The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1871-11-30
STATISTICS OF FIRES.
The First Extended Tabulation of
Fires and Their Bearings on
Insurance Ever Attempted.


Fires and Their Bearings on
Insurance Ever Attempted.
In September. 1868, the Weekly Non
ifor commenced record Of fires in the
United States, which q year later was
exchanged for the tabulated record now
published in this work. This latter has
been kept up for two years, and will be
continued, until it can be replaced by
something Of the same kind more valu
able, among the permanent features o
the Monitor A mass of material has
thus been accumulated which we now
for the first time, condense and present
in n form exhibiting results capable o
heing understood and appreciated. as q
ton Of the day, never before even at
tempted.
1t IL not assumed that precision has
been reached In this record, but the ut
most care has been used to make the
work as accurate as circumstances
would admit, and the result we have
obtained, we consider valuable; not
merely as digested compilation OF
facts. which have heretofore never beer,
sought for outside Of the private office,
of the companies, but as the entering
wedge in the development Of a subject
which the underwriting interest imper
a,ively demand. to put it on a scien.
tific and sound basis. Contrary to all
the recognized principles Of sound un.
derwriting in its other departments, the
business of fire insurance. vast as it is
has been founded on guess work. Nc
underwater has ever known or at
tempted t" find out. except in very
limited way, the value of eacl, c,ass oI
risks. or the laws which regulate it. II
we shall succeed. even in partially
showing that the disasters which are ev
ery day occurring throughout the coun
try are governed hy laws that are uni
form in their operation. that may be
easily determined by II combined effort
on the part Of the companies and if we
can succeed in arousing a general inter,
est on this subject. we shall, feel that ou,
time and laho- have not been wasted
We present these frey gIeanings Of the
past two years with some measure OF
pride, and with the hope that from
them, may he derived many hints OF
value to the fire underwriters OF the
United States.
THE MATERIAL on WHICH OUR INFOR
MARION is BASED.
So large and complicated 10 the array
of statistics that has thus been gathered
| up, that our present analysis is confined
to the first twenty one months. begin
ming September, 1869, and ending with
May. 1871. The total number of fires
thus observed upon is 3, lol involving n
loss Of SIC, 10000, and a recorded in
surance OF S37 1863, 900, being All average
Of l52 fires per month. These fires are
but IA small proportion OF those which
have occurred during the same period
throughout the country at lar.e, but
they have been gathered from every
state in the union, our own immediate
neigl:borhood, and those states where
our agency companies are most inter
esteh strongly predominating. New
York. Pennsy lvania, New Jersey, Mas.
sachusetts, Connecticut, Ohio and Illi-
nois have together contributed nearly
three-foarths of the whole, and the first
| nearly or quite one-third. Except in
this city and its immediate vicinity, the
slight losses are almost entirely left ou,
| of view, as must he evident from an in.
spectien of the tables, so that with ex.
| ceptions which will be noticed hereaf-
ter, our survey may be regarded as cons
fined to the more important fires which
involve IN aterial losses to the under
writer's, and the motions indicated in
our tables are those which belong tc
| heavy losses in their several classes
The magnitude of the results here Sc,
forth will be best understood when we
| -ay the aggregate is probably equal tc
| the important losses OF all the compa
nies doing business in New York State
for the past five Years combined. Sucl
! is the material from which we have ob
| tanned the following results.
| THE MONTHLY AVERAGES AND FLUC
TUATIoNs.
Although, as We have observed, thi.
record embraces chiefly the large losses
and not all OF those, the same sources o
information have as far as possible beel
preserved throughout, thus maintaining
uniform basis. Comparing the mum
Der Of fires that have occurred on.
month with another, the fiuctuatio.,.
are not very great, nor does there ap
pear to be any excess in one season O
the year with another, hot weather an,
cold are equally prolific of fires, who's,
frequency is regulated more by the so
cial aud political condition of the peo
pie than by the climate. The average
number per month is 152, the lea.
number recorded is 1O3, and the highes
is 1913, while one half are embraced
within twenty on either side Of tho av.
rrage. The amount of loss involve.
per .Onth fiuctuates much more wide
| Iy, ranging from about 1900. 600 to "A