Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, June 9, 1895, Page 13

THE COST OF FIRE INSURANCE Fxoessive Burdens Imposed Upon Property and Business, AMERICAN AND FOREIGN RATES COMPARED Profits of the Nuainess in Nebraska and the Country at Large—Possibilities of overnment Control--The Lioyd" Pian & rpecifie, The question of fire Insurance is one that directly interests and affects every property owner and business man in the United States. Under the present system in this country, the expense of insurance constitutes no small ftem in the cost of the maintenance of prop- erty, and the conduct of mercantile and manu- facturing business, in fact, it enters very largsly into the expense of all commercial transactions at the present time. Fire In- surance has become a recognized necssity in all communities, and among all classes of business, and that system of distributing the burden of the loss of the few among the | many is a wise and meritorious provision, the wisdom and beneficence of which is unques- tioned ire insurance forms an important element in the credit standing of cvery person en- giged in manufacturing or mercantile pur suits, and has become a necessary and Im- portant collateral in the negotiation of loans on both real estate and chattels. Its use in this class of credit relieves, in no small de- gree, the ficancial hazard, and affords to both creditor and debtor a greater sense of safety and security. Its use in this way has be. come so general, thit a very large proportion ©of the manufactueing, wholesaling and job- bing firms of the country will not extend cradits unless their customers keep their busi- ness Interests well insured; and loan com- panies universally demand that property owners carry at least insurance sufficient to cover the mortgage, properly assigned as collateral to the loan It is not of the system of dlstributing the loss that the people complain of, but of the cost of the distribution. Under the prevailing anethods the cost of distribution amounts to almost as great a sum as the relief afforded, and thus the burden of the many is doubled to afford relief and reimbursement to the few. As a proposition of economics, It certainly cannot be com- mended, for the community suffers nearly as much from the cost of insurance as from the waste by fire. As a matter of economy the community had far better stand the fire waste than maintain insurance thereon at the present rate of cost With the individual euffercr from fire loss, however, the question presents an entirely different phase, and in- BUr: e becomes a great benefaction. But the trouble is that the sufferers from fire are not benefitted by the enormous cost of dis- tributing the loss, while the community largo is the loser to that extent, over and above the actual loss by fire. As a busi proposition, when it costs the community as much to malntain a system of distributing iis fire loss as the sum of the benefits de rved therefrom, it Is a fact patent that there is something radically wrong in the methods adopte COST OF INSURANCE ABROAD. In the April number of the North Arferican Review Mr. Crocker ably discusses the cost of fire insurance and shows conclusively that the expense of Insurance in the Unite States is exceedingly high and out of all pro- portion as compared with the cost in other countries. In support of his position he quotes the following estimate of average rates from an address by H. O. Bssex of the Lancashire Insurance company of gland: Por 3100 Per $100 $ .08 Austrin P German, 118 Russia St England .. .2\ United 8 cernee 100 The object of this paper is to emphasize the position taken by Mr. Crocker, and perhaps suggest a remedy for the existing conditions, as the agitation of this subject will be pro duetive of much food for thought among busi- ness men throughout all sections of - the country, and may in time lead to the adop- tion of remedial methods that will afford in- demnity for loss by fire at a much less cost In the paper referred to, Massachusetts is quoted to show that in twenty years the pe; Ple of thal state have paid out in premiums for insurance the enormous sum of $148,000. 000, and have received in return only $77.