, 1867-09-10
Post Magacinc g. hsHrance Monito,).
SKETCHES OF INSURANCE LIFE.
THE HAUNTED MANAGER.

liS uncut IiHcS, MS leltCfS were there-
Twas Monday morning the calm repose,
Which over a Managers spirit flows,
When for a day and a halt in space
Risks and losses and lines give place.
And out of memory quite retire,
In favour OF the domestic "fre,"
Was. his-shown in every word and look,
From the very manner he handled a book
And as much of a London sun as is seen
Threw a shade of content on the Managers mein.
"A clerk at the door
knocks a minute or more,
Then with courtesy frought,
Asa Young gentleman ought,
lie whispers, give brought
What I'm afraid will be thought
An exceedingly unsatisfactory Fire Report
AS into the Managers hand he places
Captain Shaw's record Of times and places
When and where fires have happened to be
Within the Board Of Works boundary.
Up to six a. m. Of the day,
what has been burnt, and 'ch0 has to pay.
"IIighty tightly ~ the Manager cries.
"Turned out a blank, what we took for a prize -
Alderman Turtles wharf burnt down again.
That's three times,-whats the loss we sustain p
"We've fifty thousand specific, and hoaters beside -
Which opens the Managers eyes very wide.
"And now to open the letters wen turn:
The first-"Wc are sorry to say, you'll be sorry to
learn,
That Mcssrs. Shifting and Twill have had a great
The loss will be heavy-you'd bater send down
CThere are unpleasant 7 noytsl an assessor from town
The Manager CRIES, III Il voice very shrRl,
"What do we keep on Shifting and Twill ~
He is answered, Five Thousand ;"-"NYhat a terrible
bore -
(Quite asidc)-"I wish to goodness we'd guaranteed
more"
The rest of the letters are open in time,
They report small disasters, or touch upon crime.
Their contents it's not easy to turn into rhyme.
A ~drapers's shop window was seen in a blaze,
There is burnt a silk dress and three pairs of stays;
LADY, 4. COlOunn'S servant. a rrVinp Goals.
Let two or three fall, burnt two or three holes;
While the lodgcr ut Smiths through smoking in bed,
Burnt the clothes from his back and the roof from his
head
A hay-rick's destroyed, the blame all attaches
10 Cottagers children playing with matches
And now to the Times for recreation,
70 learn the public situation;
To read of all the world the news,
And so dispel the fiery blues.
His eyes on "China and Japan" alight
He thinks to read of Tapping flight,
Or much disputed treaty right;
But great is his surprise and fright
To note that full one half the entire town
or Tookem-takem-ti has been burnt down
Now the burning down
Of an Outlandish town
To you and to me
AZ nothing may be;
But now it is full
OF silk, tea, or wool,
Very fully insured,
What must be endured
By the Manager, in whose books the risks are inscrib-
cd.
Is much "morc easily understood than described"
He had barely recovered
From what he'd discovered,
When a t~elegraphic dispatch adds to his shocks;
From Liverpool dated,
1t laconically stated,
There was a terrible blaze in the Mapping Docks.
Here wasa story for one day in the year,
With hundreds Of other disasters to fear.
AS insensibly habits of thought VIC acquire,
The Managers mind becomes haunted Wih Fire,
The news of a fire brings a terrible dread:
He is ~chagrined to see the sky looking red.
He thinks of it early, he thinks of it late:
Is it matter of luck? Is it matter of fate?
And is it in mockery that just at this time,
When fire is rampant in every cline,
When rogues are triumphant, and losses SO great,
THERE'S the fercest Of struggles to keep up a rate?