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ASTOBIA, OEEGON:
WEDNESDAY
.OCTOBER 2. 1SS9,
FIRE INSURANCE.
San Fbancisco, Sept. 30. The difficulty
'which arose some time ago between three
mutual fire insuranoe companies of New
York and the Pacific insurance union
culminated to-day in the announcement
by the mutual companies that they would
sell all classes of property on the Pacific
coast at 40 per cent, below union rates,
and that agencies would be established
in every town on the coast. This action
grows out of an -unsuccessful effort on
the part of the three companies to gain
admission to the union, they having been
refused admission on the ground that
they were mutual companies.
Sometime ago there was a raise of
over 30 per cent, in fire insurance
rates in a part of this city. Insurance
from fire in this city is believed to be
high, enough if not too high, and the
cinching of Astoria people to increase
the profits of the San Francisco insur
ance ring again brings to the front
the suggestion that Astoria organize
a mutual insurance company.
The last raise is out of all reason.
Just why it is made is one of those
things difficult to understand. Every
time our Astoria fire department is
improved, the insurance rates go up a
little. As the department is con
stantly being improved, the rates are
constantly appreciating. One would
think that the better the fire depart
ment, the lowe? the fire insurance
rates: but this is a case where the
thing works inversely,
As no great improvement has re
cently been made in our efficient
local fire service, it would seem that
nothing but a desire for further profits
has caused this last cinch.
The insurance agents in the city are
pewerless: all they can do is to state
what4he "compact" fixes inSan Fran
cisco. If the "compact" says 25 per cent,
25 per cent it is. They argue ''Those
people will, must insure anyhow, so
we may as well raise the 7 per cent,
rate to 9, and the 9 per cent rate to
11."
The only thing that will bring these
insurance people to time is to decline
to do business with them.
The only way to be successful in
this effort is by unity, by standing to
gether. So fast as the policies are to
be renewed, simply notify the agents
"We won't renew: the premium asked
is too mucli." By all standing to
gether the thing can be done.
The matter must be brought to a
halt some time: no time is better than
the present: right now.
A fair profit is admissible in all
businesses: insurance companies are
necessary and useful, and no one
should grumble if they declare hand
some dividends on their par stock
values.
But they are milking us dry in As
toria. We are paying big taxes to support
a fine fire department Everything
that science or skill can suggest is
considered none too goed: the city
council and the citizens give money
lavishly- to support the department
That department has a good record
for promptly putting ont fire in this
city, and the insurance companies
know that a fire risk in this city is
better than in any other 'city north of
San Francisco. Facts, statistics, show
this.
Yet they yearly advance the rates
just because they think they can
do so -with impunity.
Shall this be allowed to go en: shall
wa pay a treble tax as a protection
against fire,' or shall we refuse to be
cinched and takahe matter iu our
own hands?
If we had nothing but a hand engine
and a lot of leather buckets the insu
rance rates would be no greater than
they are, with the best fire .depart
ment on the coast
The insurance companies ignore the
presence or existence of our fire de
partment It is a factor in the equa
tion that they profess not to see.
The game is not entirely in their
own hands.
The Astorian suggests that this
matter be agitated. The question is
how shall we bring .these compact
companies to their senses and show
them that Astoria is not a gold mine
to have its eyes gouged out.
The only way is to refuse to do
business with .them except on more
just and equitable terms.
The insurance companies .are not
masters of the situation, and should
be made to feel it
LAWSUIT OR LEGACY.
Unceetain are many of the ways
of the life insurance companies. No
where else in the history of large busi
ness organizations has .the debtor reg
ulated his obligation by the morals of
his creditor and liquidated his debt
by acknowledging .its existence, and
then simply charging moral obliquity
on the part of said creditor as the rea
son for not paying.
For instance, A deposits 1,000 in
a bank. It is his money. He can
withdraw it when he pleases, .subject,
of course, to certain banking rules,
which have nothing to do with his
character as a citizen. If he is a thief,
perjurer, or has been guilty of some
social irregularity, it does not invali
date his certificate of denosit His
rights cannot-be impeached on ethical
grounds. But the opposite rule has
been held and is still, held by many
companies to govern life insurance
transactions.
And now what is the consequence?
Why, a man is never sure he is not
entaiiing a lawsuit, instead of a legacy,
upon his family, and that, too, when
his tongue is .silent and he is no longer
able to defend himself. Perhaps no
man s character is able to bear such
a test Nothing is more easy than to
pickx a flaw in the character of a dead
man. Millions of dollars have been
withheld from heirs by the threat to
blacken the name of a beloved father
or husband, made all the more terrible
on account of vagueness. And not
only this, but upon the finding of
some slight, wholly immaterial flaw
in liis statement (which it failed to
find when he was in the hands of its
agents and officers) in some companies
he not only forfeits the right of his
heira to their purchased inheritance,
but the company retains his money
which he has paid besides. This is
surely a dangerous contract for a man
to sign. It is placing a temptation
and a power in the hands of a corpo
ration that it has never yet been in
the nature of corporations not to
abuse.