- 000,000 as indemnity for fire waste. In Ne braska, where the writer resides\ the show- ing made is far more glaring than that. THE COST IN NEBRASKA The sworn annual statements of the in- surance companies doing business in this state, as filed in the state auditor’s office. show that during a period of ten years. from 1585 to 1894, the people have paid in promiums the sum of $17,732.481, while they have recelved in return, in fire losses paid, only $7,365,016. Thus the state, as a com monwealth, has been a net loser, by reason of insurance, to the extent of §10.67,465 during that period, or a net annual loss of $1,036,- 746; a loss 140 per cent in excess of the benefits received. The average premium rate duiing this period has been $1.663% per $100. Yet underwriters are loud in their protestations that their companies are mak ing no money on Nebraska business, and threaten to withdraw from the state unless the valued policy law is repealed. It is very evident from the facts presented that the state has made no money from the com panies. With such a showing as this, if in- surance companies cannot make an ade quate profit, there is something radically wrong In thelr methods and management that calls for a speedy reformation. Even a man of lm d ability in the ordinary bus ness avocations ot life would soon amass a fortune it he received 140 per cent more from his patrons than he returned to them The Insurance Year Book, published by the Spectator company, shows that for the year 1893 the insurance companies in the United States recelved in premiums $164.- 463,648, and paid out for losses the sum of 308, for dividends the sum of $12, with an aggregate capital of $72 The year preceding, according to the same authority, the premium receipts were $164,240,807, while the losses pald only aggrogated $98,831,966, and the dividends pald amounted to the sum of $12,903,460. The cost of insurance in the United States in 1892 upon an estimated population of 66,- 680,740, was $2.46 per capita. INSURANCE A PROFITABLE BUSINESS Underwriters aro continually claiming that thelr companies are making no money an! that the business of fire insurance is unprofit able. In the case of a few individual com panies that is perhaps a fact, but in the main this talk of unprofitable business is Kept up to prevent legislative regulation and maintain bigh premium rate The statistics show that in 1893 the fire insurance companies of United States paid dividends aggregating 914 upon an aggregate capital of $72 a trifle over 17 per cent. A net re turn of 17 per cent upon the capital invested would seem to be a very fair profit for the stockholders. Those same companies for the year 1 port a net surplus of $98,373,58 It fire insurance has been so unprofitable whence came this surplus, equalling 133 per cent of their capital stock? Certainly not from the pockets of the stockholders, but from the pockets of the policy holders in th shape of excessive premium rates Some idea of the cost of fire insurance can be obtained when you conaider the fact that the premiums paid annually equal $2.46 per capita, and then consider that, accord the census of 1890, the cost of maintaining the public schools of this country was only $2.24 per capita. The amount returned in ilosses paid averages only about $1.46 per eapita, 5o that the country is the net loser every year by reason of the cost of dis tributing the fire loss to the extent of §1 per capita of its population. In his able paper upon this subject Mr Crocker appears to lay the greator part of the burden of cost at the door of the agents .and brokers. While the commlissions paid for ‘that service form a large per cent of the ex pense complained of, yet upon that theory alone the total cost cannot be satisfactorily accounted for, from the fact that the agent commissions are uniformly only 15 per cent of the premium receipts, the broker's com ‘mission belug a division of that amount upon /a basis of from 50 to 663 per cent of the total commission. To llustrate: For the year 1892 the cost of Insurance over and above ‘losses and dividends was $52,606,471, while 15 per cent of the premium receipts for that year amounted to 324,036,134, o that we still L France counted for. | COMPANIES THE OMAHA JUNE 9, have over G0 per cont of the cost to be ac- OVERPRODUCTION OF AGENTS So long as Indemnity against fire loss Is obtainable only through the medium of in- corporated stock companies, who perform the service for profit, so long will the agency plan of placing risks be indispensable, both to the public and the companies. The service might bo greatly improved to the advantage of both the Insured and the insurer, If companl would exercise more care In the selection of their agents and brokers. I am Inclined to think