The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-07-29
INSURANCE IN ICELAND.

All lultIeSlluS DeNelUpHleIll Ol lIle System at an Early Period.
 Centuries before the wise citizens of London recognized the value of fire in- surance there existed a most interest," ing form of it, and that not in any of the great commercial nations of the middle ages, but in remote island of the Atlantic-in Iceland. This fact, re- markable as it Is In itself, will not seem so surprising to those who are &C., quainted with the ancient condition of that country, which has for several hundred years played but small part in European history: Its first colo nists, in the end of the ninth and be- ginning of the tenth centuries, were among the most enterprising of Nor ways sons; and for the next three cen turies their new home rivalled the mother-country in most respects, and far excelled 1t in mental activity. The old poetry of Norway died out about the year 1000 A. D., andfr om that date, so long as there were skalds at the court of the Norwegian kings, they were Icelanders. At the same time they were careful farmers, daring sea- men and enterprising traders. They traded regularly with all the neighbor- ing countries, and thought little of an overland journey to Constantinople, where many of them served in the body-guard of the Byzantine emperor. At home, next to the necessary care of their herds and flocks, they were above all devoted to poetry, history and law. To be skilled in the latter was sure title to respect at a time when law books were still unknown, and codes were carried in the head of the Law man." or declared by the Law speak er," at the meetings of the Althing, or yearly assembly. In the thirteenth 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 interested in legal studies, and they are now pre- served in collection commonly known as Gragas or gray-goose Ca name of doubtful origin) which is used as a general name for the laws of Iceland prior to its union with Norway in 12e2.
 It is in this collection of laws that the interesting item of compensation for loss by fire occurs, q section which is quoted by the editor of an Icelandic journal of last year, in the first of a series of articles on the ancient civili- zation of Iceland The editor, Dr. Val tyr Gudmundsson, is one of the best authorities on this subject, and uses the quotation as text to point out to his eountrymen the superior foresight of their ancestors in this respect. The modern Icelander has not yet realized 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 In succession without It's being insured. It was otherwise In the old days, as Dr. Valtyr points out. In the time of the old republic, the golden age of Iceland, every yeoman-farmer was by law compelled to be a member of mutual insurance society The method by which compensation for loss of fire was made is thus explained in Gra-gas, and Is striking proof of the thoroughly practical views of the old Icelanders:
 There are three houses in every mans dwelling for which compensa- tion may be obtained in event of their being burned down." Gn Icelandic dwellings each room was a separate building, and so is called a "house.") "One Is the women's sitting room, an- other the common sitting-room, and the third pantry where the women prepare the food If man has both a sitting-room and a hall then at the spring assembly he shall choose wheth
 CT he will rather have the sitting-room or the hall insured. there is a church or chapel on any mans farm, then that is the fourth house liable for compen- sation, where 1t exists. If any of these houses aforementioned is burned down, the owner shall summon five of his 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 valuables burned along with 1t: but only such clothes and valuables as the owner requires for daily use shall be reckoned for compen- sation. If a church Is burned, there shall be reckoned along with it for compensation all the hangings, 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 valued by the neighbors, as above provided, one-half of the loss had to be born by the yeonan himself, and the other half was made good by all the other yeo- men in the district. From each of these a certain amount was levied in proportion to the value of his property, and if this were not paid within a spec flied time it could be seized by law. At the same time it was provided that no one could be called upon to pay as his share more than one per cent of the whole property, and it was not compul- sory to compensate the sam eperson for loss by fire more than three times Chamber Journal.
 BANDS ASSIGNED TO CONCERTS.