The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1881-10-22
MARRIAGE INSURANCE.

county. Pa. paper:
( - BuYEE-ll0LMAN.- September Il
/ by Rev. V r. Leinbach. Mr. Enos l.
! Boyer of Maiden Creek. To Miss Lizzie
/ tatharine Holman Of Lebanon county
| No cards.
/ MIR. Boyer is an honest young ore minel
Of good character. His bride is a farm.
ers daughter educated in the kitchen
and graduated u irst-class, intelligent
housekeeper. He is thirty and sic just
/ twenty. Their parents are only in very
moderate circumstances. Six months ago
the young people were quite poor. They
had intended TO board with Il poor family
after their marriage. Instead. however,
OF doing this, they were enabled to go to
| housekeeping in iirst-class style. and all
by a novel streak of luck. No secret is
made of the fact that they were first in
sured by spectators for about $15, 600 in
a dozen or more marriage insurance COM
panies. Mr.. Boyer, the groom, was ask
ed if he had any objection to giving his
experience in this entirely new method of
starting in life, and he promptly replied,
with 4 smile:
''Of course not. am willing TO let
I everybody know all about it, so that
other young people may enjoy good luck
also. Thirteen months ago, Lizzie and
myself were engaged to be married. The
wedding day was fixed, but suddenly the
mines stopped work, and | was thrown
out of job. Lizzie was living home
with her parents, and after had told her
of my bad luck We concluded not to get
married, because we had no money to
commence housekeeping, and had very
poor prospects ahead. One day George
Merritt, neighbor of NINE called to see
me. He taught school at Dry Rock during
the winter season. lie said he heard
| told him of my bad luck. He told me
not to let that worry me, and said that
if | would let him take out marriage
insurance policy on me and then marry,
he would buy me an eighty dollar walnut
bedroom set of furniture with a marble
top washstand. bureau and table. lie
said he was the agent of one of the new
companies, and that he would take out
policy for s., 900 and have it transferred
to himself. said was willing that he
should, if Lizzie was. My friend Mer-
rift then told me that he had few
friends who would use me well if they
might have the same privileges of insur-
ing me i'll other companies, and l said it
was ali right, and that they should come
along. The very next evening another
agent came and offered to buy me a flow
cred carpet for front room, flowered
carpet for sitting room, and 4 rag car
pet for the kitchen. was delighted with
the business. and told him he might
take out the policy In the meantime
had seen Lizzie, and she seemed first to
dislike the idea: but finally told me to
use my own Judgment. Along came an
other agent, and he agreed to furnish two
bedrooms for the privilege of insuring
us. | accepted this offer. and looked for
the next agent. To make long story
short, fifteen agents agreed to take poll
cies for s., 900, and thus | became insured
for so, 600 in about dozen companies.
Every agent made present of some kind
and when all the details were ready to be
carried out, | rented this modest two
story house here, and Lizzie and her
friends scrubbed and secured it from top
to bottom. met the agents over at my
uncle's tavern in back room. Isigned
the applications and assignments one
after another until the large od-fashion-
ed table was covered with printed matter,
blank forms, &c. Each agent either
gave me an order on a store or the cash
money as soon as had signed his paper.
Afterwards | learned that the orders
were on stores owned by the officers of
the insurance companies. Well, with
this money and the orders i'll hand We
got married. and then furnished our
house as you see it here. / invite you to
examine it from top to bottom. Every
thing is new. soyou see how the marriage
insurance business works for us. Yes,
those vases and the pictures, and that
parlor organ, were also bought for us in
the same way. The agents explained to
me that one year after our marriage each
one of those $1,000 policies would be
worth about 1850 each. That is why
they were so anxisus to furnish my
house.
1.-Two other agents wanted us to have
a bridesmaid at our wedding. They went
to my wife's sister Helen, and asked her
if she would accept handsome silk dress
to wear at the wedding as u bridesmaid.
She got mad and told them they were in
Il shameful business. and that if she
couldn buy her own dresses she would
do without. She told them to clear out
They next went to the bride and asked
her to name another bridesmaid, but
Lizzie said that the thing had gone on
long enough, aud that the insurance bus
mess must stop right there. That is the
reason why we had no bridesmaid.
suppose enough agents could have been
found to dress up groomsman too, had
we wanted one. have heard that at
number of weddings the bride and the
bridesmaids We're fitted out with money
given by the insurance agents for the
privilege of taking out policies. You
see that as soon as 4 party becomes in
sured he can marry, but his policy won't
he payable until a year Ella, ses. l have
figured out the profits. say on a policy of
$1,000. The agent makes y present to
the man who is to marry, say of $50; the
policy will cost him $40, and the transfer
or assignment, 81: total. 500. His man
then marries, and in years time the
company promises to pay cash from $3.50
to 300 per thousand, say s1,750 for
5000 policy. The company raises this
money by assessing other members of
the class who are not married. If the
companies keep their word the agents
will make handsome profits on their in
vestments: if they don't keep their word
it don't hurt us. The business must pay
and the agents must have confidence in
the companies, because them make daily
calls on the ministers and dressmakerS
so find out who is going to he married.
OF course, the agents don't keep all the