that perhaps this branch of the service has overgrown itself, and that communitios and companies are alike suffering from an overproduction of insurance agents. The reckle writing of Insurance by incompstent and dishonest agents, who over-insure irre- sponsible risks for the sake of the commis- sions obtained fs detrimental to communities and companfes, in that it increases the cost of Insurance to both by offering a premium on arson Irresponsible and unprincipled business men, maintaining a failing and unprofitable busi- n whose financlal standing is below par in all commerce centers, have no difficulty iIn obtaining excessive {nsurance from agent whose only object is the commissions re tained from the deal. In too many cases there is an utter absence of the exer- cise of even ordinary business judgment in placing insurance risks, as apparéntly no effort whatever Is made to ascertain whether or not the value of the property equals the amount of insurance upon it. The size of the premium in too many instances cuts more figure with both agent and company than the question of whether the property actually contains the value insure HAVE THEIR OWN REMEDY These defects can, to a great extent, be easily corrected by the companies themsely it they desire to do so, by simply basing commissions upon profits instead of upon the value of premiums recelved. That is, In stead of paying a flat commission of 15 per | cent upon all business accepted by the com pany, pay a commission of 5 per cent upon acceptance of the risk and 10 per cent at the | expiration of the policy period, providing no loss has been sustained in the meantime Should a loss occur under any policy writ- ten, wherein the fire had its origin upon the premises insured, upon such a risk the agent writing the same would lose his commissicn of 10 per cent upon the premium recelved | for that risk. This plan would accomplish two very im- portant reformations in the agency system It would make the agent more careful as to the character of the risk written, as upon the judicious selection of his risks would in a large degree depend his compensation. In the second place such a plan would have a decided tendency to lessen the number of agents engaging in the insurance business, and the incompetent and unprincipled ones would be driven from the field, as only legiti- mate and conservative underwriting would then be profitable. It would dispense with a very large per cont of the reckless under- writing and greatly reduce the moral hazard, and any plan that will eliminate to any | marked extent the moral hazard from insur- ance will certainly reduce its cost TOO MANY SOFT BERTHS. As shown, the agency feature alone is not wholly responsible for the excessive cost of fire insurance. There are other equally glar- Ing defects in the present methods that add naterially to the burden of the policy holder. Too many high salaried presidents, actuarles, general and state agents are required to cornduct the bu the premium receipts are diverted from their legitimate purpose, such as expense in in- fluencing or preventing legislation, contest- ing losses, and maintaining compacts and boards of underwriters for the purpose of preventing competition and maintaining rates. These expenses aggregate on an average from 18 to 25 per cent of the total pre Inspectors and adjusters. The wide difference In rates between this and foreign countries cannot be satisfactorily accounted for upon the theory of the dif- ference in the construction of buildings, for the reason that controverting that argu- ment is the fact that forelgn countries present a much greater density of popula- tion, which, upon all recognized basis of risk, would materially increase the physical hazard of Insurance, From the facts here given, and from those presented by Mr. Crocker in the April Review, it is clearly demonstrated that the present system of distributing the fire loss in the United States is altogether too cumber- some and expensive; that the interests of the public demand a radical reorganization of existing methods, and the adoption of plans whereby the same results can be ob- tained for those who suffer from fire loss at a less expense to the community at large REMEDIES SUGGESTED. How to do this is the problem worthy of the earnest thought and careful study of the business men of every community, and sheuld be a subject of sufficient import to command the attention of legislators, both economical basis will be a public