See how it works. The question is
asked: At what age did your grand
parents die? All four of them. Few
persons can correctly answer that
question. Many do not know. They
only have a vague impression, founded
on a mere rumor, and po reply, and
pay up a premium for 10 years, and
shortly after die. Now the trouble
begins. One doctor says the death
was caused by consumption, an
other, blood-poison or general de
bility. The company ransack the
cradle and the grave and find some
old person who will swear that to the
best of their recollection a grandfa
ther or grandmother had died of con
sumption. The policy holder is dead
and the heirs are powerless to contra
dict this vague testimony. What fol
lows? The company sends an agent
to the widow, who assures her that
there is a fatal flaw in her husband's
policy, that they would like to be gen
erous in her affliction and ,will pay a
small amount if she will sign a re
lease. She is poor, has a number of
children to clothe and feed, and rea
sons a "bird in the hand is worth two
in the bush." In this way millions of
money are kept from needy heirs.
Take a case. In 1878 Col. Dwiglit
died leaving an insurance on his life
for 265,000. A large portion of this
he had carried for years. Fifty thou
sand iu one company was promptly
paid. After a few days' hesitancy an
other company paid 5,000. Nineteen
companies contested the claim. Ros
coo Conkling was on the side of the
heirs, and the contest was one of the
hardest and bitterest on record, and
finally these ghoulish companies won,
after having dug up Col. Dvvicht's
body several times in the effort to
prove that he was poisoned or that ho
had hung himself, upon a purely tech
nical point. And that was that the
colonel did not state that he had at
one time owned a hotel where liquor
was sold. Now remember that for
months they had tried to prove, that
he had been killed, then that he had
committed suicide, never claiming
that they were entitled to immunity
on the ground that he had kept a
bar a long time ago. We believe that
ninety-nine policy holders out of a
hundred could not stand such a strain
on their reputation when dead. Col.
D wight had been accepted. He had
stood the test of a medical examina
tion. The company had received and
used his money and " then refused
to settle the policy on this ghost of a
technicality.. Fraud, is it, for him
not to state he had kept a hotel for a
few months? What more natural
than not to mention it? Here is a
man who is a book-keeper or grocer.
He takes out a policy and never thinks
of. the fact that he has a small interest
in a mine more than a hundred miles
away. 'He visits the mine, several
years after, and catches cold in it and
dies; the company sticks to the tech
nicality and his policy is not worth
the paper It is written on.
We have summarized these poiuls
with no hostility to fife insurance
companies, for tlfey fill an important
place, as many desire to leave a larger
legacy than can be secured in the
fraternal orders. .It is also a gratifi-
I cation to know that there are some
companies that do not catch at such
technicalities to escapertljeir responsi
bility, but the temptation exists and
is ever liable to abuse.
The Liverpool Mercury relates an
incident which shows how some Eng
land landlords treat their tenants.
A prosperous fanner who was desir
ous of purchasing his holding, which
had been occupied by his family for
three generations, waited upon his
landlord and made known his desire,
stating that he had saved S00. Out
broke the landlerd: "You have saved
800 on my land! You want me to
sell it to you! I tell you what I'll do;
ni raise your rent 100 a vear! And
he did it. The rent was au impossi
ble one.. The tenant had to turn out
from the house in wliich he was born,
and the farm was offered for new oc
cupation. It had to be let at 50 less
rent than was actually being paid by
the hereditary tenant, but all attempts
to conclude a reasonable arrangement
on the part of the saving fanner were
useless. The landlord thought he
had rightly punished him for his im
pudence. Cases like this are arousing
an angry feeling among English ten
ant farmers.
AlVICETOJIOTIIKi.
Mrs. Wixslow's Soothing Syuvp
should always be used lor children
teething. It soothes tlu child, softens
the gums, allays all pain, emes wind
cholic, and is the best remedy for diar
rhoea.T wenty-five rents a hott I e.
TiMlr, Juicy Nleali at JViT's.
All the patent medicines adveithed
in this paper, together with the choicest
perfumery, and toilet aiticles, etc, can
be bought at the lowest prices, at .1. V.
Conn's drug store, opposite Occident
hotel, Astoria.
CMlflren Cry forPitclier's Castoria
NOTICE
To Canneryiiien and Others.
The Owners of the AngJo-AnieUcan
Tacking Co.
