THE INSURANCE OFFICES AND THE LATE FIRE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 825, 12 August 1864, Page 5

THE INSURANCE OFFICES AND THE LATE FIRE.

(To the Editor of the Daily Times. J Sir—Several letters having lately appeared in your paper regarding the late flre in Stafford street, and the claims for certain houses which were pulled down to arrest its progress, I would beg to add a few words in explanation. After the fire a meeting was held at Mr Cargill's, to consider means for reimbursing the sufferers who tenanted those houses which were pulled down, to save Messrs Cargill and Co.V store and the surrounding buildings. I, with others, agreed there and'then to divide the claim, and signed a document to that effect, and a cheque would have been forthcoming had Messrs Cargill and Co., who undertook the collection of the money, called for it. I need scarcely add that this company invariably treats matters of this nature in a liberal spirit. I have, &c, Geo. S. Brodrick, Agent Liverpool and London Fire and Life Insurance Company. Dunedin, August 11, 1864., ■ Dr. Ciarke and the Potatoes..-—ln- the " Life of Dr. Clarke," prefixed to his Theology, occurs the following suggestive passage;—" Re shunned the gaze of the public, and preferred preaching in. small chapels to large ones. He had a high sense of honor, but without pride and ambition. He would submit, with all cheerfulness and without the least affectation, to perform the meanest offices for himself, his friends, or the poor." In a letter, dated 4th February, 1823, he writes: " Visit the people from house to house, and speak in the most affectionate manner to them. Take notice of the children; treat them lovingly: this will do the children good, and the parents will like it. Cheerfully partake of the vneanest fare people invite you to. About two years ago, when travelling among the cottages in Ireland, I went into a wretched hovel, and they had just poured out the potatoes into a basket, which, with a little salt, was to serve for their dinuer. I said ' Good people, will you let me takeone of your potatoes?" > Oh yes, sir! and a thousand welcomes, were they covered with gold !' The people were delighted to see me eat one, and another, and a third; and thought that I had lain them under endless oblition. But they thought me an angel, when for every potato I ate" I gave them a shilling. But they had no expectation of this kind when I first asked liberty to taste with them, Some clfrgy carry themselves aloft from their people, and thus assume and maintain a sort of anti-scriptural consequence. Too much familiarity breeds contempt ;. but humility and condescension are-other qualities." „, ' . , A Lesson sor Working- Men.—A remarkable instance of rewarded perseverance is re- ' lated in the Italian paper L'OpinioJW of some workmen at Paris. Fourteen journeymen piano- ; forte makers, without capital, applied for a loan in order to set up a co-operative society. It was : refused them; and that made their fortune. They rented a store in one of the most obscure streets of Paris, and transformed it into an office. They used in common the tools which they possessed, and also their scanty savings. Those who had neither tools nor savings sold their furniture, and even their linen.. Thus they collected together the sum. of 2EO francs, about 1.9125. They worked without a fire, in spite of the cold, abstained from wine, and, with their families, lived on black bread. The result of their privations w.ks the increase of the abovementioned sum to L4O. Then they set to work, and by the aid of Ja timber merchant ob- 1 tamed their, materials on credit. They labored for two months without touching: a farthing of salary. At length they finished their first piano, Bold it, paid all the debts, and had 5s 5d over. They began another piano, sold in advance for about Ll9, and payable in food, and persevered in their bold undertaking for some lime until they each wore able to receive 4s 2d a week in wages. But the 1 sixth month the salary rose to 8s 4d a week, and th'dn to 10s and 16s 3d. At the end of a year or two their numbers had increased to thirty two, with stock worth LI6OO, and with an office, for the rent of which they paid 180 a year. Two years later they divided into two societies, one of which still exists, and is one of ths first manufactories in Paris. M'LANDRESS,