bene- factor. The writer, having given the subject of insurance a considerable study from the standpoint of the interests of the insured, will suggest a few crude plans for accom- plishing that object, hoping that others more capable may elaborate them Into prac- tical operation. Irasmuch as fire insurance is a universal necessity, and the fire loss must, from the very nature of the business, be borne by the public, why not have the function of distribution performed by the general government, the same as the postal service, thus relieving the people from the necessity of paying tribute to insurance com- panies to suit the sweet will of compacts and boards of underwriters? The amount col- lected annually as a premlum upon fire in- surance risks aggregates more than the cus- tom duties, or the internal revenues, col- lected by the government, and the losses pald annually exceed by several millions the total expenditures of the Postoffice depart- ment he annual expense of distributing the fire loss through the medium of insur ance companies, Including dividends paid stockholders now amounts to $66,000,000 or $70,000,000, while the total premium receipts aggrigate to an amount equaling one-half the total ordinary expenditures of the government. In a business of this nature, where the many are taxed for the benefit of the few and, In view of the present cost of collecting and distributing this tax, is there anything preposterous or impractical in the proposi- tion that it be done through the function of the government? The cost could thereby be reduced from 50 to 75 per cent, the work performed in & more thorough and syste- matic manner, rates equalized, the burden made lighter and more equitably appor- tionzd, losses would be more equitably ad- justed, payments more prompt, and incen- diarism meted out the punishment it so vichly deserves. Policies would then be uni- form and devold of technicalities, and an enormous amount of litigation expenses and annoyance would be saved to unfortunate palicy holders. At first thought one might think this an improper function for the government to assume, and, no doubt, many will say that it would be as sensible for the government to engage in the general merchandise busi- | ness and supply its people with goods at | actual cost as to engage in the Insurance business. But when you consider the peculiar nature of the business, its object, and the plan of its operation, that it differs almost | whoily from any other class of business in its methods and results, you will find therein the most cogent reason why it is a proper function for the government to assume. The adoption of such a plan would, in all probability, necessitate an amendment to the fed 1 constitution. To do that would re quire much time, and years would have to be spent in creating public sentiment suffi- ciently foreeful to secure the submission and adoption of such an amendment. MUTUAL INSURANCE Another and perhaps the most practical plan of lessening the cost of fire insurance A plan that would be the easiest of adoption and provide the readiest rellef, is that of mutual interinsurance upon the pure Lloyds system. That Is a plan of Insurance whereby & certain number of persons asso- ciate themselves together in a compact, each agreeing and obl/gating himself to indemnify each other member of the compact for a specified sum, and each member in return mnifies him for an equal amount For nearly 200 years this has been the leud'ng plan of marine insurance, and about thirteen years ago it was applied to fire frsurance In this country by a number of leading and wealthy wholesale and retail merchants of New York City, thus assoclat- ing themselves together and agreeing to in- sure each other up to a lmit of $2,000 That &, whea the individual members num- DEWEY 1115-117 FARNAM ST. =0 =5 ness; too large an amount of B o B BN o 3 White Maple Suits..... $401Sol1dTOakESUItS LI, plum receipts, including the expense of bered ten, each had insurance of $18,000; when a membership-of 100 was reached, each indemnity to the amount of $198,000, The limit of membership in that tio ts, 1 believe, 200, so that the 1 o belleve, 200, so that the | Recollections of Western Characters and the Fluency of Their Guns, amount of insuranc On eactuary, to whom all members their power of attorney, with such help as he needs, attends to the busine e o) D o o Jnycines 10t | WHAT THEY COULD: DO AT. THEIR REST pense of management is 15 per cent of the the regular