SPOTS AND BLOTS.

Western Star, Issue 377, 4 September 1880, Page 1 (Supplement)

SPOTS AND BLOTS.

•,. - ; - ! ; FANCY FlliES. . " / '; ! j' ' ". I wants to see the manager,"., wa3 ( the r,eihark' macfe ait '■ the counter pi, a larger Eire 1 Insurance.' Company! ,in. London, some'short time, since. The clerk, who jiad" been attending to, someone else, looked round, and saw a thick set, strong looking.iman in a fustian jacket. "1~ wants to see the manager of this 'ere orfice," repeated he. NoW,- the managers of Our large Companies are not, as a rule,* accessible exc'ept J: oh emergencies' {' and the clerk naturally thought that /je'mi'gbt kitendio his. Want's.. But the applicant thought btherwisej and said he "would See/the manager ; or," added he significantly," "it'll be' \the Worse for the brfice;." 'He wa'i ait lkst ; hshere'd into the manager's sanctum.. The.result, of the interview was important, and before the visitor left, the manager sent-fpr-some of, jbhe books to: be, examined, as he wished to know the particulars of ia policy! on a large fur warehouse in the East-end'of London. It was. found that-an insurahce was in force, : -ahd that\.there Was a' large amount' Hi* risk upon the stock ih : thd warehouse* The manager himself opened the'dbbr ' When 'his /Visitor left. Imniß'diateily 'afterwards,' the surveyor to,"the Company was instructed to. call at the Tva'rehouse in question, and examine the stock-in-trade. The information imparted by, the; somewhat unusual visitor in the morning, was to the effect that a fire would occur, at twelve o'clock that night at-the establishment in question. Now fires are generally supposed to be accidents, - and l the knowledge that one' would break out 'at; a, ! given time in a; giVeh'place, thdug]i; not' oijt a parallel, was-.M all events 'decidedly; qutVdf The owner, off.jthe< ""stock 'Via'.the fur warehouse.alluded tp; was ; w.eilT known as, -a ■ very daring., man*> 4ndiOne who would ;Uot hesitate to, make: uses of .stronger I arguments i ithanj wprds if he thought it desirable. 'But the office surveyor was also a man who would hot stick at a 1 trifle, and I Verily believe that had the Company'received a proposal for assurance'On the palace of some Eastern potentate—say the .late Shere Ali, or Theebau of Burmah—he would have packed up.his carpet bag, and proceeded there to take a plan \of the buildings, as coolly as had he been making a survey in the adjoining street. He accordingly presented "himself at the warehouse, sent in his. card, and was.ushered into the presence of, the proprietor. He explained, as the object of his visit, that it was customary to examine risksperiodically, and as he was in the neighbourhood he had determined to call here on his Way. home. The proprietor said he was'very busy, and really could hot attend to him then. The surveyor proposed ; to return in half an hour, and went away. Thence he proceeded to the nearest police station, and obtained the services of a detective, returning at the appointed time to the warehouse. Leaving the " myrmidon of the law " just outside the private office, he resumed the conversation with the worthy proprietor. That gentleman still objected to the proceeding. He was not going to be bothered—it was most unusual —he had no time to go round with him, and he could hot allow him to go alone, and other excuses. Still the surveyor stuck to his object. He would meet him at any time convenient, and, said he, looking him full in face, " at six, seven, eight, or suppose we say twelve o'clock to-night." At that he started up —for reasons i best known ; to himself—in a rage, when he caught sight

