The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1883-08-23
THE NOTORIOUS QUEEN CITY.

THE NOTORIOUS QUEEN CITY.
The Queen City received such an
amount of attention at the hands of
the newspapers as to make it notori-
GUS. 1t was incorporated by S. Ell.
bridge Smith, George G. Glass and
A. 7. Wood. Smith is sort of
chronic insurance man, having been
associated with a number of paper
companies, all of which broke up
promptly. The Evans company
had $1,000 in this outfit and was al;
lowed Sligo by the adjuster. 1t
would have been more satisfactory
if the adjuster had paid it. The re-
porter, yesterday, found Mr.. George
Q. Norris, a gentleman who for a
time acted as their attorney, and
asked him what he knew about the
company.
at was started by party named
A. T. Wood" said Mr.. Norris. HE
came here from Detroit, and fell in
with S. Elbridge Smith and George
E. Glass. They incorporated the
company, limiting the number of
directors to three, and appointing
themselves as the directors. The
newspapers got after them, on ac-
count of Glass and Smiths connec
ton with the Colorado Fire Com.
pany, so they withdrew. Then
Wood ran it awhile with another
Smith and brother-in-laW of his,
named Jackson, until the insurance
law WenG into force"
"Did Wood go right at the in
surance business when he came
here ?"
"Yes. He had his papers of all
kinds printed in Detroit. and
brought them with him. He came
here for that purpose"
"Your firm, Mcdonald 81 Norris.
were their attorneys, were you not ~
"They consulted with us. They
never had any litigation. We con-
tiuued advising them, until it ap-
peared certain that we would never
get anything for it, and then we
quit. They never paid US at all"
Odd they ever have any assets?
"They claimed to have, but they
never showed them up. Wood had
US look up the law, to see if there
was any possibility of going on in
defiance of it. We advised them to
put up their capital or quit, and
they took the latter course"
s'They probably could not take the
other"
"That is my opinion. [ think
that they started in to run it On the
premiums that they received. They
protested to be doing we'll until
Fisk's company, the Denver, failed,
and that broke up the business
They never did much business, any.
how. What they did was in the
east, and the premiums were mostly
retained by their agents there
THE WILD CAT FROM PUEBLO.
In the Pueblo company there was
$4,000, and the adjustment was 1892
This was Pueblo company, inccr-
porated by D. L. Finch, J. c. Nor
| gan, ]. M. Murphy, r. Nickel, F
II. Brown, J. w, Palfrey and r. A
Hagaboom. MI. Nickel was the
only one of the incorporators in the
city, and he was called on yesterday
by a Republican reporter.
"Were you connected with the
Pueblo Insurance company ?" asked
the scribe.
"Yes, sir. 1 was until resigned
my position last February, on &C
count of my health. [ was in the
company only as the holder of the
| office of secretary, to which I was
elected by the incorporators.' %
"How long was the company in
existence?"
at was organized about a year
ago, ana went out of existence whe1
the insurance law went into effect
about the middle of last May"
"Did it ever have any assets ?"
"They said they had 100000 in
securities IN the hands of party
named Waters, in Chicago. [ dc
not know whether they did, mol
what the securities were, if they
did"
ibid you do much business"
No, sir; very little. There were
a few losses which the adjustel
passed on, and in most Of them il
was claimed that there was no liza
bility on account of the non-pay-
ment of premiums. We paid one
claim at Bradford, Pa"
"What became of the premiums
that were taken in ?"
"Most of them were retained by
the brokers who acted as our agents
There were several of them. Moore
& Co., of Chicago; Grub, Baxter s
| Co., of Indianapolis; J B. Bennett
of st Louis, and some in Philadel
phia and New York, who never pai(
in the full amount of premiums re-
ceived by them and due the com
pany. Grubb, Baxter s. Co. did no
pay in half of what they collected
"The Pueblo company stopped OIL
account Of the paid-up capital re
quirement, I presume ?"
Eyes. They kept promising me
they would pay it up If the Law
passed, but | did not know Wha'
they would do, and so l neYe
worked up the business very much
| do not know Of any other stat
where a capital in the nature OF
deposit is required, excepting New
York, where the company Is re