board rate in the city where the risk is located. When a loss occurs it is distributed among all members in proportion to the insurance fiscal year the premium receipts in excess losses and 15 per cent for manage returned to the members in ratio [ (Copyrighted, they were paid In. The record of this| That far wes e and national. He who can for- | company for twelve years is, that its losses mulate a plan whereby the insurance business of the country can be conducted upon a more | Buaranty fund kept intact, and 53 per cent premiums received returned to its | estly—and policy holders, thus making the total cost of insurance to its members only 47 per | voa; gent of what it would have been upon the | aportive attempts to retrace his steps, and This plan of mutual inter-insurance takes from the risk almost wholly the -element of | times and moral hazard, as each individual underwriter | Somehow, sonally interested in seeing that no other underwriter of his class suffers los otk company s puflirs 1ot | above ail other achlevements are more lightly sidered is the size of the premium | esteemed than they the physical hazard of the risk, whil: [ intense disgust, under the proposed plan the first considera- the moral hazard, the second, the and the o Omaha, Neb. OMAHA, June Wil you kindly answer the following bank of Denver; P. T. Stevens Adams, jr., and Fred S. Kockwell All Suits Complete. 12 Antique Finished Suits ....... $ 7.50 14.50 Antigue Finished Suits ..... 18 Solid Oak Finished Suits. ..., Solid Oak Finished Suits. ..., Solid Oak Finished Suits..,.. Curley Birch Suits...... 3 Pieces. Curley Birch Suits. White Maple Suits .. 5 Solid Cherry Suits .... 67 Antique Oak Suite=...... $90 Solid Mahogany Suits ..... s$110 Curley Birch Suits..... g125 English Oak Suits ...... s$140 B'rd’'s Eye Maple Suits ..... Don't Miss It. e GBS 0) $300 Mahogany Suits........ 24.75 Sale Will Last One Week. the full limit of insurance was receipts, the premium rate being carries, and at the end of thelr pald in full without conte b MY and the premium cutting no figure whatever in the | From 1855 to 1570 was about the limits of acceptance or rejection of the application the “bad man” According to the Insurance Year Book 184 mutual companies reporting for the year collected In premiums $17,908 losses, returned to policy hold thus showing a loss of 41 per cent, an ex pense of 21 per cent and a return to policy holders of 33% of the premiums receive as against a loss of 02% per cent, an ex-|OF two indulgences of 37% per cent and no return of | strong the provocation, the “bad man” has to polley holders by joint com- | usually “sloped,” and left his panies for the same year. tion to The objection will be urged that mutual [old days insurance does not offer the absolute indem nity that is afforded by the joint stock com- As an answer to that objection I merely cite the fact that in the year the joint stock fire and marine insur- companies doing business in the United had an aggregated capital and sur- |and onme of less than $200,000,000, as a policles in force aggregating $16,897,933,125, | Mountalns. The reader can judge for himself as to wi plan offers the greater sccurity as compared with the cost. To cheapen the cost of fire insurance to [ blue eyes any appreclable degree the motive of profit eliminated from the methods of | Beneral favorite transacting the busincss. 30, | Pacific $7,400,855 expenses, $3 § “IIMMY In the foregoing | Was never have at defects of the present | Spite of an but the latter plan can be put into | WOP- operation by mutual associations | Both were me among business men, encouraged by legista- | therefore, honorabla mem, tion, with the rights of policy holders prop- erly’ recognized and protected by law. B able to the man f LONDON *WAY BEHIND, sa's roproseniaiivg the dealer 9.~To the Editor of The | patrons. 