume, be applied by them equally to the 30 days' grace al-
lowed for payment of life insurance premiums. We cannot
but think that such an important question is capable of
ready solution, and trust that your notice of it will hasten
a decision.—We are, sir, your obedient servants,

"MANSELL and ELLIOTT."
" 23, Philpot-lane, Oct. 12.
Sir,—Your announcement about fire premiums has
startled every one, and the question is so important, the
fire-offices should be called upon to say what they really
mean.

" I insure for parties at home and abroad, and, together
with, I believe, the public at la-ge, considered the policy
valid if the premium was paid within the 15 days. So
universal was the belief, that all diaries, pocketbooks, &c.,
give 'Fire Insurance Due' on the 15th day after quarter-
days.--Yours sincerely,

"J. W. Mr."
"The Northern Assurance Company,
1, Moorgate-street, Oct. 12.
" Sir,—As bearing upon the question of days of grace on
fire policies, it mayinterest you to know that in a case which
occurred in this office some 18 months ago it was held by
the directors not only that the company was bound to accept
payment of the premium at any time within the 15 days
allowed for the renewal of the policy, but that in reckoning
the date of the last advices from the place where the insured
property was situated the days of grace ought to be in-
cluded.

"In the case referred to the policy (which was on pro-
perty at Bahia) expired on the Ist of January, the fire oc-
curred on the evening of the 12th, shortly before the depar-
ture of the mail which brought instructions to renew the
insurance, but the Board held that the premium must be
accepted, and the loss, amounting to £14,000, was duly
paid.

" I may add that an office with whieh a portion of our
policy was reinsured disputed its liability on the ground
that we had paid a claim for which we were not liable, but
on the case going to arbitration it was decided by the re-
ferees, without having recourse to their umpire, in favour
of this company.—l am, sir, your obedient servant,
" A. P. FLETcnEn, Secy."
"Manchester Fire-office, 96, Cheapside, Oct. 12.

" Sir,—Observing in your City Article of this day the
following statement, viz., On the premium being tendered
this morning the offices interested, with the exception of
the Liverpool and London, refused to receive it, I have to
inform you that a cheque for the renewal of Messrs. Good-
hart's insurance in this office was yesterday morning (the
day subsequent to the fire) presented, and without hesitation
accepted by me, and the usual official receipt handed in ex-
change.

" May I request, in justice to this office, that the above
Facts be made equally public ?—I am sir, your obedient

servant,

" GEO. RITHERDON, Secy. to the London Board."
" Scottish Provincial Assurance Company, 20,
Cannon-street, London, Oct. 12.

"Sir,—Alluding to the paragraph in the City Article of
the Times of this day with reference to Messrs. Goodhart's
fire, allow me to suggest, in justice to other companies,
that you give the names of the offices who declined accept-
ing the premium. The practice of this company you will
find in the accompanying copy of an advertisement, which
has been to-day sent to the Times.—l am, sir, your obe-
dient servant,

" J. G. WARDROP, Secretary,"

