Nebraska advertiser., 1878-12-19
INSURANCE and ASSURANCE.

origin.
Spinsters who acknowledged to
| thirty or upwards, set their caps for
the uncle, whilst those who acknowl-
edged nothing chronolOgically speak
ing, turned their attention to the
nephew.
The Keenbriars took house, which
they kept in approved bachelor style.
Schufflescruff was a cheap place to
live in, but the. uncle and. nephew
must have had money, even there, to
hold upltheir heads as they did,
was young lawyer, sitting in my
Office. when one day the elder Eand
younger Keenbriar entered.
"Mr. McJorkle," said Keenbriar
senior. 1--WE cAlled to consult you up
on an important legal question.
"Ah ?" / answered.
II wish to insure my nephew's
life. Can L do so ?'' be asked.
Have you an insurable interest ?"
L inquired.
The pair exchanged glances.
What do you mean?" inquired the
uncle.
docs your nephew owe you any
thing?" l Ireplied.
There was another quick, exchange
of glances.
He does" said Keenbriar, beam
ing kindly at his nephew, who cast
down his eyes and blushed. "0f
course, l intend to leave him every
thing; but should L Outlive him,
which is not very likely, l might as
we'll have what is due me out of some
good company"
"There is no doubt of your right to
insure under the circumstances" l
answered. "How much does your
nephew owe you?"
"Ten thousand dollars" said the
old gentleman.
And the nephew nodded.
/ advised that the insurance be ef-
fected in the WiggleswOrth COmpa-
ny, which was the best l knew, and
it was done accordingly.
Ralph Keenbriar was then thirty |
years old, and at that age, according
to the tables. a man has eleven years
and six hundred and eighty-twO thou
sands of a year to live-not that any
man ever did live exactly that length
of time after reaching thirty; but
that is the fine point down to which |
the insurance companies have figured
it, and if one dies before or after his |
time comes, it isn't their fault.
Now. it wasn't three months after
young Keenbriar's life was insured,
till he went out trouting one day on a
neigh boring lake. He didn't return,
but the boat was found upset, aud his
hat floating in the water.
For days and days they dragged the
lake. At last the body was found.
The features were past recognition,
but the garments were those Ralph |
was known to have worn, and papers |
in the pockets of the corpse left no
doubt whatevera as to the identity.
L don't think L ever had 30 sorrow
full client as Mr.. Keenbriar the day |
he placed in my hands, for collection,
the policy on his nephew's life.
"Mr.-Mr. McJorkle," be sobbed,
"pl-please see this. Poor Ralph"
he faltered turning away his head II
can not think of it,"
1 came as near weeping as lawyer |
can-when not before jury-over a
pure matter of business.
1 took the paper, put in the prelim-
mary proofs and notice, but the COM
pany, as usual, was obdurately skept-
ical, and declined to pay.
sued. They defended; and, on the
trial, attempted to prove that the BODY
was trifle shorter than the recorded
measurement of Dick Cabbage, the
tailor, who made poor Ralph's last
suit. But the other evidence was so
strong that the jury, after making due
allowance for shrinkage, deemed the
variance immaterial, and gave ver-
dict for the plaintiff.
Without interrupting the current
of my story, l could not well bring in
till now the fact that Mr.. Keenbriar,
a few days after the insurance of the
policy, got me to draft his will, leav-
ing all of which he might die possess
ed to his beloved nephew Ralph"
Ralph, you see by consulting the Ia
bles, being only thirty, while his un-
Gle was sixty, had just three years and
eight hundred and sixty-two thou
longer to live than the latter
very good reasons for making will
in favor of his nephew. l took it as
a great compliment that Mr.. Keen
briar named me as his sole executor. s
Solomon Keenbriar's health broke .
Down after his nephew's death, and '
within a year. too, was gathered to {
his fathers, in spite of the figures in '
The table. was surprised to find his
will unaltered, seeing that the sole s
egatee had died before the testator {
but a glance at the condition of the l
estate put an end to my astonishment. c
Mr.. Keen briar's assets turned out to '
be so nearly nothing that it was plain l
ne had not thought it worth the 6
rouble to make another will. s
Through an advertisement Of for 8
,ign paper, 1 was put upon the track
If large estate left by a millionaire, i