The Weekly Kansas chief. [volume] (Troy, Kan.) 1872-1918, 1875-03-18
C.o Life Insurance--Facfs ana
NnSF Figures.

.,,,,..,ad with Odd Fellowship in Kansas a"o
in several other States, which neeaS 20 % 80 -,
understood and appreciated than u ~
F.II,rs and those Who ought to be od" rei'o"s'
w, h,v. been requested by several persons po
r;,. more thorough explanation and iii"stra-
e., r. ,,,a srstem. which shall now proceed
., A., 20 the best of our ability. Wewill remark,
.h., 20 believe the Masons have organized
s;r,i,or svstem. Not being member of that fra
trruity, we have not examined their rules; bus
if the system is the same, these REMARKS relative
% the insurance feature in Odd Fellowship, will
apply equally to the Masons'
Apy Odd Fellow in good standing, (they all
know the meaning of that,) or his wife, who, up
on examination, are fonnd to be in sound health,
may become member of the Funeral Aid 10y the
payment of $3.50. This money goes to form
permanent fund, to be drawn upon to make up
deficiencies when members permit their naInes
to be dropped. Then, whenever 4 member oil
this Aid dies, his or her heirs entitled to re-
ceiye as many dollars there members of
the Association. If there are 900 members, the
amount is 81 900. Upon the death Of a member,
each surviving member is required to pay an as
s.ssrnent of s11O; the 81 being to replenish the
treasury to the amount that has been paid ON the
death, and the 10 cents being to cover the Incl
dentaIs of postage, printing notices, collecting,
etc. In Kansas, one class is already full, coll
tanning 1900 members, and emitting the heirs Of
a deceased member to $500. Three new classes
have been started-one for persons under 40
years of age, another for those between 40 and
so, and third for those over 5O-and they are
all filling up.
Here are some of the advantages of this sys-
tenn over ordinary life insurance. Take man,
for instance, in the prime of life, at the age OF
45 In any Life Insurance Company, he would
lie required TO pay S35 per year on the $1,000 or
s57 for $500. This he must pay all at once, and
in advance, If he dies the next day, be gets his
insurance, but gets none of the S57 back. This
S57 must be paid regularly each year, as prompt
Iy as the day comes around, or he forfeits his ill.,
surance. With most persons, it is often diff.
cult matter to raise so large a sum at once. But
take this Odd Fellows plan; the money is paid
step by step, S1.lO at time, and generally at
long intervals apart, so that it is scarcely felt
He pays nothing in advance, except his admis-
sion fee of q 50-his insurance is paid from time
TO time, as deaths If there were no deaths
in year, he would pay nothing, and still be in
sured for $500, or whatever ether sum his class
represented.
The Odd Fellows Funeral Aid of Kansas was
organized October, 1869, five years and a half
ago. Since that time, there have been AZ deaths,
or less than an average of for the year, making
say $3.50 for the year that each member had to
pay lur his insurance.! Is not this a little bet
ter than s57i And as it was paid in installments,
some weeks apart, was it not still betteri Since
last October, the beginning of the insurance year
of this Association, there have been 10 deaths.
The past Fall aud Winter have been marked by
an unprecedented amount of sickness, and there
have been more deaths in that time than in any
other equal length Of time since tho organiZa-
tion of the Association. This average will not
be kept up-but suppose it should, the deaths
for the year would be 20, necessitating the pay
rnent of S22, scattered through the whole year
Is not even this better than s57 paid at once
Let us even put the very worst possible face up
on it. Suppose there were one death per week
during the entire year; that would cause pay
meut by each member of 57.20 year. Here We
have only 20 cents more in a year than it would
cost in a regular insurance company, with the
advantage that it could be paid in installment'
of S1.10 each week, Instead of all in advance
But it can hardly be possible that there will ev
er be that many deaths in a year, or half that
many. Yet, when two three deaths come to
gether, in a sickly season, many members be
come frightened, begin to think the thing viii
become ruinous, and permit their names to b'
dropped from the Association, by refusing to pay
assessments. In the last two years, at least two
persons of our intimate acquaintance have pur
sued this course, and in few weeks thereafter
have died, depriving their families of the insur
ance, when they needed it so badly.
Grand Secretary Burdctt presented statistic,
at the last meeting of the Grand Lodge of Kan
sas, clearly illustrating this subject. From his
cables, We find the following to have been the
membership of the Odd Fellows Lodges of the
United States for thirty years, with the total
number of deaths:
Tsars. Membership. Death.
ls44 to 1853 Is242H 10TH
. 1854 to 1863 I73OO96 17I56
1864 to 1873 2,574T05 %L052
The above years include five years of de-
struotive war, which increased the deaths large
ly over What they would have been under more
favorable circumstances. Yet il shows an annu-
al death rate of but nine and four-fifths out of
svery 900 members In Kansas, the actual av-
srsge death rate was II per 1000 members, and
insurance has cost here $s25 per year, in-
cluding all persons, from 2l to "a years of age.
Experience has shown that mans estate does
not amount to much for his family, after the Ad-
ministrator let's 60 his hold ON it. man may
die, reputed to be very wealthy yet shower
of claims will suddenly come in against the es-
tate and the next move will be petition for
authority to sell his real estate to pay debts.
When they are paid little or nothing is left
Insurance money cannot be touched for any pur-
pose by any but the family of the deceased In
snrance is coming to be looked to as the only
safe means of providing for ones family after
death. 1t is, therefore, an important object to
secure not only safe, but cheap, insurance. We
have clearly demonstrated that the Odd Fellows
plan lie the cheapest known-that it costs only
about oRe-sereHth much as the regular insur-
ance companies charge, and that it is paid in
trihing installments, scattered through the year,
that are scarcely felt. Every Odd Fellow should
avail himself of this opportunity, without delay,
anu never let himself be dropped, let coms what
may tits too good thing to be frittered away,
and may save many a family from want. Those
who are not Odd Fellows, may he glad to learn
that there Is room for them to lecomo s,cb IL
they are the right kind of men.