The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-07-13

| 5cTlDerS 10 l1loyOS IN 1dil NOW tHere ar
nearly 1000.
! Like the old underwriters they are will
ling to consider any old risk and to ac-
cept almost any. at a price. There Is
still preserved among the archives of the
institution a policy on the life of Ma
poleon. written at Lloyds. 1t was for
one month and the premium was 3 per
cent.
| In these days that would be a very
ordinary risks at Lloyds. Policies on the
lives of threatened monarchs are almost
as common as policies upon delayed ships,
| which are common enough.
Many Elephants 1nsursL.
So are policies upon the safety of val
| liable animals Elephant insurance is
quite usual. One of the largest animal
+, policies was on the life of the great
Jumbo when he came to New York on q
Monarch Line steamship.
| He had such a rough voyage that at
| one time 1t seemed as If the underwriters
must lose But he didn't, and, unfortun-
| ately for the Barnum Circus, Jumbo's
owner he was not reinsured when the life
was knocked out of him by locomotive
at railroad crossing later
Race horses are frequently insured at
Lloyds; so are bank deposits, and once
at least the voice of a prima donna has
been.
| Another curious case of insurance in
the same line was that in which a great
| singer, who had been engaged to give
series of song recital before Queen Vic
| toria. insured the life of the Queen lest
her death should cut short the series, for
which the singer had ordered elaborate
gowns and had cancelled other profitable
engagements. Also If the Queen had died
the singer would have been compelled not
| to appear in opera. The Queen lived
| through the recitals, so the singer got
her money from another source than the
underwater.
The Prince of Wales jubilee stamps
were insured at Lloyds, too. prominent
firm of underwriters guaranteeing that the
| issue would be successful, as it was A
somewhat odder risk was the insurance of
glass bed packed in twenty cases and
shipped to an Eastern potentate. One
case was damaged and the underwriters
| had to pay in part.
Get Teeth Insured.
There is very little that Lloyds I'M
derwriter will not bet upon. If, for in
stance. you are uncertain about the per-
Torrance of your. gold tooth upon which
you have expended capital and the dent
list some skill communicate with Lloyds,
London. Somebody there will insure it for
you. The thing has been done before.
In the South African war. when the
| life companies were chary of battlefield
risks, there was always Lloyds to run
| to, and the underwriters there did n
| heavy business in such risks. 1t came out
| at the same time that gate money for
| cricket and football matches had been
insured
The underwriters were willing, in the
case of popular games, to do this for
| comparatively small premiums, though
their ability n calcnIafe this
kind of speculation, might seem to he
uncertain when the British climate is
taken into consideration
That doesn't cut so much ice with the
Lloyds underwater. If he loses on one
kind of bookmahng he equaliZes the loss
on another.
Many of them will insure against twins.
One weIl-known underwater has made
public announcement that he is always
ready to lay a thousand to one against
any such blessing falling upon a happy
father.
Once he insured agai lst twins and trip
lets arrived But he considered that COW
cred by the policy and paid cheerfuly.
content with the advertising the publicity
given 10 the fact conferred upon him
gratis, and not even insisting on deduct
ing from tht benefit the amount of the
Queens bounty,5 bounds, which is always
bestowed in such a contingency.
Another curious case of insurance was
widely commented upon in the London
papers as instancing the enterprise of
the Lloyds underwriters
Afraid Pole Will Fall.
An electric light pole was set up op-
posite the window of a milliners shop IN
a provincial town in England which was
taking to American methods of lighting
rather late in it's career. The milliner
10 ha Of ha
anyway. she was confident that some day
it would fall or be struck by lightning or
something and would destroy her valu-
able plate glass.
She appealed to the Ma yor, and he. |
hedrtless official would not consider a
spinster's fears enough to have the pole |
transfer ed to a place opposite some other |
bridesmaids window. He advised the |
milliner to insure the glass.
Lloyds' Underwriters saw a newspaper |
story about the old maids predicament |
ard promptly went to her relief. One of |
them offered her insurance against the |
falling of the pole at the very nominal |
rate of half a crown. or 30 cents on the |
hundred. She gladly accepted, and the
policy was made out. At last accounts
the pole was still standing.
Insurance against burglary is common
in England and is not unusual here, but |
a burglary insurance company, like that |
which eX-Police Chief Byrnes helped to
start in New York is doing the business.
When Mr.. Byrnes' company started his
idea was hailed as novelty in this city.
But 1t had been matter of routine bust
ness in the Lloyds underwriting room in
London for years.
OF course, marine risks compose the
greater part of the business undertaken
at I.loyds, but that has its of-the-way
features. The presence of bullion on
ship increase the insurance rates in pro-
portion to the amount involved.
Taking Big Chances.
When the steamship St. Paul ran on
the New Jersey beach off Long Island
in a fog six years ago, in her strong
room was million and a quarter in gold
bars consigned to a a firm of bankers
in New York. 1t was essential to the un-
derwriters that this gold should he taken
off the ship at the earliest possible mo-
ment for if she should break up, their
loss would have been enormous,
A special steamer was chartered to get
the gold and special guard was provided
for it, A sagging chute was rugged from
the St. Paul to the other steamer and
down this the gold was sent, twelve men
armed with revolvers keeping watch over
the operation.
They kept guard till the gold was landed
and transferred by truck IN a vault IN
Wall Street, and the underwriters fears
were set at rest.
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