The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1874-07-26
Wild Cat Insurance COmpa-
MES.
How They Work.
A Successor to the Franklin

world or the many people of it, in the CRANE
scramble for wealth, there are revealed man,
things strange and sometimes startling and oft
times Of a nature that calls admiration OF
account Of the depth and ''cuteness' dis
played, and condemnation because of tn,
means employed
One game that bass been practced in thi,
community for some time at odd intervals
one among the many which, on account o
the broadness of its transactions, calls fol
special notice, and is
| WILD CAT INSURANCE.
1t is the eaaiest thing in the world to estab
lish an institution of the kind, and this is
! THE WAY 1T Is DONE
and run after the organization
A number of men minus capital get to-
gether, raise money enough to pay notary
for charter, and a printer for certificates OF
stock sometimes the latter is a credit trans
action. Once organized the stock is issued
to other men without capital, who pay GER
tain per centage or certain sum of money,
to be put into fund for office rent and sta
tionery, and give their individual notes fol-
the balance Of stock they are supposed to
own. These notes generally run from five to
ten years, and constitute the sole capital OF
the company.
90 Smart young men, with nothing else to
do are then taken into the confidence of the
Board of Directors, and they are started out
to set forth the many advantages of the par
| ticular company over all others and obtain
! policies.
| These young men do not visit the man of
| business or people who are supposed to know
anything about insurance, but call on the igno-
| rant the lowest class of negroes being their
| titvOrlte
| They enter 4 house, the exterior Of which
looks as if a fire would be a blessing and with
| the politest bow to the mistress of the estab-
| lishment, state their business She expresses
herself as not wanting to be insured, the house
is not hers, and as to the furniture, she has not
the money to pay insurance on it. The young
man debates on the subject of insurance and
extolls his company, and casually appraises the
furniture he sees, at, say $500; it is in reality
worth fifty or sixty dollars, and states that for
merely nominal sum, generally from five to
ten dollars, he will insure it for $500, and
that the premium can be paid in sums of one
or two dollars at a time.
takes, and the policy is made out. In time,
when probably halt the amount OF more of the
premium is paid, the insured is notified that
the policy has been
CANCELLED
for non. payment of premium, and attention is
called to a clause in the policy that provides
that III case OF non. payment in full OF premi-
UNI within specified time. it shall be null.
The amount paid is 50 much profit to the
company
IN THE EVENT A LOSS,
the sixty days allowed by law for the payment
of the policy is allowed to elapse. and then
there is an attempt to intimdate the insured.
He is told that the fire has a bad look; fire
with like attendant circumstances must have
been the result Of incendiarism, and that be-
fore the amount called for is paid there must
be an investigation. This investigation is
" STAYED off as lon,s as possibe-the yo ing
men working hard all the whie-it finally
takes place, and when the last trick Fortune has
tried the company ''goes up the fiue, the
pro ceedS OF the speculation are divided and
the notes of the stockholders are turned in as
assets.
This is the programme from which there
may be- on occasions, some slight deviation:
but the end to be attained and the end gained
is the same.
The final of that very solid institution, the
Franklin Insurance Com any, will be remem-
bered. And now it would seem there is a
which IS known as
THE MERCHANTS FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY
which sprang into existence on the Goth Of
January last brought to life by notarial act
before Able Dreyflls, in which the following
WELL KNOWN
underwriters appear as ncorpOrators:
Jacob William Hamm, Sigmund Solomon,
Albert Saduskv. John Ulters, Lawrence Hill
bert Hamm, Franz Riehm, Cyrus Hunter
Ross, JAS. Newton, Simon Thuerkauf and
Paul Louis Waterman Russ.
The circle in which these gentlemen move
must be decidedly small, as no one has yet
been found who contesses to personal ac-
quaintance with them or knowledge indirect
or otherwise of their existence, with the excep-
ton Of Sadusky, who appears in the directory
as the agent OF the American Mutual Insur-
ance Company.
A look at the charter Of this Company gives
an idea of the basis which it is founded
Article 3 provides that 'sThe capital stock
Of the Company is hereby fixed at one hum
bred and fifty thousand dollars, said capital
To be divided into shares of twenty dollars
each. to be paid us follows. viz: Ali s,ibscri-
ttfS 10 tilt Oh lntt OIDDlny snail
~ the time O. subscription pay five per cent
VI one dollar per share in cash, or at their OPP
ton IN due bill payable at sixty days. and
for the balance they shall execute their note
to the Company payable in ten years from the
date of this organization said notes to be re-
dueed and finally exterminated by the annual
credits thereon OF the pro-rata of the earnings
Of the Company, and where 50 paid to be re-
turned to the original subscribers or their
heirs or assigns.
Simple division will show that
THE CAPITAL
of tins company, taking it for granted that
all the sixty day notes are paid, amounts to
the munticent and tremendous sum of seven
tive hundred dollars.
Article 5 provides that 1.-The stockholders
shall never be liable for the losses of the
company in any larger amount than what re-
mains due on their stock notes. p"
This clause has nice, seductive look, but
II has q different appearance when it is re-
membered that the stock notes are not due
unlil ten long years have elapsed, and the
sixty day notes are all that can be touched