of the representative of the laW outside. "Who is that manP " -said,he,. "Oh, he (isionLy'-a friendof mine, who is waiting for'm6," .said,the surveyor. The fur "merchant 'began'to think that the visit •must he 1 from ■ information receiyedj" and that the game was Upland suWily told the Purveyor he might.go over the place., xh,is he &t once did,'and found the s|pckin the hot one quarter, of the value assured. ' On leaving, he said ,tp: the owner, " I find that you '.'are. over, insured to a very large extent, and should a fire occur here, say to-night, we shall know how to act." Need I add that the anticipated fire did not break "Out that night, and that when the time arrived for the renewal of the insurance, the Company declined to receive payment of the premium. '. ;. ... FeW persons have any idea of the number of fires that occur which are not caused by .What the dictionary describes as." that which takes.p}ace or, begins to exist without an , eifiGient. : ;;ihteliigeiit, cause," or, in one ;word, by ."accident.": The'little history given'].above, is fectly true. : The gehtlem'an iathe fustian coat was designed to fill "the post taken by .the late Mri rtain'sth of Noveinbe'f,>na: to '/.fire the train..; He had,, fallen put' with the "furrier," and,.to be tevenged, had followed the/ example,bf an6tHer,,'.of the. Qunpowder'■ Plot had "given a hint." Had he not done so, the fire would have occur.redi the place would have been burnt, and,.however.suspicious the. Company might thave beenj itwouldt beep; very ditficulb to prove that' there had not been the 'amount of yalu 1 ' able' goods in the place at the time drigihally declared to hive beeh there. ■' Ohe of the most 'ihte'restihg—though one p£ the smallest—of the manyuseful ." issued tP.the public,.is/that off/the/ Metropolitan," ,Eire Brigade, pre-, sented by Captain Shaw, the ..efficient chief/,officer of the force* It is needless to ehumerate the various: causes to which fires are assigned in that report; ;but the largest number, about; oh an average, onethird'of the total, are accounted for as "doubtful" Or "unknbWh,'' OrperhSpsit; would ,b'e more accurate to say, aft Hot] aCCbun'ted fdr under;, these titles It is of tbbse/ -that come under 'the-category of " otbubjiful ", that J; a'm, writing,; and- r ,df wfiicn.i.jbhe one, mentioned above; had it come, off i'iwould have .been a f airexample. But,in,!additidntothese,fthere area very large number that pass;off without detec-1 tibn,'either the claim made being small,, and the Cphipany ihtdrestjed not thinking. it 'Wtirth'While to dispute; or the ;i case; bSing are yet/hot'sufficient proofs to be obtained of the friud. When, however, times are bad, or particular trades /are depressed, conflagrations ajie much nipre frequent,, and" fancy fires" piay fairly be divided into two classes—those of the direct cause is. ter'bSttiiess 6T"trade, and those of which the direct cause is simple robbery. Both are; of botfrfeej to bfe : put down under the One Word "fraud ;" bhtthe former ptdbablyndt bcCur wieire the'owners more prosperous, While 'the latter would take place,' under / any .cirCumstahces. \ . Sometimes it is the building thatis.thejobject of destruction; often—; th« con tents.! The conviction, last year of a highly-respectable mill owner: at Brad-ford-on- may be mentioned as an instance of: the former class. He ■ was well known;' and belongei to' a family much respected in the c uhty! But'busi-' ness was, and had bebn for some little time; Very 'bad; he' could riot /carry on; arid,' Was loath to appear as.un r able to ineet his liabilities. Ohe,Satur- x day afternoon, some two hours after the small number of .workmen; there employed had left,'arid one hour after he'was observed himself to/ take his, departure, flames burst out. He was by that time some miles off, having gone to visit a relative. But the fates were too strong for him, and he is now reflecting, and let us hope repenting, in one of her Majesty's prisons. In better times this man Would no doub.t have expressed himself in; the strongest : terms of such an act, arid been the. first to condemn the. crime. , Yet, j when the moment ,of temptation came to 'him.he fe11...,/.,. t.,' 18 ~,.;•,: ~:.,. ...•, ~ , When one of these, fancy fires'.occurs, • where it is the " stock in trade " fbr which the claim is generally 'very much over-stated, with the object of ultimately ■:■ compromising for a smallfer sum. l ' Of course the onus 1 of proving the! vilhP 'of the I stbbk %W claimant. | And here, I am told, some rather curious facts occasionally transpire. , Some short ■time since a claim was made on one, of the London offices by an artist for a- large amount. More than one office was interested in the insurance, and when the .facts were thoroughly gone into, it iwas thought by eminent counsel there was good reason to decline to pay. The artist appealed to a jury of his country-, men; : The case was rather peculiar. The artist, although undoubtedly clever, was uot original. He contented himself with copying Well-known painters, which he succeeded in doing with remarkable skill, and was able to get .good prices for his pictures.. Whether his productions ever came into the market as " originals " I .know not, but I am not sure whether hi 3 calling, if in itself an honest one, would not lead to some dishonourable acts. However that may be, a fire broke out at his house, and a heavy claim was made for certain " old masters" Which he asserted he was copying, and some charred remains were produced. The Fire Offices asserted that the pictures burnt were not "old masters" at all, but rather copies made by himself. After an inquiry that occupied some time, the defendants, aided by the forensic skill of Sir Henry James, gained the day, and the jury decided that the "remains" were"not those of "old masters." Within a very few days of this result the artist died.

