St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-08-03

Theirs are few persons to whom, in the
absence of insurance, the destruction of
their dwellings or of their household
goods would not be a serious calamity,
while to the merchant or manufacturer
the burning of his premises Or stock or
machinery might be rulnOus. No age
or country has been exempt from such
fatalities, and no watchfulneSS has been
able to prevent them. Some protection
against the pecuniarY consequences
seems an essential condition of any ex-
tended system of manufactures or COM
merce.
Fire insurance, however, as an Or
ganiZed system, has had an origin COM
paratively recent. There are traces,
indeed, in earlier times of enforced or
voluntary contributions toward the re-
lief of sufferers by fire, but it is only
about the beginning of the seventeenth
century that we hear of proposals be-
ing made for more systematic prOviS-
ion, and it was not till after the great
fire of London, in 1866. that these pro-
posals took practical shape. This seems
at first to have been in the form
of underwriting by individuals or
by clubs, and some attempts were
made 10 engage the corporation
vi l1OlluOil III q VI lllo III
but in 1851 the first regular Office for in
surance against loss by fire was opened
by a combination of persons 'at the
back-Sde of the Royal Exchange" and
1t was followed shortly afterwards by
another. Of the insurance offices that
still survive, only one, the Hand-in-
Hand, dates from the seventeenth CEN
1880; five date from the first half OF the
eighteenth century, the Sun Q7lO).
Union Q714), Westminster Q710 Lon
don Q72Oj, and Royal Exchange Q72O);
while only three date from the second
/ half of that century, the SalOp O7S0),
Phoenix QT72). and Norwich Union
G797.) The first fire Office in Scotland
was established in 1920, the first in Ger
many in 1850, and the first proprietary
company in that country in 1873; the
| first Office in the United States was es-
! tabliShed at Philadelphia in 1852, one of
! its early directors having been Benja
/ min Franklin; the first in France dates
| from 1916. and the first in Russia from
| 1927.
! A part of the insurance system which has
/ developed into great magnitude is the prac-
! tice of reinsurance. 10 one company how
/ ever large its resources, deems ii prudent TO
undertake Il risk to an unlimited amount in
| connection with any one set of goods or one
locality. An office might restrict Its liabilities
| by refusing 10 insure TO larger amount than
! what il pleased to run the risk of but the
| convenience of the insured ana the interest
/ OF its own agents, TO say nothing of other
! considerations make il difficult for any Office
| so to limit its responsibilities. 1t therefore
| issues policy Tor the amount proposed to it
! but relnsures a part with some other Office or
! Offices Business to very large amount is
! exchanged i'll this way. and there are some
! Offices which professedly, and some which
! practically, live by the premiums paid over
p fl,a,,, t,t-s, rAffia
When insurance companies were first eS-
! tablished, and for q long time afterwards,
| they undertook not only to reimburse the in
| Sured for losses, but TO eXlnguiSh fires. In
one of the earliest prospectuses put forth lin
! $3.50, there is the promise that ''watermen
/ ana other labourers are TO be employed at
| the charge of the underwriters to assist at the
| Quenching Of fires" a writer in 1890 de-
| seribing the ingenious and useful invention
OF fire insurance office, says. They have a
/ great many servants in livery with badges,
| who are watermen, and other lusty
! persons dwelling III Sc reral parts of the citv
who are always to be ready when any sudden
fires happen. which they are very laboriOus
IL and deXierOus III quenching:' and De
| Fee, i'll an essay published in 1857. refers to
the same SUI ject. In les, when the sun Fire
Office was hrst projected, ii was proposed
I that all persons insured with Ii should have
/ mark represe nting the sun nailed up
against their houses, that the men wn ON it
| employed 10 exunguish fires and save prop
1 eTly might Qlfect llSlr eHOrtS specially Tor
! the benefit OF the houses 50 distinguished.
The general principles and practice of
fire Insurance are. in their main feat
! ureS, the same in most parts of the
world. In the United States the bus
mess has been pursued with character
istic energy. and with some peculiar ties
of law ana practice. As already stated,
the earliest American fire insurance
company was organized in 1852, and its
policies during the first year covered a
sum of sos, 800 at an average rate of
LIZ per cent. At the present time there
are within the state of New York alone
upwards of eighty nre Offices. having
assets amounting to tifiy-foUr millions
of dollars. and in the Insurance Year
Book for 1880 there is list gwen of
about 400 different native offices in the
various states. bat this does not include
Il large number OF local Offices OF small