863, incorporated yesterday by G. W. Val-| TOO general agent for the Burlington road; Down about Earnest, president of the American “r Mexico he n of his aim PASSING OF THE *BAD” M But when he had shot one po pany (eamster, he was mustered out on the | with a shotgun and a series of questions |he b ground of permanent and incurable disability. | ahout the tenderfoot. though at the expense of some half a dozen the teamster s { * said the captain, “but l"m't' ': which is seldom told, and which I have nev ha can't yell can’t swear, and the army has no profanity Jimmy Hollana’s Way of Settling Contro- versies—How Wild Bill Once Met His Match—A County Seat Was Sef tled by a Clof am shot a half-breed Zuin In- cowboy from ssed of a record Sonora— He tried to and was poss promulgating discouraged contributed four tenants to the Durango flats | CATINE who owne ground devoted of a ern character known as the had | Kyle was angry, and without knowing or | NeWly elected she “bad man” is rapidly passing away. flourishing mod- harmlessly—on acquired when laws were without form and thero one makes occasional cemetery uses—he gave here and the Petrified Henry rifle at 400 yeards. pegging away till dance the gay fling of his youth, are against ys understand it paoitmle: accompanied by hil ter; and when Chief Coches can he can —the things Winches~ down from | lished warning, and Kyle drew and fired. | in the back yard of Mrs. Ward, with whom brought the Henry rifle with him and a pair T of larg: spurs with a Cincinnati trade mark lent, he finds that filling up with wild liquor responsibility of the insured. and | Pas become disreputable; and the killing of physical hazard of the risk, the |3 man positively unsafe. reached Gallup record—and some rivals—await- | weapon, for Bill was ambidextrous and GRAND CLEARING SALE OF— Chamber Suits We offer this week over 300 chamber suits from the very cheepest antique finish to the finest designs in Oak, Bird's Eye Maple, Curling Birch and Mahogany, and gnote them far below their actual cost. Auntique finished Chamber Suit, 24x20 bevel 10.75 ’ ch Suit, beautiful design, was $48.00, now......... 29. 50 An elegant antique oak Suit, cheval dresser, 10x24 French bevel glass, nicely carved, was $55.00, now.. .. ERIRTR ST ' W EFrench dresser, large French {00, HOVA RSy AR f mber Suit, natural finish, full swell front, very B INPAB 100/ SHOWi o v S ot hites s ety . . Solid oak Chamber Suit, 30x24 bevel glass, was $15.00, now .. Solid oak Chamber Suit, 40x18 bevel glass, White maple Chamber Suit, 30x24 I° onch glass, was Fine curly bi Curley bireh Chamber Suit, bevel glass—a beauty—w Nice cherry €l large French gl .$26.75 $155 Solid Mahogany Suits.......$ 93.00 28.50 8175 Curley Birch Suits.......... 105.00 29.75 $210 Antique Oak Suits........ 121,00 36.50 8250 Mahogany Suits............ 143.00 53.00 $290 Mahogany Suits........e.... 165.00 189.00 72,00 $350 Mahogany Suits............. 2]7.00 81.50 ¢7.50 Mahogany Suits............ 385,00 The Goods Are As Represented. charged | destroyed his alm, and, wildly angercd, the | men Killed in open brawl, and then went 1f he could have confined | “bad” man flung himself to the ground. away about wartime because the brother of his attention o Utes and Apaches, with oc- [ The fimpatient haste was fatal, for he|a man who had disagreed with him In poli- X rations among the | broke one arm and one leg in falling; and | tics came up to ( Navajoes, he would have been very valuable. | Julius, not knowing how safe he was, re- [ With the first repeating rifle that ever t trader's clerk | turned and destroyed him crossed the Missouri river age stamps on com- fley county from Lynne Vavajo Sam was burled Just the day be- | Joo was gone fifteen years, but scraps of o a gontleman came down from Durango | history drifted back from Arkansas, where I maintained the Kansas reputation, the TOO QUICK FOR “WILD BILL oftenders. He reached LeRoy just on the There fs one true story about “Wild Bill" | eve of its county seat fight against Burling- r | ton. seen printed anywhere, Few men living | 10yal to his old town, his politics and his could draw and shoot so quick as could Bill. | Past offenses were both forgiven, for he was Bat he mat one man at Cheyenne who sur. | ikely to be a valuable man. Burlington p prised him. They met ono might at the |Ple heard about him and his ominously visis Grand hotel, and Bill, who wanted to wash, | P1e gun. and it bothered them 3| took oft his big hat and tossed it upon the | One day Coffey county held an election, bar. ‘It struck and upset a glass of whisky | And an overwhelming majority of voters, Which was walting for Lieutenant Kyle, then | HVing and dead, decided on moving the R A Y county seat from LeRoy to Burlington. Tha ff and clerk started down the hat, he threw it on | to LeRoy after the records. the floor and ordered another drink. | The old sheriff at LeRoy put the papers of to the | Bill, turning from the little mirror with | In a gunny sack and started away with Sheriff, borrowed a tenderfoot’s saddle horse | M# handsome locks fairly combed, ordered | them, - leaving