My readers may perhaps be aware o£ the existence of the " Salvage Corps." This body is promoted by the leading Fire Insurance Offices,'to protect themselves as far as possible by securing, after

a fire, as much as can possibly be saved. One division of j the duty, of the staff is that of "watching/' and the men who are told. off to do this could tell some rather curious tales of "what they have seen." One or two interesting cases may be mentioned. A fire occurred some time since at a boot and shoe shop, and a very large claim was made for certain highclass boots. . Strange , to say, there Was nothing found tp indicate the presence of /these before the fire, broke out. There is always spmetbing, after, a fire to show what the contents of the place were; but here there was nothing. The Salvage I Corps left a " watcher " in charge; but he found nothing suspicious, till one day the late occupant called With a lady, and said he Wanted to look for some papers. There Was nothing remarkable here, and they would have passed without notice, had not the lady been of extraordinary .[ size.; About half an hour afterwards they ;came , out,; the , man saying as bypassed itliat their/search, had been of: no effect.. ' The/watchman, was, however, very much ! surprised to notice the great difference in l the size of the lady, for she was now as I sliin as she had before been stout. He j said nothing;but as soon as he had seeri Ithehi safely J dff ; the premises, went u'p ' stairs,' and there,' in an out-of-therway, : cbrhe'r, found ,'that the fair; .Visitor • had' i placed rather' more than a .score hf:, old bqpts and shoes—just the kind for whiph : there was a claim made on the Insurance ', Company. The sequel can be.imagined; :The Office declined to pay ; an action was ; brought, and was defended ;and won by j the Company. Many Other," romances df real life" COUld be obtained;.Thave rid i doubt, but this Will serve to 1 show that I even so hard and serious I had: almost said/" dry," but that would : be ,hardly 'apprppnate-—as putting out ; fires, has its humorous side-ji.;.. I The, man ;whd sets fire to his house: or, i warehouse damages, or runs the dhance : of damaging not only the office which he | proposes to swindle, but in all probability j taahy-of her -MajestyJs liege both iri ! person''or property.'.' Ih' fact,, it j would'be difficult to accurately, describe' : so., dastardly ah outrage, yet such' ! dcCiir frequently. A case ,in point ! be given. The proprietor "of a fancyiShppr gave ; ,notice to an Insurance Company j that (hei had moved his stock, and: gave, a i pewi address thatthappened to bp known i to one of the officials in the office, ■ who 5 I made the remark that he : " Wondered i where he would manage to stow'it alii" I The next, day certain other I was received, in consequence of which a' j gentleman was : sent ( up. to view,,the >: hew premises, ,'lt Was found that only the i ground .floor Was taken by, the , new, j comer, and.that he was putfor the,dayi IHe 'asked for. the . proprietors ,of the, j house. The woman—she was a widoW—i came down. : He i told her who he was, | and asked her if f she could riot let him 'into the_ room although the tenarit Was [ out. Of course he gave no indieatiori of I s'uspiciori, merely saying that the Company always liked to satisfy thernselv/es; ori; these points, and, for /her own, children's sake, it was important he, ; should have a look. The woman said | she had not a key to the room itself, but I had one ito the outer • apartiheht, - and ! there was a glass panel to ; . the ,dopr/ j leading to the inner room, through which Ihe could look. He did so, and compl,eteily satisfied himself. There Were " fancy" \ articles hanging all round the room, and I pinned or attached .in soriie;waiy | sheets of tissue pa,per. Tissue paper, too, i ■ was scattered about all over,the place, so; i that had;afire once broken out, nothirig i could save the. contents. He learnt also • ' that Mr: '■■■'■■;—' always had a'plain candle of an evening. The tissue JiajJer lying' j abdtit was pointed out to the wbnian;.Who | quite saw'the danger, and promised.".to Ji about it to Mr. / "'.■■' No fire I occurred, and en a subsequent visit the I official learnt that when Mr. ——ire-, '■■ turned, he was told that a representa- ! tive from the Insurance Office had been jto see him. i "He ;did not come in: !though?" asked he, hastily.' "No," said |the woman, "but I showed hiin through ;the glass-panel;'and he-asked riie to tell jyou not to leave so iriuch tissue paper about." When the next renewal pre•mium was tendered, I heed hardly add ! that it was not accepted.— The Weekly Times (Lbndori); , •',..:-