The Duluth rip-saw. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1917-19??, 1919-05-24

j concerned, the dozen of defendant
insurance companies have not filed
; their answers to the complaint. 1t
Is understood that the eminent law
firm Of Washburn, Bailey & Mitchell
represent the insurance companies.
Months ago, Mr.. Bush. Oscar C.
Heiam and others, possibly, were
making a careful investigation of The
causes Of the Cloquet fire. This
most able aggregation of lawyers
must be fully satisfied that there is
an excellent defense, otherwise
settlement instead of a lawsuit
would be the result.
Although these suits, aggregating
$4,000, were made public on April
rs, only few lines were given to
them in the local dailies. There was
no explanation of what might be be-
hind the curtain. They evidently
possessed too much local human in
terest to be acceptable to the "kept-
press"
In its issue of February %, the
Ripsaw printed an article headed,
Lumber Barons Grab Graveyard
Insurance" Then followed an arti-
Gle, based on certain interviews and
Investigations, telling how many
people believed that the Weyerhaeus-
er representatives made an attempt
to place additional insurance in the
sum of at least $250,000 on the
property of the Cloquet Lumber
Company, after it was feared that
CloQuet could not be saved from the
forest fires.
Ever since Cloquet burned. there
have been many whispered allega-
lions that at least some of the city
officials and the Weyerhaeuser rep
resentatives well knew the danger
the place was in and what might
happen within very few hours.
The Cloquet Lumber Company adj
mits that it placed this additional in
surance at about $3.50 p. NJ, on the
day of the fire. There are those who
further allege that orders for addi-
tional insurance were telephoned to
Duluth as late as p. m, on the
day off, the fire and that requests for
policies were received by certain
agents as late as p. M, of that
day.
It is alleged that the blanket or
der for quarter of million dollars
worth Of what many call grave
yard insurance" was placed with the
Prindle company of Duluth. THAI
agency did not have enough COM
panies to absorb the heavy order,
therefore acted as g. broker in plac-
ing it here and there with Duluth
agencies.
Some agencies fell for the orders
and others turned them down. 1t
! was alleged in February that just
before-the-fire insurance actually
placed aggregated 100000. Why
insurance to the extent of $4,000
additional was not included in these
suits, has not been told to the Rip
saw. 1t may be that certain COM
! panies came across. 1t also may be
that some of the policies were writ
| ten SO late in the afternoon as TO
make their enforcement much more
doubtful, therefore they were left
for later action.
Much, perhaps all, of this so
called graveyard" insurance was
secured through binders" a method
whereby an agent is aked to bind"
the acceptance of the risk, the issue
of policy and even payment of prem
iums being effected later.
1t was said in February that the
proprietor of one agency, who was
| out of his office when the order
was placed, repudiated the action Of
his clerk in binding a certain
amount of the Weyerhaueser eley-
| enth-hour order.
The trial of these cases undoubt-
| eddy will be holly carried on and
some of the evidence there may have
a very direct bearing on the respon-
sibility Of the lumber companies for
some of the October conflagrations.
THE PISCATORIAL "PISH!"
VIZ ;ofo Ai0 ond fn{1