The San Francisco call., 1906-07-27


~ cies Of the Milwaukee Mechan-
~ les Insurance Company yester-
day testimony was given tend
ing to show that a suit detri-
mental to the fire losers in San Fran
cisco was collusive.
An allegation was made by Attorney
Sydney Van Wyck il that he had been
told by Edward w. McGraw that he
(McGraw) disapproved of averments
made in the complaint of a suit to set
aside $1,469,000 to the company under
the law of Wisconsin and to leave only
s1,496,o00 to pay San Francisco losses.
although McGraw is one of the signers
of the complaint.
The losses of the company in San
Francisco, as reported under oath to the
New York Insurance Department under
date of June 80, 1906, are s2647e74
gross, although the net loss is made to
appear but s1,362,117 by making the
large allowance of s794,392 and $491,465
for reinsurance, these savings amount
Ing. as a matter of bookkeeping, to
S1,2S5,S57.
But the salvage item is much less
than these figures actually, and the re-
insurance is uncertain to very large
degree. as experience has shown in the
cases of other insurance companies, and
the policy holders could not see how
they were to get their money If ST.
$4,000 was to be held back by and
administered by the present officers of
the Milwaukee Mechanics Insurance
Company.
After some discussion 1T was decided
TO send telegram to the United States
Judge at Milwaukee before whom the
case is pending, asking him not to issue
any decree until the San Francisco cred
itors could make some presentation of
facts. "A vote was adopted that the tel
egram to the court should be signed by
Ossood Putnam, chairman Of the meet
Ing; by McGraw, II his signature could
be secured, and also by Insurance Com
missioner Wolf. Chairman Putnam
was authorized to appoint a committee
Of FIVE to provide for organization of
the policy holders and for joint action.
Some of the speeches that were made
contained accusations of bad faith on
the part of the Milwaukee Mechanics
Company. D. s. Dorm declared that
the company was able to pay dollar
for dollar on all San Francisco losses.
and that any proposition to accept less
was an outrage. Attorney Sanford
F5genbaum read from letters he had
received from Milwaukee, in which the
was contained Ihat the
company is able to pay in full. and he
decried any attempt to settle for less
than 100 per cent.
Attorney Van Wyck spoke to the
same effect He read from a COPY of
the complaint filed in Milwaukee, in
which McGraw and Ira M. Cobe fig
ured as comBlainants. and called at
tention to one paragraph in the docu-
ment that asked the court to compel
all San Francisco policy holders to file
their claims before a master in chan
cery al Milwaukee or be debarred from
receiving any dividends or share in
the distribution of the fund held for
payments in general conf1agrations
The paragraph was as follows:
That each and every claimant against
the said fund and each and every
claimant against said defendant, aris-
Ing out of the said losses. or any of
them, be required by said decree to file
their claims before such master and
become. parties to this suit on pain of
being debarred from any dividends or
distribution of the said fund.
There was also a clause in the COM