The San Francisco call., 1896-11-27
ODD INSURANCE STORIES.
ases which Strikingiy Illustrate tn,
PeriIs of Life.


Cases Which Strikingiy Illustrate the
Perils of Life.
The high Importance of life insurance
has become SO generally realized of late
years, says It'd Bits, and policies are held
by so many thousands now that it is
scarcely strange that there are many won.
derful stories in this connection.
A very remarkable thing occurred to
Sheffield grocer a few months ago. Hav-
ing a wife and three children dependent
upon him, and not making an income
much more than sufficient for current ex-
penses, he decided to take out an insur-
ance upon his life for the protection of his
family against destitution in the event of
their being suddenly robbed of his sup
port. He applied to good company,
went through the usual formalities and
awaited the result.
A few days later, after having closed his
shop for the night, he was sitting in his
parlor over the shop, when he heard the
postman's character ristlc knock. He threw
down his paper and hurried downstairs.
When in the middle of long, steep fight
his foot slipped and he was forcibly pre-
cipitated down the remainder of the stairs
into the hall below, where he struck his
head heavily against metal letter box,
which caused concussion of the brain,
from which he died in the course of few
days.
The extraordinary feature of this story.
which sounds like the daring fiction of
penny-a-liner, is the TACT that in the letter
box, at the time OF the accident was the
life insurance policy for which the grocer
had been negotiating. 1t had just been
delivered by the postman, to whose knock
he had responded. In point OF extraordi-
nariness this story. which is placed with
out the pale OF suspicion by its source
would be hard to beat.
There are many similar cases of policies
being taken out at the eleventh hour as it
has proved. Only last summer gentle
man who was on the following day to
have started on a noun taineering tour
through Switzerland, went to big London
insurance company to go through the final
formaiities and get his policy. This was
done and he left the office, which is situ-
ated in a thoroughfare where the traffic is
seriously congested. Turning straight out
of the office without looking where he was
going, he ran into the horse of hanson,
by which he was knocked down and fatally
injured.
A strange case, illustrative of the value
of newspaper insurance, which has be-
come SO popular of recent years, was that
of a country carpenter. He had just
knocked off work near station, and was
lettering about talking to the porters,
From one of the compartments
directly opposite the carpenter
gentleman alighted, leaving q paper
upon the seat. The man mentioned the
fact to him, and. being informed that it
was no longer wanted, he took possession
of it for himself to read over his evening
pipe. He slipped it into his pocket, and
after few more remarks to the porters,
went off home, making his way along the
railway, which, in the country, is much
more common thing than is supposed.
About hallway home he was overtaken
by train, knocked down and killed in
stantly. His wife very promptly-is is re-
markable how prompt people can be
under these ircumstances-put in her
ella m for the insurance, of which the
paper the deceased carried was the policy,
and proved her Kinship..
There is a strong vein of the pathetic
running through the following story: A
commercial traveller who traded for
London soft-goods mr. firm, ,,t had, with wise
riage. and had kept up the payment for
twenty-three years in the hope OF provid-
ing for his wife and five children against
his death.
After twenty-three years financial diff
culties, which only changed to go from
bad to worse, prevented his making one
of the payments, which, OF course caused
the policy to fall through.
Within q week of this the traveller was
seized in the street by spasm of pain
and died of heart disease almost imme-
diately, leaving his family in state bor-
dering on destitution, which he had for
so many years struggled to guard against.
The facts of this sad case were brought
before the insurance company, which
acted in a most generous manner by re-
turning to the widow all the money paid
in premiums by her husband. Still, the
irony of fate has fine illustration in this
story.
A feet of 100 vessels is engaged from
January to August each year in the cap
ture of sharks near Iceland. Only the
liyers are sought. That of each yields five