The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-01-31
HORSE LIFE INSURANCE.
Two Companies Survive OF Many That
Tried the Scheme and Failed.
From the Nelg York Sun.

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Two Companies Survive of Many That
Tried the scheme and Failed.
From the Nelg York Sun.
Probably no kind of property in this
town is so easy to invest in and so easy to
lose as horses" said a former officer of a
live stock insurance company that recently
went to smash Horse life insurance has
been disastrous to every capitalist who
has touched it until very short time, and,
after taking advantage of experience
gained in both Europe and America, horse
life Insurance is still an experiment In
Europe horse life insurance has been tried
for more than 100 years, with fair share
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 which they
were designed. Though not over dozen
years has 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 car
rIage horses and well>kept business horses
doing light draught service.
''The reasons why there have been so
many failures of horse life insurance com
panies are undoubtedly because the compa-
MES tried to insure horses too cheaply, and
also because the company's officers tried to
ape the human life insurance companies
and impress the community by setting up
business in big offices, with plate glass fronts
and gilt lettering, while big salaries we're
paid to agents, aud fat plums fell to
the lot of the officers themselves. There are
now only two companies of any size that
underwite horses in town, aud a bitter
rivally exists between them. One company
is up town and the other down town. The
up town office is chartered under the insur-
ance laws of the state, while the down town
company was organized under chapter 267
of the laws of 1885, providing for the Gre
alton of mutual benefit associations. Both
are mutual benefit associations.
bitter experience in tho way of heavy
losses in insuring horses has led to the
adoption of rigorous ruling out as mad
misslble for insurance purposes a 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 runaways,
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 pink eye,
collie, heaves, lung fever, poll evil, dis
temper, mad staggers, bad sight, SPAWN,
contracted hoofs, or ringbone.
Each of the insurance companies has q
veterinary surgeon in it's employ, who ham
mers on the horses chests, looks into their
mouths, and puts the animals through as
thorough test of their physical health as
men undergo in n life insurance company's
medical examination. The price for an ex-
animation is usually So.
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 $500 and
not less than 500. No insurance certificate
can be had now, believe, for more than
three-fourths the value Of the animal. The
downtown company moreover has a big
pasture containing fifteen acres or moro Of
good land not far from Williamsbridge.
where horses are sent to pasture in summer.
are suffering from overwork or nerv-
GUS prostration. The resort is free to
insured horses. With the consent Of
the Company, one horse may be sub
stituded for another. That Is, the policy
may be transferred frem one horse TO an
other. Inspectors make regular rounds
among the insured horses and report their
condition at the companyis Office. That has
been found to be a necessary course to pur
sue in order that INSCRIPTIONS owner may
be prevented from poisoning horse when
he Is in poor health, in order that he may
get the horse insurance. Owners of horses
must notify the company if they change
their place of residence.
els it worth while to insure q horse2
think so, if you are lucky enough to own an
irsurable horse. The way tho companies
,vao,. will hnu IN nav rF1lx
per cent annually on the value Of the
horse for your Insurance policy. A
curious experiment in horse insurance has
been tried for yeas by the Retail Grocers'
Union Of this town, an organiZa-
ton OF about 800 members. Inside of the
union horse insurance fund was started in
February, 1890. and IL per cent. was col
lected on the amount for which each horse
was insured, while losses were sustained pro
rata by the members in the scheme, A
yearly examination fee of 50 was charged,
81 to be retained if the horse should not be
accepted. No horse was insured for over rs
per cent. of its value.
I'm less than eight months losses by pneu-
monia and other diseases have been so great
that the grocers will probably be compelled
to raise the dues to per cent. That indicates
that even the grocers' horses, which are
usually very well cared for, sustain large
percentage of deaths. Most horse owners
are satisfied if they insure their
stables for good sum, imagining
that most of the danger to their
stock dying suddenly is in the direction of
| fire. Some interesting statistics have been
collected. Hear them and then decide for
| yourself whether horses should be insured.
| OF 704 insured horses that died in the past
five years and we're paid for by one of the
insurance companies, 1873 died of collie, n Of
| Inflammation of the bowels, IA of kidney
trouble, 81 of pneumonia, 50 of sunstroke, 80
of pinkeye, 81 of lockjaw, % of broken legs,
IL of epizootic. 10 of heart disease, 4 of blind
staggers. 9 killed by runaways, 4 were