Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1893-02-18
HORSE LIFE INSURANCE
MANY COMPANIES ARE ORGANIZED
euT FEW SURVIVE.

Rigid Conditions and Regulations which
Are Deemed Nee~ssary-The New York
Grocers' observation-disclosures Stat
istics for Horsemen.
Probably no kind Of property in this
town Ii so easy to invest In and so easy TO
lose In ~ horses, said a former officer Of
live stock insurance company that recently
went To smash. Horse life insurance has
been disastrous to every capitalist who has
touched il until within q short time, and,
after taking advantage of experience gain
ed In both Europe and America, horse life 1
insurance Is still an experiment. In Eu-
rope horse life insurance has been tried for I
more than 100 years, with fair share of
success to the investors In the enterprise.
In this country il has been conducted on
various pinns, and many of tine schemes
have failed to meet the end for which they
were designed. Though not over dozen
years have elapsed since the lives Of horses
were insured on "A 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 II does not do
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.
1.-THE reasons why there have beap 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
/ panies and impress the community by set
ting up business in big offices, with plate
glass fronts and gilt lettering, while big
salaries were paid 10 agents and fat plums
fell to the lot of the officers themselves.
/ There are now only two companies of any
size that uuderwrite horses In town, and a
bitter rivalry exists between them. One
company Is MP town and the other down
1 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-
at associations. Both are mutual benefit
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 n 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 staggcrs or mad sfaggers,
cab horses. omnibus horses and business
horses. Owners are required to declare
whether their horses have had pinkeye.
collie, hcayes, lung fever, poll evil. distem-
per, mad staggeTs, bad sight, SPAWN, con-
tracted hoofs or ringbone
Each OF the insurance companies has a
veterinary surgeon in its employ, who
hammers on the horses chests looks into
their mouths aud puts the animals through
as thorough a test OF their physical health
as men undergo In life insurance com
pany's medical examination. The pric,
for an examination in usually s..
animals from one to twelve years ars
insurable for terms Of three years, Over
twelve years old only from year 10 year
! Insurance l. confined practically to mule.
and carriage horses not worth over $40
! and not less than 800. No insurance Ger
tificate can be had now, believe, for mor'
; than three fourths the value Of the animal
The downtown company, moreover, has
big pasture containing fifteen acres o.
more OF good land not far from Williams
bridge where horses ARE sent To pasture il
summer. Horses only get oats a-plent,
: when they are suffering from oyerwork o
6 nervous prostration. The resort is free 4
7 insured horses. With the consent of tn
company one horse may be substituted TO
7 another-that is, the policy may be trans
J ferred from one horse 10 another Inspect
! ors make regular rounds among the in
! sured horses and report their condition a
> the companyts Office. That has been foun,
: To be necessary course to pursue in orde
: that INSCRIPTIONS owners may be pre-
! vented from poisoning horse when b
Is in poor health, SO that he may &c
! the horse insurance Owners of horse
u must notify the company II they chang
> their place Of residence.
:. THE GRocERs' ORGANIZATION.
i "Is il worth while to insure a horsef
g think so il you are lucky enough to ow
d an insurable horse. The way the con
r, panies are insnring you will have to pa
q only per cent. annually on the value &
the horse for your insurance policy. j
curious experiment In horse insurance ha
been tried for a year by the Retail Grocer
~ union of this town, an organization {
about 900 members. Inside Of the union
Is horse insurance fund was started In Eel
y ruary, 1880, and IL per cent. WAS collecte
? on the amount for which each horse Wa
D insured while losses were sustained pI
o rata by the members in the scheme.
: yearly examination fee of s. was charge.
u 81 To be retained IL the horse should not
accepted. No horse was insured for oys
n IS per cent. of its value.
y Most horse owners are satisfied II the
N insure their stables for good sum, ina,
. lining that most of the danger to their stoc
y dying suddenly il in the direction OF fir
~ Some interesting statistics have been CO
% lected. Hear them and then decide Il
l. yourself whether horses should be insure,
or 7O4 insured horses that died in fN
years and were paid for by one OF the ii
d surance companies is3 died OF collie, II
m Inflammation of the bowels, a of kidns
ne trouble 81 of pneumonia, SO of sunstrok
d 50 Of pinkeye. 81 of lockiaw. . of broke
IL legs, IL of epizootie, 10 OF heart disease,
Ne OF blind stagRers, killed by runaways.
1. were drowned were killed by lightnin
4. Us died OF unknown diseases, and only
e. were burned. Probably more than 81,
~ on, 900 Is invested in New York state
III live stock on which no insurance Is carrie
To for loss by disease or accident other tha
n BY fire. and the estimated loss will be
" per cent, II not more than that. In II
years There are twenty-three tim
greater risk of horses dying OF eolic tha
by FIRE, three times greater risk OF dyir
h. from broken legs, five times greater rit
nf from lockjaw nine times greater risk fro
"A Inflammation Of the bowels, and six tim
H. greater risk from pneumonia The ris
90 from all causes Is eighty eight times grea
OF er than from death hy tire.-New 10.