Show TALK ON INSURANGE I Commercial Club Considered the New Rates WATER SYSTEM CRITICISED Insurance Men Base Their Calcula ticns on the Minimum Pressure anDo Do Not Consider the Maximum Recommendations Which They Sny Will Bring tho Hate Back to the Old Figure Inconsistencies Pointed Out by a Number of Citizens Citi-zens I Doubtless because nll Secretary Fisher Fish-er harris expressed It every other elt Iren Is an Insurance agent the outpouring outpour-ing of citizen at the Commercial club last night to protest against the ralw vof premiums on certain classes of fire risks in Salt Lake was not so unanimous unani-mous as might have been expected hen the hour got late and the arrivals censed Mr Harris called Col N W Clayton to the chair and the discussion began E TV WllHnn was requested by George Y Wallace to explain the new schedule and the reasons for estab lishing It Mr Wilson said that there had not been a general Increase but that seventysix risks In the area bounded by Stale street South Temple West Temple and Third South as well as residence rates had had it reduction Insurance men and all other businessmen business-men want as low a rate as conditions will Justify The local agents arc not respoiiHlblo for the Increase but have been sinvlnt It off as long as possible lie said that liiKt fall Insurance Surveyor Sur-veyor Parkhurst had submitted a report re-port ho was about to make lo the Pa clllc Board 1 of Underwriters to the Mayor May-or the fire chief the superintendent of waterworks and sonic of the members of flue City Council The report Included In-cluded a number of recommendations which would keep down the rate but have not been acted upon Mr Park hurst recommended the enlargement of the reservoirs to Increase the storage supply of water the purchase of new fire engines the running of sixInch mains through the large blocks tho establishment es-tablishment of two hydrants in the In tenor of each block the placing ont o-nt > In division fences the establishment establish-ment I of a new station the employment of more firemen a general lire alarm signal which should warn consumera to stop every possible drain on the sys tern the enforcement or rules In regard to electric wiring 1 and the appointment of a competent electrician aa Inspector The report cited that after one fire the authorities were at variance as to the amount of the pressure and that there was a long delay In getting water on the flames which was ascribed to the absence of pressure that one of our fire engInes was too small and the other too old and thai there was a delay of forty minutes In getting pressure to turn water on the Short Line building during the lire lost year It was asserted as-serted by Mr Parkhurst that If this fire had been communicated to the Dooly block the conflagration must have become general SEVERAL FIRES RECALLED Mr Wilson referred to the University fire and the Progress fire as e not n-ot the Inadequacy of the water pressure pres-sure lie laid great stress on the fact that the companies based their rates on the minimum and not on the average ave-rage water pressure and he read llg ures to show that In the uionth of August Au-gust the pressure got as low as 12 1C and 22 pounds The wide streets he said tended to prevent a general conflagration con-flagration but the large blocks Increased In-creased the danger of a block conflagration confla-gration 1C the Z C M L which was the greatest risk in the city should take lire every building on that side ot the street would burn Ho compared the water and fire equipment or Sail Lake with lAIs Angeles An-geles and other cities to the disadvantage disadvan-tage of Salt Lake In Los Angeles ho wild tho Btorago nupply was ufHck nt for two and a halt dnyn whIle Salt Lakes supply was sulllcient only for llftuen hours If this city Is going to depend on gravity pressure il must make that pressure constant If Il IK going to depend on engine pressure It must got the englnp to give It According to laY < mercantile schedule Mr WIlFon explained each building IB iai d peparatoly Its deficiencies are charged up against It and Improve inents lhat decrease the risk J arc cred llfd I The Commercial club should be able to do great good said the speaker and put the city In a condition thai would enable It to secure the lowest rates notably by cleaning up the Inside In-side of the block enforcing the bow agalnnt frame construction In the lire limits which had boon violated even by u the Mayor In pulling a wooden front to a building on Main street and improving Im-proving either the water pressure or Iho engine supply RESIDENCE RATES LOWER lie added hiLt the lower premiums on residence properly had boon secured through thercprcBentatlon of the local agents that residences were widely separated sep-arated and the foliage of trees afforded afford-ed additional protection against the aprenil of a Ire In closing Mr Wll Bon reminded the business men lhat tin Insurance represented hardly half of the property values and thai It was as much to their Interest as to the Inter esl of the Insurance companies to minimize mini-mize the danger of fire On the Invitation of the chairman George Y Wallace of the Boll Telephone Tele-phone compan spoke lie said he was not Individually inlerestcd ay ihe lelc phone company had already taken out all the Inmiruncc It cared to curry under I un-der the old rate lie submitted the following fol-lowing ilgnrcs1 Insurance wrllton In Utah In 1S9S S7007J5 1S09 611055 1900 