Daily Kennebec journal., 1898-09-20
ICELAND INSURANCE.
The lille island Is Pioneer in the Busi.
ness.

sUrance there existed a most interest
ing form of it, and that not i'm any of
the great commercial nations of the
Middle Ages, but lin remote island of
the Atlantic-in Iceland. This fact, re-
n1arkable as it is i'm itself. will not
seem so surprising to those who arc
acquainted, with the ancient conditiosl
Of that country, which has for several
hundred years played but small part
in European history. Its first cOlonist ts,
ID the; end of the ninth and beginning
OF the tenth centuries, were among the
tti0st enterprising of Norway's sons.
ana for the next three centuries their
new home rivaled the mother country
I'M most respects, and far excelaed it in
mental activity.
The old poetry of Norway died out
about the year 1000 A. D., and, from
that date, SO long as. there were skalds
at the court OF the Norwegian kings,
they We're IcelaIders. At the same
time they were careful farmers, daring
seamen ard enterprising traders. They
traded regularly with all the neighbor-
siing countries. and thought little OF an
overland journey to Constantinople,
where many Of them served in the
body guard of the Byzantine Emperor.
AZ home. next to the necessary care of
'sttleff herds and flocks. they We're above
l all devoted to poetry. history and law
4 To be skilled in the latter was a sure
! tikie to respect at time when law
y books We're still unknown, and codes
SsHere carried in. the head of the .law-
{ MAN., or declared by the 'lawspeak-
Il err" atsthe meetings of the althing, or
yearly assembly.
N* In the 18th century these laws of use
and wont came to be written down, not
officially, it would seem, as happened
In other countries. but by persons in
terested in legal studies, and they are
now preserved in collection common
~ known as Gra-gas, or gray goose "a
name of doubtful originD, which is used
as general name for the laws of Ice
land prior to it's union with Norway
In 1862
1t is in this collection of laws that
the interesting items of compensation
for loss by fire occurs. a section when
is quoted by the editor of am Icelandic
Journal of last year. in the first of a
series OF articles ON the ancient civil
ization of Iceland. The editor, Dr.
Valtyr Gudmundsson, is one of the
best authorities on this subject, and
uses the quotation as text to point
OUT to his countrymen the superior
foresight of their ancestors in this re-
specf. ~,
The modern Iceland.er has uot vet real
lied the value of Insurance, as, shown by
the fact that one of the foremost yeomen
in'the' country had his farm burned down
three. times i'm succession without its be-
ing insured. 1t was otherwise in the Cd
days, as DIR. Valtyr points out. In the
time of the old republic the golden age
OF Iceland. every yeoman farmer was by
tuai insurance society. The method by
which compensate tiion for loss by fire was
made Ks thus explained in Gra-gras and
is, a striking proof of the thoroughly
practical views of the Old Icelander-:
There are three houses in every mans
dwelling for which compensation may be
obtained in event of their being burned
down. On Icelandic dwellings, each
room was a separate building. and so is
called a ''hp,lse.') zone is the women's
sitt'ingroOm. another the common sitting
room and the third a pantry where the
women prepare the food. II a man has
both sittingroom and "a hall, then at
the spring assembly he shall choose
whether he will rather have the sitting
room or the hall insured. If there Is q
church or chapel on any mans farm.
then that is the fourth house liable for
compensation, where it exists If any OF
these houses aforementioned is burned
",
neighbors. and get them to estimate the
damage that has been done. They shall
estimate the damage done to the house
itself and also that done to clothes and
other valliabl burned along with il. but
only such clothes and valuabies as the
owner requires for daily use shall be
reckoned for compensation. If a church
Is burned there shal be reckoned along
with it for compensation all the hang
ings. the choir and the best bell that has
been destroyed If there were more than
One. and all the furniture required for
daily use; the same thing shall be done
in the case of chapels.
When the damage had been va!ued py
the neighbors. as above provided. one
half of the ,eoss had to be borne BY the
woman himself and the other half was
made good by all the other yeomen IN the
district From each of these certsllh
amount was levied in proportion 10 tne
value of his property. anT II tfis WeIe
rot paid vii hin alspecified a time II couu
be seized by law. At the same time ~
was provided .hat no one could be calico
upoa to rsty as his share more than one
per cert of his whole property. ana IL
was rot compulsory to, compensate the
same person for loss by fire more than
three times. f8.s
The gold yield of Victoria during the
first seven months of the present year
amounted to ii7.1a9 ounces. showing an
increase of 6610 ounces. as compared With
H. ..s. 4 1E