New-York tribune., 1891-12-16
PART II.
DEC. is, 1891.
rUE BIG INSURANCE DEAL.
REMARKABLY LARGE TRANSACTION
rs,r WAS SAID ABOUT 1T YEsTERDAY-THE
ARMSTRONG TRIO

ARMSTRONG TRIO"
rbs only topic discussed in insurance circles yes
outside Of purely routine business, was the re-
sDrance OF the three Armstrong companies with the
,n,o,hire Insurance Company, of Manchester Eng
"a opnlons varied much to the causes Of the
stan hut there general agreement that the re
~, would be highly satisfactory 10 all fire insurance
s" s.,,es and that probably the only sufferers would
" ,na holders OF policies who had been able 10 place
-, with the Armstrong companies which no other
Do,v would take. AS for the point raised that
49, American companies ought TO have been favored
v an. rensuring OF 5000 100000 of business, II was
"a that no American company was in position 10
ss.nme that amount Of business and that none of
-, wanted it. The practice OF the Armstrong COM
l.s has been to take large risks, amounting in one
f,anoe To $4,000 These were divided up in about
AZ nroportion OF 25 per cent TO the Fire Association,
- ner cent 70 the Armstrong Fire Insurance Com
=, and 90 per cent to the Mutual Fire Insurance
r.,1ranv The general belief among insurance men
= nat the Lancashire will refuse to rewrite these
,.rv risks and that large percentage OF the busi-
.s.s will be distributed among the other companies,
- ,nprovtng the general situation On the other
- the officers of the Lancashire declare that they
IN take care of all the business turned over TO them
- lancashire has treaties with many Of the English
mnsnies that not represented In this country and
!, v,l doubtless distribute its risks among them
S,ther OF the principals to the transaction could be
t,fu
mstrons said that 1t enough to say that II was
49, largest insurance transaction ever carried out In
,marca and MIR Ltchheld was equally non-committai.
"a vas whispered among insurance men, however, thae
y, ArmstFongs bonus about S20OOOO The
anal Arrangements for the transfer were perfected yes
,srsay. and George Pritchard, representing the Ian
ssb,re took possession Of the Armstrong oihces IN
ooss~xt Most of the employees will be retained
- tho new ACQUISITION will be run as separate
.Dortment known as the General American Depart
an. ~ the Lancashire Company. Mr. Pritchard VIII
have immediate charge Of this department Mr' Lltch-
teh said Yesterday that the negotiations had oeeh
,endlng since september 20. The IDEA was the OUT
r-oxth OF some joking remarks that passed between
f,nSy1 and Mr. Armstrong. These remarks set nun
!, ,hnkinc and the result was the present deal lie
slt confident that his company wouIo uenVe mrso
beneAts from the transaction.
Others with whom the reporter talked were not 50
,orsdent on this point. The year has been re-
,aarkabiy disastrous one with nre insurance coniPa
r,ss No extremely large fires have occurred, but so
many small and scattered ones have been reported tha'
the total loss to the insurance companies BIDS far 10
exceed that Of any year since 1871, when the great
chicago fire played such havoc with them. For this
aeon II was thought that Mr. Armstrong did shrewd
thing in standing from under" and the belief was
,,nressed that his two smaller companies, the fle
Association and the Armstrong Fire insurance COh-
pany would have had hard JOB to pull through the
year The elimination of these companies from the
seld will create a Quieter feeling and take away an
sement Of uncertainty.
The Mutual Fire insurance Company, the largest
A. The Armstrong trio" was organized In 1882 under
charter granted in 1869, and amended by he
laws OF 1870. It's charter the most liberal ever
granted TO an insurance company, and, as MT Arhi-
org said Yesterday. ought never to have been issued
70 anylody though fortunately its privileges had never
been abused The charter authorized the company to
will and
therefor iDtcrebearng receipts applicable for the pay
mnt NJ interest or premiums. These receipts there
re became virtually currency. No other corporation
vas ever authorized in this state to issue CURRENCY
Eecepis were put out 10 the amount OF S5ooooo Dut
sout half of these cancelled IN 1885, ieaVhg the
capital of the company $25OOOO The first annual re-
port OF the Mutual showed cash assets Of S3l1ooo'
which have gradually increased until December 1,
sol the cash assets reported as S1,e3' ,93l.
Cash dividends have been paid TO the amount Vi
1894 675 and scrip at present outstanding %ih wheh
is redeemed bring the amount OF the dvioenus up u
sl24O7Q0. Twice since 1882 Mr.. Armstrong has been
elected from the company once in 1885, when he was
renstated in about weeks and opce in 1887, when
he was out for year. He got back this time On July
IL 1883 returning as president, and has since man
AGED all three companies.
The Fire Association was started by the nine dis
eontented directors Of the Mutual who deposed Ar.
Armstrong from the secretarysp of that company in
and part stock, and began with capital OF S2OOooo
IN the first six or eight months this capital was i'm
paired 70 the extent Of nearly so per cent, and an
of SlOO 900 levied the STOCKHOLDERS
Al the end OF another SIX months the capital was
srain impaired this time about $4,000, and the
directors offered to sell the company TO Mr. Armstrong
A bargain was made and Mr. Armstrong assumed coli
troll increasing the capital TO 100000 since Then
the company has been prosperous, the report Tor
December 1, 1e91, showing surplus Of S6o6,743.
The only purely stock company OF the trio was
the Armstrong Fire Insurance Company, founded In
1889. with a capital OF 100000. The president,
vceJpresident and secretary owned controlling in-
teres; and in fact, only organized the company De
cause they thought that il could be conducted al
small expense in connection with the other two con-
pashes and would afford them a sure profit. VI uhe
s2OO 100000 Of business transferred to the Lan-
eashre the Armstrong held about S3z 100000, the
Fire Association S4s, ,O0o 900 and the Mutual Slo'-
OOO,0OO. - -.
Mr. Armstrong said In his speech ON Monday ngI
that he proposed return to bis fird loVe," NE
Insurance When asked yesterday IL his plans wele
natured vet he said that the organization % new
lie insurance company wns something RE hdo veoh
Considering for long time, but that he ald not prS,
gOSe 10 take any active steps IN mat oLcHoh ults4
galdze a company on the same loes as the
Equitable, but with larger capital say S3VooVo a19
he same amount Of surplus he thougnt ne cooIu
pake such a company CO. but would not make toe
start until he had secured 100 policies OF S5O,oOo
each. Possibly in about year his company "ouIu
haterialze.
c1u,ru p.c1rorc UOT lppEASFD