The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1871-10-28
Effects of the Fire.

The great fire in Chicago by which perhaps $780,
900, 900 worth of buildings and merchandise has
been destroyed, is a great calamity for the whole
Union. But it fully illustrates the excellence OF
that modern system of insurance which spreads the
loss over this country and Europe, by making the
capital of all responsible for the local loss of a lew.
AT the first blush Chicago has lost perhaps $lOO,-
900, 900, u very heavy loss, but OF that SS0,OOO,OOO
has been insured, that is for a small premium, most
of the insurance companies of the Union and Great
Britain have agreed to pay the amount. 1t results
that Chicago in the next ninety days must receive
$50. 900. 900 in cash, to be applied to the restora-
lion of the ruined buildings. OF the uninsured
balance of merchandise the merchants OF New York
and elsewhere who sell on credit will have to bear
their proportion. The insurance effected in Hi
nois companies in excess of their assets will not be
realized in all probability. But from other sec
tons it will be available. The San Francisco Fire
Companies, whose aggregate assets are $5-5OO,O 600,
have of late taken risks in Chicago, and these risks
have been estimated as high as $4,000. 600, in legal
tender, but closer investigation is reducing the
amount and it is very possible that S2,5OO,0Oe may
ultimately be required to be paid over IN the next
ninotv DAYS. This amount is to be realized from
the securities of the companies, Wnicn are Oh the
the the odd11ifGariip %siSHIoR h and be %mi a Q nv e Of 9mpii y
excess of demand. and at lower rates OF money
than those to which we have heretofore been &C
customed. The effect, therefore, of this remittance
of So, 500, geo, if it should prove so much. may be
a slight rise in the rates for money on long terms.
That is all that the payment, by San Francisco, OF
that amount of money could erect. Larger
amounts of money have been handsomely with
drawn from this market to feed gold and other
speculations in New York, without attracting at
tention at all. and during the last year millions OF
dollars. for the purchase of mines and the use OF
railroads have come into this State without public
notice. When mems minds are excited by an un-
usual calamity, the widest torebodlngs are IN
dulged in, and. we are sorry to say. promoted by
men who seek. in the depreciation OF properly,
favorable Investments. There is no denying that
the loss is a heavy one to the local companies, but
they have all held meetings of Directors, and only
with one result, viz. to meet the case fairly and
souarely. to discharge the claims and to continue
business as usual. The card of the Phoenix Com
pany will be found in another column. The Union,
Fireman's Fund and the others meet the matter In
a similar spirit. There are none but VIII nave
some surplus Of assets, and while they meet the
claims upon San Francisco. as she has always met
her liabilities, the public will rally to the support
of those companies who have represented her IN
financial integrity and AFFINITY ABROAD. Inele may
be some reorganization of some of these companies,
and the discussion of the advlsablllty OF dong a
foreign business may come up. There are those
who think the home business should De adnerea 70,
but it is probable that the Chicago companies are
not of that opinion. Experienced underwriters ad-
yocate a multiplicity of small risks extended over
a large surface. The general result is now, that
this most terrible lire that the
world has known, at least in modern times, there
is no liquidation of any San Francisco companies,
but simply the remittance of perhaps S3,O0o,0oo TO
Chicago in the course OF ninety days, ana tnat is
not a sum to cause Inconvenience. 1t is within the
range of probability that active men IN chicago,
thrown out of business on the eve of a severe
Winter and surrounded by desolation and high
rents. NAV. furnished with the cash of insurance,
seek other localities. st. Louis, Omaha. and our
San Francisco, which, since the opening ofthe
railroad. has with its resources, capabilities and
climate, become favorably known to our Chicago
may afford an asylum. 1t is to be OBJ
served that the destruction of accumulated capital,
although a loss, does not affect annual productions.
The farms, the mines, the workshops go on with
their usual results and the lost property is specify
Oct. II.