Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1917-12-27
GREATEST INSURANCE
COMPANY IN WORLD
Has Applications for Nearly
Two Billion and Grows
Like Mushroom

washington, Dec. 2I.-O1 6H the
monster war mushrooms that have
grown on Uncle Sam IS doorstep here
since war was declared, the great in.
surance mushroom is perhaps the most
unique.
cup to the close of business today, y
said statement from the bureau, ethe
military and navel division of war risk
insurance had received 194,222 applica-
| tions from American fighting men.
"These applications represent insur-
ance Of $1,665, $4,000. The average
amount of insurance applied for per
man is 1854, the maximum permitted
by the law being $4,000 and the
minimum $1,000.
Applications continue to come in at
fast rate, averaging about $55,000,-
900 day."
1t is believed that this government
insurance baby is the biggest insurance
company in the history of the world.
The whole thing is chuck full of
human interest of the deepest dye.
Just as this statement was being pre-
pared for the United Press there came
the story of a soldier at the front who
had signed application for a $4,000
policy for his mother, dependent on
him for support back in America.
Starting at zero when the war insur-
ance, allowance and compensation law
went into effect October 6, it has
grown in the few intervening weeks
into monster government machine,
intricate, complicated and exacting,
functioning perfectly and growing
like mad.
At the present moment there is,
gathered from the four corners of the
land, a working force fo nine hundred
and sixty seven men, women and girls,
working long hours feverishly.
This force merely inaugurates the
work of selling America IS fighting
men from $1,000 to $4,000 worth of
insurance each, of seeing that depend
ents get their allowances and that
wounded men get their compensation.
With practically 1000 workers hard
at it getting the system under way,
and new faces being added at the rate
of 100 to 200 a week, it is estimated
that this force will number several
thousands before the work has pro-
gressed another six months.
In the long, highceilinged rooms
packed full of girls at Gathering type
writer's, here is a stenographer from
Seattle and beside her one from
Tennessee. An office boy from Maine
slaps patches of correspondence on
both their desks, which came from a
man who volunteered from Alaska.
Most of these young folk never had
seen Washington until few weeks
ago and none of them have had a
chance to more than glance at it since
they arrived.
This bureau has planked its units
down whenever it could find floor
space. Up to the present it has com
mandeered 10000 feet of floor space.
The amount is not SO unusual as its
location. 1t is about equally divided
between a hospital, public market
and national museum.
Behind the great, frosted glass doors
whose gold lettering informs that
therein you will find The Division of
Mammals of the New National Mus
cum, you come upon small army of
claim experts, packed in the big room
like sardines and poring over official
papers to see if they're all right.
The bureau just now is receiving and
an average of thirty-four
letters every six days.
The organizing genius behind all
this is Willard Streight, New York
banker and magazine editor.