Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1920-01-24

Nev Yoek. Jan. 33.-ln Tie heart
az The financial district o1 New
Yoek = Insurance village You
paes thsough Il On yotf way to-
thak narrow. sunday. frsuxisd thor
ouehfaro which has bean called the
Soul Of America. but which 10 des-
ixnatsd on IL ancient sign-posts
simply Wall street. Just Q few
blocks north Of the curb market are
rows and rows Of tall, fat build
inxs, representing many millions
OF dollars in rents and occupied al
most wholly By insurance COM
panies. Every other dusty window
bears the name Of = different un-
darwriting concern. a. well as .
different calamity. Here the sor-
rows Of humanityeall have . mon
etary value. Fire, theft, accident,
disease, death and various other
catastrophes are worth billions Of
dollars n this great insurance cen
ter Of the world.
Inside the buildings the insur-
ance business proceeds with fever
fish activity. Elevators rush up
and down with startling rapfdity;
people dash past you with all the
reckless speed and carelessness Of
. bargain sale rush. and others
may be seen planted about the cor
ridors in heated and gesticulative
discussion, until you begin to pom
der the advisability of taking out
an accident policy yourself. In ev-
cry building giant mail chutes gush
forth thousands of insurance poll
cies every day, while in return for
these every mail brings in hun
dreds of thousands Of dollars in
premiums from policy holders in
all parts of the world.
The policies cover every imAg-
Unable calamity. and some which
even an extraordinary imagination
would overlook. The other day a
Russian dancer in New York took
out a policy for 100000 on her
hands, which she claims are the
most attractive feature of her in
terpretative dances. Charlie Chap
lin had his feet insured by a COM
pany in this section for an equally
large sum. Enrico Caruso carries
an accident policy for . hundred
thousand dollars. but whether or
not this applies to any accident
which might occur to his voice is
known only to Enrfco and the COM
pany that insured him. Pavlowa
has her feet and hands insured, and
Bee Palmer, the premier shimmy
artist of the nation. has her shouk
ders insured for one hundred thous-
and dollars. Paderewski was one
of the first great musicians to have
his fingers protected by an acct
dent policy. and since then it has
become the usual custom for pi-
anists and violinists to carry such
policies.
If you have any special faculty
or part which is capable Of making
you lot of money, you can have
it, insured and collect on your in
surance in case of accident. The
insurance companies are willing to
| gamble on any kind of a risk, from
twinkling feet and double joints to
circus avoirdupois and a baby
stare. You have to prove, Of course
that your speciality Is worth what
you say it is. and that it is in good
repair at the time the policy is ap-
piled for, but the, rest is easy, and
, the premium is small.
The other day a celebrated ice
skater came into the Office Of an
insurance company here to take out
an accident policy on his ice-skat-
ing skill, and the company to whom
he applied considered it a good
risk. The average person applying
fora similar policy would be re.
fused, Of course. the agent explain.
ed, or would be charged a prohibi.
tive premium.
T"But how could you be sure that
your ice-skater would not fall and
hurt himself purposely?" inquired
ed the reporter.
HE can't afford to-" replied the
agent. ''His reputation is too val.
liable"
The only policy Of this kind which
was seriously debated by an insur.
ance company was one applied fol
by a foreign actress, who wanted
it written to cover any accidents
to her physiognomy. She was be
ing featured on the billboards al
this time as the homeliest woman
in Europe. q distinction which sh,
claimed was worth a lot of money
to her. According to the story a.
it is told in the insurance district
the company hesitated largely
through its fear that the yount
woman might have an early acct
dent in a beauty parior. Forum
ately for the company, however, il
never had to decide one way or thu
other, because the homeliest WON
an in Europe soon found that sh,
was not half the sensation il
America she expected to be, ant
returned. much disappointed, to thu
appreciative music halls OF the con
ltinent.
Experts in the field of sports ar,