The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-04-16

from his observations. tended more to
ready insurance and harmonious rela-
ticns between assurance company and
assured.
Companies Have Blacklist.
one fact was brought out which. as
a general rule. is not known by the
public. All the great fire insurance
companies have a blacklist. containing
the names of persons who have been
convicted of or are under suspicion Of
arson. Thus a policy might be issued
TO a person in Salt Lake. and vouchers.
etc, forwarded TO the general office.
his name might remain on the COM
panys books for month or more and
then it is discovered that he has been
mixed up in some shady fire loss.
Immediately the local office issuing
the policy would he wired to cancel il.
II the blacklisted person has had pro-
lection for one month the proportiOnate
premium for that space of time is de-
Quoted from the whole and the balance
is returned.
AS an evidence Of how little trust is
placed i'm a person once he is blacklist
ed, the head Office never wastes time
writing regarding the matter a wire
Is much quicker and may save several
thousand dollars in the end This sys-
TEN of blacklisting has gone a long
ways toward breaking up arson
throughout the country. but the adjust
eT has to be ever on the lookout
The adjuster quoted above expressed
the opinion that arson seems to break
out in streaks. It would seem as
though the germ OF arson fever" some
times gets busy in n district and be
fore the blacklist or any other anti
cote can be administered wipes out
years of premium profits among the
insurance companies
Montana recently had severe out
Er-ea~s L !,
took cOgnizauce of il by making it i'm
possible TO recover more than three
fOurthS the value Of the property loss
Even though the policy holders entire
stock of goods or furniture was de
Stroyed. he can realize from his insur-
ance only 80 per cent Of the appraised
value.
One Hundred and Fifty Companies in
the World
There are today about IA fire in
SuranCe companies doing business all
over the world. or these less than a
score are organized outside the United
States. Many having intricate multi
syllabied names are mistaken for Ger
man companies. 1t is true that some
of the large companies belong to the
old world empire. but German citizens
I'm the United States are responsible for
some OF the Teutonic names.
THE proper thing for a person to
do. said an adjuster, speaking of
home companies. is not to insure i'm
home organizations. but to go outside
his own city and let the other fellow do
the same In this way there is less
danger in case of a great fire Of half
q dozen or a dozen or a score Of home
companies going under. Where there is
fair exchange of business the chances
Of home companies being 'kinked' by
home losses are Iessened. AS many as
-
more went under as a result of the
great fire there last year
Five Millions a "Kink."
In some cities OF the east Insurance
companies are compelled by law to
show Just what their liabilities are in
a certain fire district The table shows
exactly what each stands to lose i'm
case "a fire should carry away every
thing in the district In many cases
should such q fire occur. il would bank
rupt the company. or course. even the
solidly founded old established compa-
MES would be little linked by loss
OF S4.000.00O or $1,000 600 but il would be
only for a minute, tt would simply
mean the converting into cash of that
amount of securities. which they al
ways keep on hand for such a crisis
The big Atlas block fire of two
years ago meant q loss to some insur-
ance companies that viii take four
years of premiums in Salt Lake 10 re-
pair For a city of this size, the sum
of $4,000 is looked on by adjusters as
a severe loss
Miscellaneous Experiences.
Asked TO recall some experiences he
had heard related by different agents
the above quoted adjuster offered the
following: He asked to be absOlved
from any suspicion of chestnut ped
ding. stating that the following stories
had only come recently to his atten-
ton through the annual meeting OF the
Fire Underwriters association of the
Pacific:
This music store man had incurred
his first loss. He waited in fear and
trembling The adjuster came and
recommended the payment of the claim.
Acknowledging the receipt Of the mon
ey. the delighted merchant said: Your
fire insurance company is like my new