The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1903-01-14
FIRE LOSSES IN 1902.
The Total Was Lighter Than That
of Two Preceding Years.
From the Philadelphia Ledger.


The year 1902 was comparatively a
light one in the fire losses of the
United States and Canada. Allowing
a generous estimate for the month OF
December in the absence of carefully
compiled figures by the underwriters,
the total losses were hardly in excess
of s16l, 600, 900. This is about So, 900, :
600 less than the losses for 1901, and
between S17, 600, 900 and S19, 600, 900
less than the record of 1900, which
was the worst year in the recent his
tory of fire underwriting. The allow
ance for December, S13, 900, 900, in ar
irving at the general total, was
81, 900, 600 larger than that of Decem-
Der, 1900.
The losses for the last six months
of last year were nearly s8, 1000, 900 less
than in the corresponding period Of
1901. The aggregate for the first six
months was only 81, 600, 900 under the
first half Of 1901. This remarkable
difference between the two periods
was largely due to the Paterson and
Waterbury con6agrations in February.
ONLY ONE $40, 900, 600 MONTH. Es
There was only one month in which
the fire losses exceeded theS20, 900, 000
mark. In February the Paterson fire
caused over $1,000, 000 damage, while
in Waterbury more than 81, 900, 600
worth of property was destroyed, in
the year 1901 there was only one $780,
600, 600 month, and that was when
the total jumped up by the $40, 800, 600
conaagration in Jacksonville. In 1900
there were two months, each of which
showed losses in excess of $40, OOO 600.
In April of that year the Ottawa and
Hull fire destroyed nearly Sl3, OO0, 900
of property, and in June the North
German lloyd pier fresin Hoboken
contributed 3 loss Of $500, 600.
Except the Paterson and Waterbury
fires the worst fires in 1902 were at
Atlantic City on April 8, estimated at
81, 500,000 damage and the loss.of $500,
600 On the Armour plant at Chicago.
While in 1900 the abnormal loss was
due largely to the Hoboken and Ottawa
and Hull fires, the record of 1901,
which was unusually heavy, was due
to an abnormal number of fires.
November's losses ran up unexpected
ly high, or the gain would have been
still greater. The record for the sten
months ending with October was fully
sn, ,NG, 600 lighter than the cor
responding ten months of 1901.
The year was more favorable. for the
fire insurance companies than any Of
the preceding three years. There were
two considerations for this. There
we're several bad fires, notably that at
Atlantic City, in which much of the
property destroyed was wholly or
largely without insurance. While the
property loss at Paterson was over
81, 600, 600 the underwriters paid some
thing like So 900, 900. The Waterbury
insurance loss was about $3.50, 600
smaller than the property loss.
The other favorable factor was the
almost universal advance in FIRE insur-
auce rates throughout the country.
The advance ranged from 25 per cent
to 100 per cent, IN proportion to the
character of the hazards covered, and
were the result of the disastrous re-
cord of the previous four years. The
trouble began in 1898 with q series Of
rate wars starting with the dissolution
of the Tariff Association of New York.
So improbable did underwriting be-
come that many insurance companies