El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-10-19

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! each additional child up to two II
[ the soldier leaves a child. but no
widow, the amount paid will be $50
and for two children, $50, while for
. three children it will be $40 a month
l with S. additional for each child up to
/ two more. II the mother Of the
| soldier be a widow she may receive
$50, but neither a widow nor mother
shall have her pension continued after
! remarriage. II the soldier becomes
disab led during the service he will
receive a payment Of from $50 to 500
per month, the latter sum being given
only when he IS permanently bed rid
| injuries Of various kinds received in
I battle or while in the service.
Soldiers Insurance.
Another important provision of
Uncle Sans is insrring the lives of
the men in the service Arrangements
for this have been made and they are
carried out through this bureau Of
naval and military insurance. Already
in the neighborhood Of 100000 appli-
cations for policies have been made
and the total amount OF insurance
written TO date is more than $50. 000.-
600. The average amount insured is
for $500 and II is estimated that more
than 80 out OF every 100 men are in
sured.
The object OF the government war
Insurance is TO give the soldiers and
sailors a chance to insure their lives
at reasonable rates. When the war
broke out the chief life insurance
companies added 500 per $1,000 to the
ordinary rates on all war life insur-
ance- This meant that the man who
took out $1,000 policy would have to
pay as much as the man in private
life and 800 more per year If he
took out $4,000 he would have to pay
the regular rate and an excess Of $500
per year. and II $500. the average
amount which the government Is Civ
. ssss. he would have to pay an excess of
This was manifestlv impossible for
men receiving only $3.50 and upward
per year and so the government estab-
lished this war risk insurance bureau
to take care Of the situation Accord
ing to its regulations the insurance
rates are less than one-tweIfth the
excess war rate charged by the life
insurance companies. These are lower
than the ordinary rates Of those COM
panies and are so arranged that after
the man has applied for insurance the
money for the premiCus is taken out
Of his pay every month and he need
not worry about his policy lapsing
from his not keeping It up.
Rates Are Very Low.
Moreover. the rates are exceedingly
low Those Of the draft ages from
p to 81 are only from S. to 20 cents
per $1,000 per month, so that II a man
takes out a $4,000 policy. which is
the highest sum possible, he PAYS
therefor only s. per month. II he
takes out a $1,000 policy It costs him
$3.50 per month and II he dies his
family would get $3.50 per month Of
every year for 20 ye9s thereafter.
This % year payment is one OF the
peculiarities Of the policy. The amount
il is insured for is not paid as a whole
upon death. but in equal monthly In
stalments for 240 months after death.
The instruments are s5.75 per $1,000
and the average insurance policy so
far applied for will give SIS per month
for 20 years to the wife. children or
relative Of the man insured should he
happen to die.
This insurance will be paid to the
man himself II he is totally or per-
manently disabled during the term OF
his policy. no matter whether he is in
the service or not; and after the war
Is over he can keep up the insurance
on the same terms for five years. or
he can convert il into other forms Of
life insurance arranged for by the
government
And now let me tell you something
about the big machine which has
been organized to carry on this part
OF the war. The machine had to be
created from the ground up. The gov
eminent had no department OF a sim
liar character and the whole had to
be blasted, as II were. out Of the rocks
The business started with the insur-
ing OF our ships at sea against losses
BY the German fleet and submarines.
and from that beginning was devel-
oped the great machine for insuring
the lives OF millions Of men The plans
for both divisions were largely the
work Of William c. Delaney. an in
surance man OF New York city. who
has been the director Of the bureau
Of war risk insurance from the start
and who is now at its head
TaeklinE n Big Task.
In order to do this work. however.
he had to bring in many others to
help him. and among others c. F.
Nesbit- the present commissioner Of
military and naval insurance, was
appointed to put the new bureau into
being asked Mr. Nesbit TO tell me
how the work was organized
said he: We were in despair at the
Start The thing was so big and IL had
to be done in such a short time. The
soldiers were already in the canton
ments and Gen Rershing and his
army were already IN France We
had no officers. no equipment. no
clerks and no definite plans. The job
seemed impossible. I could not sleep of
nights for worrying about my part of
It, and I remember telling the assist
ant secretary OF the treasury that II
he had ordered me to take a gang Of
pick and shovel and dynamite men out
to Colorado and move Pixies Peak 200
miles west IN a space Of two months
the task would not have seemed to me
greater than the one they had given
US"
Have Over 1000 Clerks.
But you soon got the job under
way" said 7.
yes, we had TO do so. The families
Of the soldiers had TO have their al
lowances. and there were thousands
who wished to insure Congress had
enacted the law, the money had been
and the work had to be
done It commenced the day the act
was passed. That was the sixth of
last October. ard by 2;30 2. m Of
that DAY we were looking for offices |
and fighting for our equipment in the |
way Of desks, typewriters and help. |
Theer were no buildings to be had !
no blanks and no clerks. We found |
our first quarters in the national /
museum. and later there was an over /
flow to other places scattered over the I
city
when We looked for clerks we found !
that the other departments had al 4
ready consumed the available supply, /
and we had 10 get our help from the 4
new people who came into the city. |
We have now over 1000 clerks and 4
shall need many more as the business
Of the bureau increases, as II Is bound /
to do We must have q fireproof build !
ing TO take care OF our records and /
the government has Of its contracts |
with the soldiers and sailors and I