Wish to dispose of the HuMilitis and Plant
of this Cannery. The plant includes Koilor,
two itetorts, two Sohlei Machines, a line
Steam Engine with good Shafting, and other
Machinery and Furniture to carry on a C'.tn
nery. Intending piuchaseis can inspect at the
Cannerv or receive full i;u ticulars of
MESS KS. COKBErT & MACLEAY.
Portlaml.
Or of P. L. CIIEKKV, Astoria, Oiegon.
Astoiia, September soth. 18S!.
Roadway Market.
P. O'HARA, Prop'r.
Opposite Foard ,v Stokes.
A First-Class Meat Shop.
Frosh and Salt Meats.
All Purchases Delivered in am part of the
City.
Express
and Transfer.
CSuh. and Fred, llildclu-ntiti,
Propiietors.
Headquarters at Foaid & Stokes.
LEAVE ORDERS AT
PETER BRACH'S, Uppertown.
BAGGAGE, FU RIGHT. I3TC.
PROMPTLY DELIVERED
I:: any part of the City.
Wanted.
Parties to Take the Contract of
Clearing Columbia Addition
Of the Underbiush, Fallen Trees, Ftc.
Apply to C.IJ. HALL & CO.
to
SALE.
Valuable and KlIfillileLols in AJlair's Astoria.
Saturday, October 5, at 2 r. m.
At Robb & Parker's Real Estate Olllce.
Wlieien Plat oftliePionerty can be Seen.
Instructed by W. B. Adair. Esq., agent.
l win oner ai rum,iu Autniui, on me
above day, the Lots in BLOCK Co. ADAIR'S
AS lORIA. as recently subdivided, replatted
ami lecorded in the County Clerk' office.
This property is admirably located, com
mands a fine Mew of the Columbia River
bar, is only 3 blocks from high tide water
line and 3 only from the street car line now
running. It is one block south ofthe Pow
er's Avenue, which is laid out 135 ft. wide.
Each lot is cleared and staked oil ami a ma
jority of them are now under cultivation by
Chinese gardeners.
Persons desirous of examining the prop
erty before the day of the sale will please
take the plank road south of Kopp's IJiew
eiy. The lots are now quite accessible. A
carriage can be driven within one block of
the north west corner of Block CO. Terms
at sale. Title perfect. Warranty Deeds.
E.C.HOLDEN,
Auctioneer.
John C. Dement.
DRUGGIST.
Successor to W. E. Dement & Co.
Carries Complete Stocks of
Drugs and Druggists' F.uYulrios.
I'rescrlptloii t'niefiillj' compounded.
Agent tor
Mexican Salve and
Norwegian Pile Cure
Morgan & Sherman
GROCERS
And Dealers m
Camiyjttiios!
Special Attention CIvento Filling
Of Orders.
A FULL LINE CARRIED
And Supplies furnished at Satis
factory Terms.
Purchases delivered In any part of the city.
Office and Warehouse
In Hume's New Budding on Water Street.
P. O. Box 153. Telephone No, 37.
ASTORIA, OREGON.
Real
I'iiJ
Me
in
J. H. MANSELL,
TAT!
NOTA11Y PUBLIC FOR STATE OF OHEGON.
City Lots and Acre Property, Ranches, Timber Lands, and Water
Frontage for Sale.
Investments made for OutsPde Parties.
Established. 1SS3.
. ext W. V. Telegraph Ofiice.
P. O. BOX 863
Ogl
GET YOUR
EXCHANGED AT
B V t -
ISilimOl TO EAST ASTORIA:
: $5.00 Per. Month. '
EGoocl for One Week only. ;
SoBB & PARSES., Agents.
it Will Pay You to Buy a Lot
IN
Laurel Park Addition
-TO-
This property is now on the
On tho Installment Plan for
$30.00 and $40.00 per Lot. $10.00 Cash and $5.00 per Month.
Don't miss this opportunity. The terminus of n transcontinental road"wilrbe
located within 1.1 minutes walk from this beautiful tract.
?r0 to-day. 250 in ono year. Save tho dollars and buy real estate and wealth
is vours. Call at once upon
WORSLEY & OARRDTHERS.
Corner Sd'amTOIney Streets.
This addition to Astoria i3 beautifully situated on a gentle slope toward the
John Day river, lying on the County road and only 200 yards from steamboat land
ing, and within easy walking .distance of street car line. Tho railroad survey from
Portland to Astoria down the south bank of tho Columbia rivepossing between the
landing and Riverside. Tho "Qregonian" in an editorial of September 1st, says:
Tho O. R. & N. will build lines within n short time from Portland to Puget
Sound and Gray's Harbor and from Portlaml to Astoria, penetrating the John
Day region."
