Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-01-26
Insurance Village
BY Frederic j. flaskfn

70 that narrow smndsy frenxied thorough.
j fare, which has been called the Foul o
America, hut which " designated on it,
ancient sim-posts. simply Wall Strrct
Just few blocks north Of the Curt
Market are rows and rows Of tall, fai
buildings, representing many millions oi
dollars in rents and occupied almost
wholly by insurance companies. Every
other dusty window bears the name Of q
different underwriting concern, ~ we'll AZ
different calamity. Here the SORROWS oi
humanity all have monetary value.
Fire, theft, accident, disease, death and
various other cntastrophics are worth
billions Of dollars in this great insurance
center Of the world.
PTvERfsH AcrvfTY.
Inside the buildings the insurance
business proceeds with fcverish activity.
Elevators rush up and down with start
ling rapidity; people dash past you with
all the reckless speed and carelessneys of a
bargain sale r,sh, and others rnsy be seen
planted about the corridors in heated and
grtic,ilativc Iii c,n.ion, until you begin TO
ponder the advisability of taking out an
accident policy yourself. In every build
ing, giant mail chutes gtish forth tholis-
ands of insurance policies every day, while
in return for these every mail brings in
hundreds of thousands Of dollars in
premiums from policy-hoIdcrs in all parts
OF the world
There policies cover every imaginable
calamity, and sofne which even an ex-
| traordinarv IMAGINATION would overlook.
The other day, Russian dancer in New
York took out a policy for $780, 600 on
her hands, which sbe claims are the most
attractive feature of her interpretatiye
dances. Charlie Chaplin has his feet in
sured by company in this section for an
| equally large sum Enrico Caruso carries
An accident policy for hundred thousand
dollars, but whether or not this applies 10
any accident which might occur 10 his
voice is known only by Enrico and the
company that insured him. Pavlowa has
had her feet and hands insured, and Bee
| Palmer shirnrny artist OF the nation, has
her shoulders insured for one hundred
thousand dollars. Paderewski was one OF
the first great mlrsicirrs To have ms fingers
| protected by an accident policy, and SINCE
then il has become the usual c,ietom for
pianiots and v,olinists to carry such
| policies.
If you have any special faculty or part
| which in capable OF making you lot OF
money, yo'i can have II insured and collect
on your insurance In case Of accident.
The insurance companies are willing to
gamble ON any kind of risk, from twink
ling feet and double JOINTS to circus avoir-
dupofs and baby stare. You have TO
prove Of course, that your speciality IS
worth what you say il rs, and that IL IS IN
good repair at the time the policy is
applied for but the rest is easy, and the
premium is small.
The other day, celebrated iee-skater
came into the Office Of an insurance com
pany here to take out an accident policy
on his ioe-skating skill and the company
tn whom he applied considered 1t good
risk. The average person applying for
similar policy would he refused, OF course,
the agent explained, or would be charged
prohibitive premium.
"But how could yo,i be sure that your
ice-skater would not fall and hurt himself
purposely?" inquired the reporter.
HE cant l TO-" replied the agent.
HIS reputation Is too valuable
ACTRESS WANTED POLICY.
The only policy Of this kind which was
seriously debated by an insurance com
pany was one applied for by a foreign
actress, who wanted if written to cover
any accidents TO her physiognomy She
was being featured on the bIAboards at
this time as the homeliest woman In
Europe, a distinction which she claimed
was worth lot of noney.to her. Accord
ing to the story as It is told In the Insur-
ance district. the company hesitated.
largely through its fear that the young
woman might have an early accident In q
beauty parlor Fortunately FOR the COM
pany, however, it never had to decide one
way or the other, because the homelest
woman in Europe soon found that she
was not half the sensation In America she
expected TO be, and returned, much DIS
appointed, to the appreclatIve music halls
OF the continent.
Experts In the field of sports are not
considered good risks by insurance COM
panies, and are usually sold policies only
at large premiums. This is particularly
hard on acrobats and other circus per-
formers, who are constantly having minor
accidents, and are always taking desper-
ate chances. Aviators also find it most
difficult 10 obtain not only accident
policies, but life insurance, while prize
fighters are not considered good risks at
all
Business ability is an asset which is
being heavily insured these days, al
though this is usually insured against
death rather than accident. Experience
has shown large corporations that. in
spite of a staff of well-tralned men, they
are chiefly dependent upon the brains OF
one or two individuals OF conspicuous
ability. So the corporations now insure
these individuals for sums which appear
quite staggering until you consider what it
would mean, for instance, 10 the Bethle-
hem Steel Company to lose man ike
Mr.. Sehwab.
The personality of man OF this type Is
worth great deal of money to company,
and so it happens that every year more
and more firms are insuring their principal
officials, and even minor ones, for millions
of dollars. Rodman Wanamakers life Is
insured for four million dollars; the presi- |
dent of the Imperial Tobacco Company, /
for 81, 500, 900; Mark Workman, president !
of the Dominion Iron and Steel Company |
for million, and many Others for enorm- /
GUS sums.
This sort of personality insurance is
now particularly popular in the theatrical
profession, where the loss OF a famous star
often means the ruin of whole perform
ance, or even ties up contracts OF great
Importance. Nearly every film favorlte Is
insured for huge amounts. The life of
Eugene O'Brien is insured for one million
dollars, and Norma Talmadges life Is
valued at an equally high amount by he
company. Madame Nazimova's llfe ha!
been insured for sloo OoO and
one might go on with a long list.
While the insuring OF ones hfe by ones
boss is a most desirable compliment, there
are times when 1t becomes rather un-