Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1906-06-14
YEAR
COMM oNWEALTH FIRE lNsUR.
ANcE COMPANY ENJOYS BIG
BUSINESS
ottunnwa Concern, Organized Less
Than Year Ago BY ottumwa Bust
ness Men, Has Prospered Beyond
the Most sanguine Expectations.

Inc value of an insurance policy is
measured by the dependability and sta
plllty OF the company that issues 1t, the
promptness of the concern in settling
It's losses and the manner in which the
policy. itself Is written and can be con-
strued. It was with these facts in
mind that the officers and directors of
Ottumwa's fire insurance company, the
Commonwealth, began business less
than a year ago. These facts have
governed the company since it's orga-
ntzation. For about ten months the
Commonwealth company has conduct
ed successful and satisfactory bust
ness, so satisfactory that the contin-
ued success Of the Ottumwa insurance
company is assured
The Commonwealth Fire Insurance
company is particularly, a Wapello
county and southern Iowa enterprise.
1t is made up of men who have long
been prominently identified with bust
ness institutions that have given to OF
tumwa it's splendid reputation as a
commercial and manufacturing center.
No city in the middle west can boast
OF business concerns more wisely man
aged and more uniformly successful
than those that enter into the business
life Of Ottumwa. And it is from these
firms, from among the men that have
made these firms successful, that the
Commonwealth Fire Insurance company
drew It's stockholders and directors.
A. stronger combination of business
sense and judgement could not we'll be
assembled. And as good Judgement
is an essential to the management of
successful insurance company the
Commonwealth company, at it's very
organization, started under the most
suspicious circumstances. Prophecies
of success were made for 1t, but its
most sanguine friends hardly antici-
pated that 1t would be so strongly in
trenched and write such volume of
the most approved risks in such a
short space of time.
To Ottumwa and Wapello county
people the Commonwealth Fire Insur-
ance company is able to make an espe-
cially strong argument for business. 1t
is safe to say that there is not a single
resident Of the whole county but is per
sonally acquainted with one or more
of the stockholders in the Common
wealth company. The board of direc-
tors, comprising seventeen Of the stock
holders, Is made up of men who have
spent years in business In Ottumwa,
men who are known throughout the
county and indeed through all southern
Iowa. Nearly every property owner in
Wapello county enjoys a personal &C
quaintance with at least one Of these
seventeen men and could be sure of
careful attention should he have
claim for insurance with the company.
Such an intimate arrangement abso-
lutely insures promptness in settle
ment and fairness in adjustments,
while the undoubted honor and integ-
rity of the men who make up the COM
pany give ample assurance that it is
dependable and can be relied upon to
fulfill any promise its policies make.
Security First Consideration.
But individual integrity was not the
only thing considered when this COM
pany was organized. The stockholders
fulfilled all the strict provisions Of the
Iowa insurance law and then, in order
to make assurance doubly sure, they
went step farther. According to the
Iowa law, the stockholders must de-
post in cash twenty-five per cent Of
the amount of their holdings, securing
the balance with notes. In the case
of the Ottumwa enterprise, not only
was this provision carried out, but each
and every note was secured by collater-
al such as bank stock, bonds, mortgage
notes, etc. equal in value to much more
than the face of the note, SO that there
could be no possible question as to the
entire reliability of the company.
The Commonwealth Fire Insurance
company, as Wapello county institu-
ton, is particularly able to make a
strong bid for the business of Wapello
county and vicinity. With record Of
absolute reliability, attested by its
prompt settlement of all losses and Its
excellent financial condition, 1t has
early reached the stage where it does
not ask for business on a plea of
friendship, but on the purely business
proposition that it Is to the interests
of the property owners of Wapello
county to insure in a home company,
made up of men known to be success
full and thoroughly reliable.
Ottumwa and Wapello county peo-
pie Justly feel proud of their insur-
ance company. They see in 1t con-
Germ in which they can rely absolute
ly for fair treatment and for rigid
fulfillment, of all it's promises. Just as
it is more satisfactory to transact