Joo Duddles and some and pack mule, and started south being rash, o and’ unlimbered 3 Sam patd no at-! For an instant they stood fronting each | not come; and when the Burlington crowd him to pick it up, and Kyle refused. Both [others to cover his flight. The LeRoy con- him | Were armed, and Bill saw’ there was no use | tingent waited at the corner of the square a | arguing. for Joe to appear and lead thom, but he did he | other, nerves at highest tension, eyes wide | galloped past after the rocords only a few a ineffectual shots were fired. h of Bill's hand to his belt pub- Next morning Joe Duddles was found lying he | The pistol fell from Bill's hand almost be- | he had been boarding. His gun was in his fore its barrel was free from the holster, and | hand, but he could not speak. And there his right hand leaped from his side with the [ was a dark blue mark across his throat. instructive flexion of pain They carried him fnto the house and Le he | Instantly his left hand flew- to a second | wrote on the wall paper “I hit my chin on the clothesline.” era, and his country was the Missouri latter time no man anywhere from has enjoyed 990,813, | Even in the newest mining camps and the force of the lawful that after one wildest cattle towns the man has been so early felt little reputa- grow whereas in he ained in the region of its birth, cultivating it, and adding to it whenever—well, when- ever a sap occasion arose. HOLLAND WAS “ONE OF 'EM “Jimmy" Holland was one of the old gang, He was a San ainst | Francisco youth, with a weakness for the was known all \oh | from Virginia City to Mount Shasta, particularly well known at the army forts Slight of build, with a smiling face, bright an excellent horse, “Jimmy" Holland was a demands of his wted to . point | Protession precluded suggest remedies therefor. | meanor ‘“‘Jimmy" But, to obtain the full results desired, towit indemnity against loss by fire at actual cost, | SPised, as there must be a radical change in methods. | PIay. accomplish this I have outlined two [ leglslature through the general govern- him—he was dealing farb when two gentle the other by mutual inter-insurance, | Men disputed as tojwhich had set a §20 gold The former Is perhaps but a dream of the | Plece on the a town he de legislators would ada couid not afford to ke session perpetually, even f | bler. At Carson dne night- no one Ne THE PISTOL FELL FROM BILL'S HAND. lences for the year 15 troublesome, ibark of the legislal away some portion of Sam's left ear. barber away was all Sam's eloquent the Gallup avengers fair fight, and not the act of a man unduly | could not decide betwegn t shooters, and - | cording to all’ Carson: ethics t H. 0. BEATTY. |{jo i between themsglves, This was agree m Reno, but SAM'S CLOSING ADVENTURE. would be easier, abused roundiy—~tor—not acific company had just built the new raii- | cau road to Gallup, and the simple-minded plai men were not accustomed to its habits had a discussion with Julius Feder, a Semi: “Jimmy” said nothing, tapped the cards toa | Is it not the case that there are | Stralght edge in the box and inquired if the people In London than in the whole | Béntlemen had made th state of New York? JIM. London had in 1891, bad in 1890, Sum | “Then I beg your pardon, and 1 don't| fThe proposed new Aldine rose tumultuously, tipping the and confusing the coln. He then whipped | 1431; New York |out a very | that the game was closed ———— There was a ew Co'oride Raliroad Enterprise, NVER, June 8.—The Plateau Valley company, capitalized at $250,000, | up to that time in Nevada 00D damage than a hole in the crown of his hat “Another drink,"” said Kyle, while the || Sam mounted and followed mucca as soon as legal notice by publication could be given, and it s said that “Jimmy" Holland’s floral offering was the handsomest lay along the railway track and Julius was in | man” a fair way to escape train came | The men were friends while they lived, |y en- | Writing to each other occasionally, for Kyl So lie | Was assigned to the gineer to stop, b e | alry, and went on to the coast. Among the place & abandoned r military Sam used to He had been an enlisted man and was sent The company proposes to build about 100 [to his regiment from the recruiting depot on miles of road in Grand, Mesa and Pitkin | Governor's island. opening a region which is well adapted to fruft raistng and dairy farws. th the | not divided them it is barely possible they | by by some marvel hung on But nothing