732 SIO 1901 51038150 Premiums paid 1111818 02293 II 1899 1 lH96S5l 1900 I 132595 1 1901 202 S73SO The average annual loss he mild Aoild not exceed 50OOC or 75000 ot I HIP t outside whllo each of the thirty five ugencicsln 1 Snit Lake was cOllc tIng t-Ing not less tlutn 5000 annually In premiums pre-miums I If vc should put onefourth of our premiums Into a fund and Insure the other throefourths In the old companies compa-nies how long would It lake UK to accumulate ac-cumulate a reserve that would pay the largosi loss ever known here asked Mr Wallace ADVOCATED MORE ENGINES He said thai the telephone building was an nearly firoproof as a building could be yet under the new rating Its premiums had been Increased nearly 100 per cent An agent had told him that the risk was enhanced by Its proximity prox-imity lo the Sail Lake Theater and yet he found lint the premiums on the Salt Lake theater had decreased while his had Increased He proved from the answers of Water Superintendent hInes that the water supply was sufll dent for several new engines and advocated ad-vocated that more be purchased Councilman A J Dftvls Interposed that tho city had to borrow money from another fund to buy the last engine en-gine and Councilman Thomas observed that It would take ten new men for each onclne j Mr Wallace called attention to the alienee of Mrr Wilson on the subject of the maximum and average water pressure pres-sure As for cleaning up the blockj thai In his Judgment was the duty of the lire department Eugene Cannon questioned some of Mr Wallaces figures saying that the Iate of the SaIL Lake Theater had been Increased not decreased I Councilman A J Davis called attention atten-tion to the Inconsistency oC the companies com-panies In raising rates at this time when so many Improvements had been made In the water system and the city was In bellcr condition to cope with lire than It bar ever been before From a comparative table he read figures fig-ures showing Hint Salt Lakes average pressure was forty pounds above the average of other cities He also paid the capacity of till mains had been Increased In the buslncas part of the clly where Insurance rates had Increased In-creased and that little or no Improvement Improve-ment had boon made In the mains In the residence part where insurance rates wIre being lowered LIST OP REDUCTIONS Eugene Cannon read a list of two story business houps on Main street whoso premiums had been reduced about 10 cents on the SlOG Manager Lanlus of the Sllcknoy Cigar company complained that hlu rate used to be 17GO when there was a menacing frame shack next door while now since the frame building had been removed It had gone up nearly 3 Mr Wilson told him that he was formerly rated ns a retail cigar store and now as a wholesale concern which accounted for tho difference Col holmeS thought It wne an Inopportune Inop-portune time to raise rates while the city was fast solving the water problem prob-lem Councilman J J Thomas wanted to know why If conditions were worse than they had boon In roiipcct to water any reductions had been made at all He spoke of tho constant Improvement of the water system the purchase of anew a-new lire engine and lie employment often of-ten additional men and argued thai these improvements should bring about a reduction rather than an Increase In rat OR Councilman Davis stated that twelve miles of new mains had been laid In the past our years L D Rogers said the companies considered con-sidered only the minimum pressure as fire protection was like a rope no stronger than the weakest strand Mr Wilson said the attention of the board had been called to Salt Lake by the recent fires and this had forced the change In rates JUDGE GOODWIN EXPLAINS Judge C C Goodwin who was Invited I In-vited to speak took Issue with some I of the Insurance men He said that In I the cane of tho 0 S L thy spread of I the lire was due not to lack of water but to the explosion which scattered the fire broadcast In the case of the Progress block he said the firemen had had no experience with fifthMoor fires and did not know how to handle It The university Hid not burn for lack of water but because no one knew how to turn I It on Judge Goodwin did not know why the rate on contents of the McCornlck block hud been reduced unless un-less It was lhat Mr McCornlck had changed his greenbacks Into gold He assured Mr Wallace that the Increase on his building was due to the hot tempers tem-pers of the telephone girls and that if he had the mme girls he did four years ago there would bo a general reduc tionThe The Judge maintained that the real purpose of the Increase was to make Sail Lake pay the losses for the entire Stale REFERRED TO THE GOVERNORS 13 B Crllchlow moved Hint the mooting adjotirn for one week and thai JI Ji Parkhurst h i bo Invited to be present pres-ent next time to answer some oucs tlons Mr Wilsons amendment that thc matter be rcforrc1 to the govern InS board to Investigate and report to tlw club was cal led and the meeting adjourned In i connection with the figures of Mr nlacc on the premiums paid the fol lowing table complied by Chief Dc v Ine and showing the amount paid on all losses from January 1 1S94 to De cember 31 1901 will be of Inter esl Amount or Amount oC IlUlUrnlicc InOlJrHnCQ Involved PaId J591 02J1I S 2r 2r20ji 1S5 t 5ir1t E1362i 1l IS9I 17 G5J5iOM l7Ilr J 11S5SI5i fl371 1S9 7110715CO 61t 1s 1 Gll1350 2ltS34 l1h i38000 ll3D3 itot 03SlWC OSiJW TI for tho 8 yrsKC337CO CO J5S5G73Sl |