Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-07-04
A TICkLIsH QUESTION.
How some wom-u Dods. When Examined
For Life Insurance.

For Life Insurance.
A DOCTOR NAMING EXAMINATIONS
for big insurance company sat chewing
tne end OF has penholder while he waited for Q
iair applicant for policy 20 answer hi. last
question. He had been waiting a long time
ana the fair one was still blushing and STAN
iheting over the answer. AL the questions a.
W ner ancestry. what her parents and grand
parents had died Of. the diseases sb. had
hersen suffered with from time an
'i'he-irom cholera iRfantum 20 chicken po,-
as 10 her general state of health her bab;ts ana
Ter physical characteristics %, .,eculiarities -
All these she had answered promst,y and With
some 'lVAeity; but in this last question the
ooc'or had gone just beyond the line OF DELI
caey ana she was cruelty embarrassed. Az first
nash OF indignation shot into her ewes. Tn.
was followed by blush of shame. She los, an.
power OF speech for moment aud her .v..
were turned down, while her dainty pointed
toed shoe nervously pounded the carpet.
why. Doctor she gasped .I-IIl
don tt can't Now, really. doctor. IT,
Then she paused and blnshed She twts,aa
and tugged at her finger nervouslv for a mo
ment and then took Of q ring ..Tb,. -
given me on my twenty-f.rst birthday Tb,,
must have been ten yeGrs ago--almost that
mat IT. doctor; l am thirty. About thst-I.
really-yes thirty"
The doctor bent his head low over his aesl
s snu pegAn moving his pen over the paper be-
iore MIN, but there no ink on II ana ms
hsnd shook IN a conclusive sort oi wav
he then turned and said some thing in an mn,
oertone To the lady, which greatly agitatea her
After waiting for moment he resolu,ely
dipped his pen in the ink remarkius.
1t is at your own risk"
The lady checked him and talked for fsv
moments IN an undertone. all the while look,ns,
around nervouly TO see il any one was bs,sne
ing at the key hole or had entered the room.
An. said the doctor. and he turned and
policy.
A little while after the lady had eop. the
doctor was feeling a STAR reporters pulse A.
he closed hls watch be shook his head solemnly
and the least bit of a sign. which sounded lils
commisersuon, escaped his hps
why. is it so bad asked the reporter With
some anxiety.
Dreadful; he replied, running his finger.
through his hair YEARLY
hou do not mean to say that there "A any,
heart" WIG
Its vanity, feminine vanity"
WHAT"
Then the doctor saw the look Of anxiety on
the reporters face. and. laughing hastened A.
explain: Il was thinking of a lsdy inst a.,
amined for life insurance. Your pulse Is an
right, though IL has quickeued little in IN.
pact minute. II lie dreadfully tiresome 20 try
TO get woman to tell her age. I have
ueeh examining Tor insurance for sixteen
years and i have not known hslf
dozen women 20 answer that Question
promptly. can tell a woman's age within .
year or two, from experience in the study of
races out the average woman will miss her
own age by aboutten years. more or less-often
much more. No. u is not from any di,pos,tion
10 cheat the company: rot one in q hundred
would think Of that II 10 Just vanity and toroe
Of habit IL IS tedious business. but 1 manage
to get the truth in time"
And how
well a woman who looks rather voune for
her years comes to be examined for a policv.
She remembers when her parents and grand
parents died. even To the day of the month sbe
can tell the date Of the birth OF all the rest Of the
children IN the family, and even the dates of
.nen oaptlsni- she remembers every thing but
the date OF het own birth and how old she II,
That question she will struggle with and get
mao about Tor long while and will then guess
about ten years out Of the wsv By that
time l have figured pretty close TO her age. 4
ten ner thst think she Is mistaken, but that
as have no means Of knowing III put down
the age she says. but-and make this very i'm
pressive-that II il is wrong, n she is irving 20
deceive the company, it viii be discovered AZ
her death, and with that evidence Of fraud
ths company viii refuse 10 pay the
policy. The rate for one Of thirty is
very much less than that for one Of hfty. and
sueh mistake IN years would nullify the
policy. This always brings out the right age
She VIII say: Now. let me see. Brother sam
Was twenty eight his last birthday. Sister Jane
ls ten years older; that's thirty-eight. VIII N
forty. Ben would be forty-sin il he were alive.
and he was just three years younger than l.
nine. My
Now. that's more like it, aud 1 hn out the
blank accordingly"