wi of his antecedents in New York or elsewhere Sam would_shoot, tactical change till Sam, lying on a freight [ Tn the border ruffian days of early Kansas |18 divided up among the Roman Catholi attracted his attention by laming his | Joo Duddles, though he managed to keep | the Greek church and the Protestan br.dle band. But the unaccustomed jolting | out of either army, it was because of his utter ludifference as Lo the objective end The man had dashed from the house, armed, to joln his fellows, and the patent wire clothesline had thrown him. He might have recovered from the physical injury. He might even have lived down the effects of that November night's exposure, but he could not survive the humiliation of | such a tumble. And at the end of a weck | he died. His wife came up from Arkansas to the burial, and the funeral sermon was all even her exacting tastes could require. His gravestone is silent as to those deeds of which he was proudest; but then there are compengations in all things. It says nothing of the clothesline which conquered him, LEROY ARMSTRONG. | - L1GTOU Moody s conducting this week in Cleveland, O, Mrs. Kate E. Miller, formerly a resident of Garrison, Neb., is conducting a revival at Arcola, 1Il, and Immersing converts in the neighboring river, The last year has beén a prosperous omo in the Baptist churches in this country. There has been a gain of 140,433 member; while the increase In the number of of dained ministers s nearly 2,000 It Is estimated that there are 48,000 church | edifices belonging to all branches of Metn- odism in the United States, having a total valus of $16%,000,01 Their fotal benevo- 3 amounted to §23,414,- — 238, contributions to missions alone exceeds RE angelistic meetings surprised | notoriously proficient. But Kyle's gun was | 108 $1,000,000 by the quick and effective action of Gallup | in his hand, and he shot again. This time During recent revival services at Fultons and a barber, | he struck the pistol guard, and the w shaviug, | was torn from its sheath and flung on the and emptied h pon | ville, N. Y., loon keeper was converted entire stock of liquors in carried | floor. the gutter. 1In the evening a huge bonfire They | The officer was now aroused, and Bill | Was made of the barrels and fixtures, the 1t | could see that he thought of ending life ana | evangelist preaching to a great crowd assem- 1 do to con- | the quarrel with a single shot. So he tem- | bled from the top of an empty whisky barrel, a | porized. | The Church Assoclation for the Advances u've got me,” he said. “Don’t shoot.’” ment of the Interests of Labor, a New York hen don’t knock over my whisky with | institution, s carrying on an active work your hat,” replied the officer, In some heat. | to produce better relations between capital a| “Did I knock over your whisky?" and labor, and to arouse among members & |auired Bill, suddenly grasping a suficient |of the church greater interest in the soelal of offense. problems which are now pressing for solus s | “You did ton. Protestant Eplscopal °se of Washington Is to consist of the \c | blame you for throwing the hat on ihe | gy ali [ floor. My name is Wild Bill; and you | District of Columbla and four counties of grew out of the Jew's disinclination to trade | are i Maryland—Prince George's, St. Mary's, | “Lieutenant Kyle of the army.’ Charles and Montgomery. If the division 13 more [ ''Glad to meet you. What'll you have?' | ratified by the general convention that meets October, Bishop Paret will probably de but his pony was | barkeeper sald to himselt cide to b bishop of the new see, which will The road | ““This is a damn dream, or I'm a China- | leave the diocese of Maryland vacant A religlous census of the world has fust n issued by the Deutsche Kirchenzeitung of Berlin, which is attracting considerable discussion on account of relative proportions it gives to Catholic and Protestants. The census starts out with the assertion that the population of the world at the present time 1,500,000,000 persons. Of these 1,000,000, st regiment of cay | eftects of each were discovered letters from the other. Though if a thousand m ladder of a freight car as it hurrled past, and | ™I8ht have met less pleasantly 000 are outside the pale of Christianity, $12,« The Jew, watch- | IMPORTANCE OF A BIT OF CLOTHES- 000,000 being heathen, 180,000,000 Moham- the INE. medan_and 8,000,000 Jews.' The remainder thess ald up a record of eight | three divisions aggregating 500,000,000,