The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-05-17
FIREBUGS AND ms TRANCE.
Seventy Per Cent. OF the Fires Put Down
by the Companies as Incendinry.

Seventy Per Cent. of the Fires Put Down
by the Companies as lncendinry.
Insurance rates in New York have not risen
because of recent exposures Of incendiarism.
The insurance experts had long known that in
cendiarism was common In New York, as else
whore. In fact, 10 per cent. of all fires in the
United States are set down as incendiary.
These figures are not quite SO bad as they
sound, for under the head Of I" incendiary" in
the statistics of the insurance companies are
included not only fires started by owners Of
property for the sake of obtaining the in
surnnce. and fires started by the enemies Of
nronerty owners. but UNEXPLAINED fires of a
strongly s~spicious nature. Indeed, most Of
-. ~. ca, down "a incendiarv are NJ
tneoo 'a'o nc' uo"" -
the last-namci class, since incendiarism IS
hard to prove. The insurance companies are
...u. ... no-ouor that n x.rv law.
hora'y certaIn' ho"e'et' 'n". " VOL, I'eo
part of the 20 per cent. of fires set down as
ineendiary are truly such. Perhaps the most
CONVINCING e''ue", y ms 10 nunu :" ."o
enormous increase In the NUMBER OF nres during
hard times. The normal fire loss OF this coun-
:, I.e1oo ooo ooo a v.or p,+ II r,sss yi,b
Try s'oo'ooo,ooo per yeai' i,seo =.
every panic. 1t rose to about S@5o,ooo'o 600 dur
ing the worst year of the present depressed Pc
.;a, No. COCO nm ooo &, ,notber vs.r and
was vas about 81 30. 600, 600 last year. These figures
mean that thousands. of desperate men with
rum Starring them II iaoe' hreu '"e" ptop-
erty for the sake OF the Insurance..
Not onIv have fire insurance rates not risen in
~. -, 49,. ~. 80 .nh Iona - -
Ne" horH' outtne1 arc ahu ioh ha'o
lower than those of other American cities. The
prevalence OF ineeha!Arism helps 10 ae'ermlhe
the average rate D insurance pu' II seiuom
greatly affects the special rate OF a particular
locality. When n town becomes notorious for
oS.nu c. 80. .a,m..
ihcenuiary hfeS most u tue coihpah'es reluss 10
n safe place for insurance risks, began to have
49, ...a.u o.. o.. 1T.
many ihcehoiary nros h'e OF siA years ago. ana
in consequence most of the insurance COM
noniea rafnsed IN do business therc II ausuolIv
SIS -. .au,n.,ioa thosat 4, 49, tna,..na.
the Boaru compahies-tnose ia inc insurance
combinatiOn-that take such a step, and this
leaves the place open to companies outside the
combination, some Of them strong, many OF
tiously than the Board companies. Savannah
has a bad name with the Board companies, and
Cincinnati once had.
The insurance companies have what they call
the blue book. containing the fire record of every
person insured. The cause OF every fire occur
ring is there set down and every suspicious FIRE
noted. The companies do not act jointly In boy
cotting any blacklisted person, nor do they d.
rectly charge incendiarism against any uncon-
victed person. but every Board company re-
In tho black list. TO raise the rates for such a
person might be libellnus, so the rates are
not raised, but excuse il made when he
comes seeking insurance. The presence OF
a known incendiary in q building does
not cause an increase OF rates to his
co-tenants and his neighbors, but simply
makes IL impossible for him to obtain Insurance
In the Board companies, The insurance map of
New York, as revised from time to time. is ono
of the most curious business manifestations in
49, IL. !. - Iii 4 .I- "A.