The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1909-01-14
FIRES AND INSURANCE.
What Being Burned Out May Mean to
a Business.

suppose you heard that Blank
& Co. were burned out from roof
to the basement last night" re-
marks the man in the car.
"NoY exclaims the friend who
hasn't seen the morning paper. Il
suppose they carried insurance."
ooh, yes-a hundred thousand
Of it," returns the first speaker, at
which his friend settles back with
the comment that everything is all
right then.
This is the layman's conclusion
almost invariably. Some big con-
Germ 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 of the enor-
nous risks of a business which
cannot be covered by insurance
and which for weeks, months, or
years after a fire are gripping and
and perhaps ruinous to the fire
victim.
Take, for example, a highly OF,
gained factory plant in prosper
Gus times which has been turning
out 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
building and all material adjuncts
of the plant have been covered to
full value will the reader dare
make rough guess as to what the
limitations of loss may be?
Only the other day l stepped
into a bookbindery, unostentatious
in its street signs and occupying
fifth floor in an obscure street.
In the elevator shaft was that pc
culiar odor which marks the track
OF fire and firemen days and weeks
after such an accident.
Most of the fire was next door"
explained the proprietor, but l
guess the smoke and the water
were about as bad for us. Some
times it is almost better to have
the fire yourself than be next door
to it"
Which seemed to be especially
true of book material Wher
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 insurance which
he had been carrying. But in the
extent of this insurance itself was
a knotty situation.
Ordinarily the house had car
ried policies which would have
left it the minimum Of risk on its
machinery, stock and materials.
Ordinarily a still further blanket
was carried for the purpose of Gov
ering the normal amount of book
material on hand owned by others
and contracted for rebinding. But
only few days before the fire the
house had received a consignment
of S., 900 worth of law books to be
bound. These volumns, aside
from intrinsic value, represented
. much of other value as to make
ahe risk abnormal for almost any
teason. And these books were
ruined.
Before receiving them the bind
ar had asked the owners to take
put a policy for themselves pro-
7ecting them against such fire loss.
The firm had not done so, and
when the fire damage came the
disposition of the owners was to
hold the binder for them under
one of the binders blanket poll
cies.
! On this one disputed point, tax
ing it into court, will some one
make guess as to what this one
feature of tbA FIRE NAV COct tba