Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1900-11-16
LIVES REckoNeo IN CASH.
Great Disasters Affect Life Insurance
Corr pr nles hut Little

CoEipr niles but Little.
The Galveston disaster, which cost
about o.COo lives and millions IN prom
crty damage. viii have practically no
effect on the business of life Insurance
companies. The Johnstown food hadn't
any, though the companies paid several
hundred claims as a result of the WHIP
ing out Of the town and the lives OF
many OF its citizens. Even the Span
ish-American war had little effect. This
is due to the great law OF average In
the war of death on life Galveston aud
Johnstown are mere flea bites.
None OF the companies knows the ex-
act amount Of its loss from the Calves
ton flood yet, but that doesn't ma tier.
The claims will come in at intervals
perhaps for years, as this mans or
that mans relatives, failing to hear
from him, discover that he Is dead and
that he had an Insurance policy and
forthwith demand a settlement with
the insurance company. The cost to
the companies Of the loss of life ut Cal
weston can be approximately gagged,
however, and the estimate will err
rather against the companies than In
their favor
There Is held throughout the United
States about $4,000, 100000 I'm insur-
ance. of which about 100000. 900 is
Industrial insurance-that Is, insurance
issued among the industrial classes I'm
policies of small amounts-tbe premi-
ums on which are collected weekly or
monthly. In the 100000 OF popula-
ton this country contains about 10. OOO.-
600 are rated as insurable. and OF tho
other 100000 about % per cent per-
haps are actually insured.
The deaths at Galveston numbered
roughly 5000 i'm population of about
10000. Reckoning one person In seven
as insurable and % per cent of these
as insured, there viii be about 175 poll
cies to be paid by the insurance comma
MES on Galveston victims The average
amount of an insurance policy In a CITY
like Galveston Is reckoned az nbout
$1,000. The total loss to the life insur-
ance companies will be something un-
der S3o0,0O0. a large sum of itself. but
a small one when compared with the
millions handled by the companies.
1t may be much less, because, as an
insurance man pointed out, persons
whose lives are insured for large
amounts usually live in houses which
are comparatively unlikely to tumble
down upon them even i'm such gale as
Galveston experienced. and conse-
quently most of the policies falling due
would be industrial policies for small
amounts.
In the sum of life and death q great
fire. food. n town wiped out, a city
devastated. war even. any of these Is
drop In the bucket in life insurance.
The great law OF average covers all. So
many men killed by bullets, so many
the less die of disease. SO farreaching
is the rule that one at least of the big
companies. whose business stretches
out across half OF the ci cilized world.
did not increase its rates en- the policies
of men who enlisted In the Spanish.
American war.
Disease in its many forms Is the one
foe OF the life Insurance companies.
Consumption alone accounts for one
fourth Of the deaths on which policies
are paid. and nine diseases are held re-
sponsible for nearly co per cent of the
total deaths on the companies books.
so that the fire and flood. the wiplng
out Of populous city like Buffalo or
Syracuse. counts with the men who
reckon human lives In dollars and
cents as Of much smaller Importance
than new disease or a few per cent
Increase In the mortality due 60 tuber-
culosis. pneumonia or typhoid or a
small increase In the suicide rate
New York Sun.