Buy Now Be
The most certain and best paying investments in any country are those made in
good towns when prices nro low. and prior to the full growth of such' towns.
No timber or ravines. All good level lots f0xl00. Avenues 60 feet wide. Price,
40.00; 10.00 down, balance 5.00 per month. Title? D. S. patent.
See plats at
J. H. MANSELL'S or FRANK SPITTLE,
Real Estate Agents, Astoria, Oregon.
J. P. H-YNES,
DBA LEU IN-
Groceries Produce.
"Water Street, Astoria, Oregon.
t TELEPHONE SO. 7. - PO. BOX 822.
E BROKER,
Correspondence Solicited.
Third St. Astoria, Oregon.
FOR A LOT
-IX
e uifv of Astoria.
market, and is being sold by
fore the Rise
BOOTS AND SHOES!
Of Best Quality, and at
LOWEST PRICES,
ATTHE-r-
SIGN OF THEJOLDEN SHOE.
New York Novelty Store.
ALL THE LATEST NELTIES
33lt23.l5L Books, JSta,-tiox3Le3?y,
Your Money's Wortli
IS "WHAT YOU GET AT
Foard & Stokes
JN
Groceries and Provisions.
.Everything In a First-class Store
and at
Extremely Low Figures.
Goods Delivered all over Town.
Tue Hightj Price Paid for Junk.
FOARD & STOKES
Wholesale Wine House.
Fine Wines, Choice Brands.
I hnve completed arrangements for supplying any brant? of Wino in any quantity
at lowest cash figures.
The Trade Supplied,
Families Supplied.
ALL ORDERS DELIVERED FREE IN ASTORIA.
Your patronage in City or Country solicited.
A. W. UTZINGER, Cosmopolitan Saloon.
ilk W MJLMmmW
WHOLESALE AND RETAIL DEALER IN
Groceries, Provisions and Mill Feed.
Crockery, Glass $ Plated Ware.
o
The Largest and finest assortment of
3Pa?esh. Fruits and TSTgeta,kl&.
Reoeived fresh every Steamer.
The New Model Eange
CAN BE HAP IN
Agent. Call and Examine It ; You Will on Pleased. E. 11. Hawes Is also Agent for the
Buck Patent Cooking Stove,
AND OTHEU FIUST CLASS STOVES.
Furnace Work, Steam Fittings, Etc., a Specialty. A Full Stock on Hand.
AND
CEILING DECORATIONS!
5000 double roll of Wall Paper and Decorations of the latest styles and shades
just received direct from Eastern factories.
Also a large assortment of
CARPETS,
""N Of all grades in beautiful new designs
New Smyrna Rugs, Portiere Curtains, China Matting, Etc., Etc.
Call and examine. CHAS. HEILBORN.
FIRE BRICK.
OSAI.KK IN
Hay, Oats, and Straw, Lie, Brici, Cement, Sana anil Plaster
Wood Dollrered to Order. Drsjltig, Teaming mad Kxpress Business
iisdyiPi j t'ii aha
IER apply to the Captain, or to
NORTH PACIFIC INDUSTRIAL EXPOSITION I
Opens at PORTLAND, OB., Sept. 20, aad Closes Oct. 20, 1SS9,
The Building Contains Six and One-half Acres of Floor Room,
Which, will be covered with interesting displays of every description from
every section o! the Northwest.
$250,000 EXPENDED IN GROUNDS AND BUILDINGS.
Largest and best exhibit of FINE .LIVE STOCK ever brought together on the Pacific
coast will be made in the spacious grounds adjacentto the Exposition
Building from October 14 to 19.
LIBERATI, THE FAMOUS CORHCTIST,
With fifty Of the best musician Of New Ynrlf, hal hppn fmcrotroH .t on onnrmniw ornAtiw to
Wralsh muslc-during the-entlre exposition. There has been nothing left undone to make
this the grandest exposition on the Pacific coast. Beduced rates of fare have been secured
on all transportation-lines. Portland extends an invitation to every resident of the north
west toattend this magnificent exposition and enjoy her hospitalities. Hotel accommoda
ti ons ample. For further information address
SOUTH PACIFIC
CARL A. HAKSOX
arker & Hanson
SUCCESSORS TO
G. L. PARKER,
DEALERS IN
GENERAL MERCHANDISE
New Goods Arriving Every Steamer
THIS WEEK.
Ms. Clint
The OM Stand - Astoria Oregon.
ASTOUIA, ONLY OP
FIRE CLAY
NTKAWEU
Eben P. Parker, Master.
ForTOWJNG, FREIGHT orCHAK
11, i. 'PABH.EH.
fiiDUgJBLLL EXPOSITION POKTLASD, 03
OSLO F. PARKER.
.
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