THE LATE SIR BARRY SMITH.,

We have to record this day the decease of one of
the most gallant officers of the present century, and
one of the few surviving companions in arms of
Lords Hardinge and Gough and the rest of the
heroes of Moodkee and Ferozeshah, in the person
of General Sir Harry George Wakelyn Smith,
Bart., G.C.8., at the age of 72. Born in 1788 at
Whittlesea, in the Isle of Ely, where his father was
a local surgeon, of fair, but not more than fair prac-
tice, the deceased general showed in his own per-
son a standing proof that a really able officer will,
some how or other, eventually rise to the top of the
professional tree, if he is only true to himself and
makes good use of his opportunities. Having re-
ceived the elements of such an education as could
be picked up by a lad at the grammar school of a
second or third-rate country town towards the close
of the last century, the future general entered the
army in 1805 as Second Lieutenant in the Rifle
Brigade, and took part in the siege, storming, and
capture of Montevideo under the late General Sir
Samuel Auchmuty, and in the attack on Buenos
Ayres under Brigadier-General Crawford. He was
also present at tile capture of Copenhagen, under
the late Earl Cathcart. Being afterwards em-
ployed with the troops in Spain under Sir John
Moore, he took an active part in the leading en-
gagements of the Peninsular war, from the battle
of Vimiera down to the embarkation of the
troops at Corunna. Returning to the Penin-
sula again in 1809, he took an active part in
the action on the bridge of the Coa, near
Almeida, where he was severely wounded, and
commanded a company in pursuit of Massena, from
the lines of Lisbon, and in one or two subsequent
engagements of lesser importance. Having been
appointed to the command of a brigade of the Light
Division, he was present at the battle of Fuentes
d'Onor, and at the sieges and storming of Ciudad
Rodrigo and Badajoz, the battles of Salamanca, Vit-
toria, Orthes, and Toulouse, and in several lesser
engagements, and, in fact, in every important battle
throughout the war with the exception of Talavera.
We next find him present at the capture of Wash-
ington, under General Ross, where he was Assist-
ant Adjutant-General, and was honoured for his
gallant conduct on that occasion by being appointed
to bear the despatches to England. His next battle-
field was New Orleans, whether he proceeded as
military secretary under the brave Sir Edward
Pakenham, who fell in his arms mortally wounded.
He was soon afterwards appointed military secre-
tary to Sir John Lambert, under whom he took part
in the siege and capture of Fort Bowyer. Return-
ing to England in time to bear his part in the last
decisive battle of the European war, he acted as
Assistant Quartermaster General to the sixth divi-
sionbm of the army at Waterloo. We next find.
,ei_y
serving as Deputy Adjutant-General, successively
at lapael
of
at Halifax, Nova Scotia, and in the
whence he was transferred in 1827.tioont u
under the
Good Hope, and commanded a
late Sir B. D'Urban, through4o:uintvitshe
d the following
operations
against the Caffre tribes in 183
ointed Adjutant-
year. In 1839-40 he was aPpPd was present in
General to the forces in India, a
sva
in
wh For and Maha-
thatGich action he was
capacity at the battle of
rajapore, for his gaßllantry
nominated a K._C• Military Division. Subse-
quentlyleading part in the wars
against the Sikhs
in the Punjab; he was in
command of
aat division at Moodkee, and of
the reservethe battle of Ferozepore,
where he nobly supported the late Sir John
Littler
charge e upon the guns of the enemy.ll
Littler in his g
11
A few days later the Sikh forces,as • be remem-
bered, crossed the river Sutlej, near Loodianah, and
took up their position at Aliwal. Lord Gough
immediately dispatched Sir Harry Smith, with 7,000
men and 24 guns, to relieve Loodianah, and this
object he succeeded in effecting. On the 28th .of
January, 1846, Sir Harry Smith led the main charge
in the battle of Aliwal, carrying that village at the
point of the bayonet, and capturing all the enemy's
guns, to the number of 67—a success which enabled
him to come to the assistance of the Commander-
in-Chief, and to join in the final and crowning vic-
tory of Sobraon (February the 10th), which crushed
the last hopes of the Sikh leaders and their troops,
and secured the possession of the fertile region of
the Punjab to the British forces.
For his conduct on these occasions Sir Harry
Smith was highly commended in the despatches of
Lord Gough, who does not scruple to attribute the
victory of Aliwal mainly to his valour and judg-
ment. The same statement was endorsed by the
late Earl of Ripon in his place in the House of
Lords, when he proposed the formal thanks of that
house to Sir Harry Smith for his distinguished ser-
vices in India, and it was fully borne out by the
testimony of the Duke of Wellington. At the
same time he was presented with the freedom of
the city of London and the thanks of the Hon.
East India Company, and not long afterwards was
created a Baronet, and further rewarded by being i
ladvanced to the dignity of a G.C.B.
He had not long returned to Englana When' he I