The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1908-12-30
FIRES AND INSURANCE
Mat Being Burned Out May
Mean to a Business.
DAMAGE ONE CANNOT COVER.

ing Away Of Trade That Are Not
Appreciated by the General Public.
II suppose you heard that Blank s.
20. were burned out from the roof to
he basement last night?' remarks the
nan in the car.
mol" exclaims the friend who hasn't
seen the morning paper. II suppose
hey carried insurance."
ooh, yes-a hundred thousand Of it,
| :eturns the first speaker, at which his
| friend settles back with the comment
hat everything is all right then.
This is the layman's conclusion al.
most invariably. Some big concern
burns out, but with insurance to an
amount seeming to cover the loss the
average man is disposed to feel that it
is all right. He doesn't stop to think
If the enormous risks of a business
which cannot be covered by insurance
and which for weeks, months or years
after a fire are gripping and perhaps
ruinous to the fire victim.
Take, for example, a highly organ
lied factory plant in prosperous times
which has been turning out a vast
specialized product from the hands of
thousands Of expert workmen. This
plant. fitted with costly machinery, is
covered by insurance upon its visible,
material assets. Fire sweeps it and
lays everything in hopeless ruin. If
every piece Of machinery, every build
ing and all material adjuncts of the
plant have been covered to full value
in such a plant, will the reader dare
make a rough guess as to what the
limitations Of loss may be?
Only the other day I stepped into
4 bookbindery, transformations in it's
street signs and occupying a fifth
floor in an obscure street. In the ele-
vator shaft was that peculiar odor
which marks the track of fire and fire.
men days and weeks after such an
accident.
"Most of the fire was next door," ex-
planned the proprietor, 'but I guess
the smoke and the water were about
as bad for us. Sometimes it is almost
better to have the fire yourself than
be next door to it."
Which seemed to be especially true
Of book material. Where smoke and
SCOT had failed to blot and ruin the
stock, water from the engines in the
street had flooded it until ruin alone
was descriptive. Everything had been
closed down, workers in the plant
were idle. and the proprietor was
awaiting the adjustment Of the insur-
ancc which he had been carrying. But
in the extent of this insurance itself
was a knotty situation.
Ordinarily the house had carried pol.
icies which would have left it the
minimum Of risk on it's machinery.
stock and materials. Ordinarily a still
further blanket policy was carried for
the purpose Of covering the normal
amount Of book material on hand
owned by others and contracted for
%rebinding. But only a few days be-
fore the fire the house had received il
consignment Of $1,000 worth of law
books to be bound. These volumes,
aside from intrinsic value, represented
so much Of other value as to make
the risk abnormal for almost any sea-
SOL. And these books were ruined.
Before receiving them the binder
had asked the owner to take out a
policy for themselves protecting them
against such fire loss. The firm had
not done SO, and when the fire dam.
age came the disposition of the owners
W., y, h,II @l,n l3,l>. So Al,o,> .,So,
one Of the binders blanket policies.
On this one disputed point, taking II
into court, will some one make
guess as to what this one feature OF
the fire may cost the binder, who t.
all purposes was insured" If it SHOULD
be settled In the supreme court after
five or seven years, for example?
But in the case of the big manufac
tory, with its imported special machin
cry, its season of rush work and it
enormous and t%luctuating stock Of ma
terial-if on the morning after tn
fire the assuring companies settle IL
full for the visible losses, how mucl
has the company been damaged?
OF first consideration, perhaps, is tn
euOTLlouS puyIOll VI Tic CONCeFu. l
most Of the mechanical work of tn
plant has been done by pieceworkers
still the necessary force Of directin
employees on salary is Il problem. TIL
determination of the owners Is to star
up anew. Tried and proved employee
must be retained while the work G
rehabilitation goes II. They must b
paid ever If they are to do no NOR
than wait. Settlement Of some kin
must be made with contractors VIII
have been supplying raw material
from the hands Of other thousands {
workers. No matter what the clause
in contracts providing immunity
case Of fires. strikes and acts Of Prov
dence, every line Of business affectin
the welfare Of the mandatory hs
been affected.
, The plant is a total loss. Before
J can be rebuilt the ruins Of the old ia
! tory must be cleared away.
In the meantime all those custome,
: Of tho manufactOry who have be;