Fairhaven herald. [volume] (Fairhaven, Wash.) 1890-????, 1891-04-04
HORSE r. LIFE INSURANCE.
MANY COMPANIES ARE ORGANIZED
BUT FEW SURVIVE.

Rigid Conditions ana lsesuiatio"s "" ,
Are Deemed Nec.ssary-The New York A.,
Grocers' organization-Interest Stat
istics for Horsemen.
"Probably no kind of property in this
town Is 80 easy to invest in and so easy 10
lose in as horses" said former officer OF
live stock insurance company that recently
want To smash Horse life insurance has
been disastrous to every capitalist who has
touched it until within a short time, and,
after taking advantage of experience gam
ed in both Europe and America, horse life
insurance is still an experiment. In Eu-
rope horse life insurance has been tried LOT
more than 100 years, with lair snare OF
success to the investors in the enterprise.
In this country it has been conducted on
various plans, and many OF the schemes
have failed to meet the end for when they
were designed. Though not over a dozen
years have elapsed since the lives OF horses
were insured on large scale in New YORK
city there have been thirteen failures OF
insurance companies There are only two
horse life insurance companies, believe,
having their main offices in town. A live
stock insurance company in Buffalo has
branch agency in town, but it does not do
a raft of business 1t is probably shy OF
any but the choicest risks, such as family
carriage horses and well kept business
horses doing light draught service.
REASONS FOR FAILURES.
"The reasons why there have bean so
many failures of horse life insurance COM
panies are undoubtedly because the com
panies tried to insure horses too cheaply,
and also because the companies officers
tried to ape the human life insurance COM
NAMES and impress the community by set
/ ting M business in big offices, with plate
glass fronts and gilt lettering, while big
salaries were paid TO agents and fat plums
fell to the lot of the officers themselves.
There are now only two companies OF any
size that underwrite horses in town, and
hitter rivalry exists between them. Ono
companv is up town and the other down
town The uptown Office is chartered
under the insurance laws of the state,
while the downtown company was organ
lied under chapter 267 Of the laws of 1885,
providing for the creation Of mutual bene-
fit associations. Both are mutual beneht
associations.
Bitter experience in the way of heavy
losses in insuring horses has led to the
adoption of a rigorous ruling out as mad
missible for insurance purposes large
class of horses. No company will insure
car horses, livery horses, contractors
horses, race horses or any fancy priced
horses. Other horses barred are runa-
ways, blind horses, cribbers, horses with
heaves or blind staggers or mad staggers,
cab horses, omnibus horses and business
horses Owners are required to declare
whether their horses have had plnkeye'
collie. heaves, lung fever, poll evil, distem-
- 1 haI ipht
tracted hoofs or ringbone.
Each Of the insurance companies has
veterinary surgeon in its employ, who
: hammers on the horses chests, looks into
their mouths and puts the animals through
as thorough a test of their physical health
as men undergo in a life insurance com
pany's medical examination. The price
for an examination is usually s..
"Animals from one to twelve years are
insurable for terms of three years, over
twelve years old only from year to year.
Insurance is confined practically to mules
! and carriage horses not worth over s4VI
and not less than 500. No insurance GER
4 tificate can be had now, l believe, Tor more
than three-fourths the value of the animal
: The downtown company, moreover, mas
big pasture containing fifteen acres OF
r more of good land not far from Williams
g bridge where horses are sent to pasture IL
D summer. Horses only get oats a-plent!
when they are suffering from overwork O
p nervous prostration. The resort is free u
j insured horses. With the consent of tn
company one horse may be substituted TO
another-that is, the policy may be trans
ferred from one horse to another. Inspect
a ors make regular rounds among the IN
It sured horses and report their condition
h the company's office That has been foun
:, TO be a necessary course to pursue in orde
t. that INSCRIPTIONS owners may be PR
" vented from poisoning horse when h
le is ia poor health, so that he may &c
Iy the horse insurance. Owners OF horse
Is must notify the company if they chang
st their place of residence.
is THE GROCERs' ORGANIZATION.
n 'Is it worth while to insure horsei
le think so if you are lucky enough 10 oW
n an insurable horse. The way the con
iy panies are insuring you will have TO pa
a only 1 per cent. annually on the value
IN the horse for your insurance policy.
d: curious experiment in horse insurance hi
We been tried for year by the Retail Grocer
h union Of this town, an organization
about 300 members. Inside of the union
he horse insurance fund was started in Fe
as ruary, 1890, and IL per cent was collect'
an on the amount for which each horse W
a insured, while losses were sustained p
ew rata by the members in the scheme.
lp- yearly examination fee of 81 was charge
elk 81 to be retained If the horse should not
III accepted No horse was insured for oy
ng 10 per cent. Of its value.
iW "Most horse owners are satisfied II th
he insure their stables for good sum, inns
by thing that most of the danger to their sto
lit, dying suddenly is in the direction OF ii
wn Some interesting statistics have been c
The lected. Hear them and then decide
ng yourself whether horses should be insur'
led OF 7O4 insured horses that died in
he years and were paid for by one of the
Of surance companies 1888 died Of collie, n
OPP Inflammation Of the bowels, "A of kidr
trouble, 81 Of pneumonia, 50 of sunstro-
80 of pinkeye, 81 of lockjaw, 80 OF bros
legs, IL of epizootic, 10 of heart diseas'
.;es of blind staggers, o killed by runaway
- were drowned, were killed by Eghtnil
m 12S died Of unknown diseases, and onl
q, were burned. Probably more than :
avs 900. 900 is invested in New York state
81 live stock on which no insurance is carr
~ for loss by disease or accident other Il
o. by fire, and the estimated loss will be
per cent, II not more than that, In
To- wears There are twenty-three TIL
tbo greater risk of horses dying of collie q
hv by fire, three times greater risk OF dy
ion from broken legs, five times greater
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