VOL. XIX.
■4-_£V   INDIANAPOLIS, IND., SATURDAY, JULY 26,1884.
NO. 30.
*^>.*u*U4iui.r^hkH;{. .y^_-ys
Farm Insurance-."
BV JOHN M. STAHL.
Is*:i*v« in insuring property against
tu* si3l..» Imam, but I am inclined to
n-.l tlu we farmers uot infrequently in-
..•^■xinst those contingencies which it
_«.»_•,_..__ our j-ower to avoid. Themib-
*e.« m iujstwted to my mind by the ac-
•.•_*i_it.y daily paper of the burning
jJ«f*t.il (arm buildings ' by lightning.
•.ie'-i'y l.iltand the cyelono it may bo
rj.-ii.it!*. to guard agninst; yet It ls com-
t dt »u|.i«*-s.l that lightning rods afford
»-.;»ritive protection from lightning.
iilue* It L. dearly impossible to guard
*,T.s»;:»nd therefore the farmer should
iv.f» s-plitst destruction by tli owe Btorim.
,/..a-l.
!»'»•«• now prepared to see some of tho
is ■•,.»..**« presented by farm insurance.
TV '.inner Insure*, against lass from lire
, v_.it that from any other cause; yet
.•.jt t« tin reason in the wide world why
Amir's buildings should burn, unless
.* -n l.r. by an incendiary. Kven lu tho
- . l»| .itv, fire must lie, in nine cases
.; .>t !<-n, the result of gross negligence on
i, |art uf wiuie one. The burning of
:.. '.'-.r-tiy lia-tlio-onio so common that it is
»sTj_*'t as a matter of course, when it
•v..!! l«>nftho rarest occurrence. We
t;tr, ■** that lire will consume; then why
■..-a it lucM-ape? In tho city tho bulld-
-.p sr* crowded together and lire Is readi-
. *■ mmmilcaled fnim one to tho other;
!-.r.i.sutnliiga litiildiug may not be the
*»__l of any i«rclcssness whatever on the
W, Mihi- owner. Here, too, it is necos-
vy \.i bave very hot fires in the largo
%i__'4_a*-ltiriiigestablishments, where ma-
-*___;» Jry as tinder Is constantly lying
»'.<;t: and these fires are attended by em*
.*. who have no interest ln the prop-
-,t il suke anil are careless and indlf-
"7,: t*> ifniliable losses occasioned by
.".r negligence; again fires may often
-.:**ithnnt any fault on the part of the
.T.f... the property destroyed. In tho
-;r vhcr*> i- a large criminal class that
i »s rot hesitate at incendiarism, espoci-
i.r »h<-n Jnllamed by whisky—always
tTif.i plentiful;* building may bo set
■ttifhy nn nie dissolute character out of
tr.-.i. for somo fancied wrong, and
v».t«t this the owner of the property
•u- . enanl. Hut in the country thoso
'%'..'.i,_.« do not exist; and as a result of
i* lifontit conditions, I claim not only
i« -.he-re should be fewer fires in the
-s:s:\ than there are, but that the farmers
«■■■'-.'•! not injure themselvo against fires
•.■«-■•, thu**. caused by lightning or incen-
'*r.'m. Karm buildings are Isolated; 1 f
■'■it t,-* not they should lie. Tlie barn
«*'-.;M never I* so near the house that fire
■«)« rt.nininnlcated from ono to tho
<a»r: nor the granary so near the liatn
s.;*» from Uie one would reach the
**«r. Some of the outhouses are ncce*.
sr; p'tr-l near the house; but their
*sh»t« .mall compared with the l*arn
«■■( mrnry. On the farm there need be
"**--,;t> likelihood of fire being comma-
»■*>! Itvim onebnllding to another. On
-»!i*5n there are no hot fire* for manu-
Vrtr.sj pnrposns required; and what
N* i*» nMvimnry are generally attended
- -j ft* members of the family, who are
*-*% interested in seeing that they do
no harm. And we would certainly be
very slow to confess that on our farms
could be found a criminal class equal in
all that is to be feared to the criminal class
of the city. Fires must be the result of
carelessness, pure and simple. They originate in defective flues; but why allow
Hues to be defective when it is known that
they are dangerous? Or fires aro started by
the children playing with this dangerous
element; but It U certainly gross carelessness to allow thechlldreu to play with fire.
Fires aro occasionally started by smoking about the barn or stock sheds; but
every farmer knows that to do this is gross
carelessness. And when tlie matter is
sifted down to cold, hard facta, it will bo
found that fires In tho country, except
those arising from lightning and Incendiarism, aro the result of a greater or less
degree of carelessness.
Then why are there so many fires In the
country? Why are farmers bo careless
aliout the mutter? Simply liecauso they
are insured. The farmer Insures his property; and though his conduct might not
lie considered criminally careless, he Is
much less careful than he was liefore, for
if bis buildings do burn, be Is insured and
the tire will not occasion total loss.''He
does not want his buildings to burn, of
course; but he Is naturally more Indifferent to the possibility of such an occurrence
when the buildings are Insured to their
full value than when they aro not Insured
at all. As a result, ho Is not no careful
that the flue Is safe; that tho children are
not allowed to play with firo; that he puts
out his pipe liefore he enters tho barn or
stock yard; that hot fires of dry wood are
not made and then un watched; that thero
is no fire in the contents of the stovo when
they are taken out and placed in the ash
bin; that the firo under the meat in tbe
smokehouse Is watched; that matches aro
not allowed to He about tho house ami
other buildings; in short, that a great
many things are done or not done which
would receive his attention if the property wero not insured. The very safety of
lieing insured increases the probability of
destruction by fire. And for this, Insurance companies are not a littlo to blame,
for they will take further insurance upon
property when they should know, at least,
tbat it is already insured for aliout its full
value.
Though property Is Insured for Its full
value, IU destruction by fire Is a loss more
or less to the owner. The companies will
not pay the full amount of tbo policy If
they can replace the property destroyed
for a less amount; and though tho property owner gets an amount sufficient to
replace the bulldingsdestroyed, he can get
no compensation for the loss of time and
comfort occasioned by the fire. A fire is
an evil, no matter how much Insni-aneo
there may be; and Insurance, which does
more than anything else to Increase tho
numlier of fires, Is really an evil: the
harm it  docs is greater  than the good it
accomplishes.
I say let the farmer insure himself
•gainst loss by fire due to causes otber than
lightning and incendiarism. How? Iiy
being careful—«s careful as a prudent man
will be about .the everyday concerns of
life of like m%nltude. If the fanner had
the value of his buildings In hard cash, he
Would   be very  careful   that  it was not
stolen from him; be would be sure that
there were no matches left lying carelessly about it; he would know that no man
would allow lire from his pipe to fall u|*on
It; he would uot fail to instruct the cbil-
dreu that they must not play wiUi lire
about that roll of bills; he would set* to it
that 110 hot lires were built against it and
then neglected; In short, he would be
reasonably careful to gtianl against loss.
He would exercise the i-are that a prudent
man would in tho ordinary transactions of
life, or rather the extraordinary, for it is
not often the caxo that so much caah la In
the hands of the fanner. Yet he has every
day In his care pn.jxirty Ui that value; if
he would guard it with the same care that
ho would Its equivalent in greenbacks or
gold, thero would not bo so many Urea lo
chronicle.
That which the farmer should fear the
least he Insures against the most.
Against loss by lightning tho farmer
can Insure himself In aeonsldcrableextent,
if not altogether, by placing it siifllelcnt
numlier of properly constructed lightning
rods upon hlsbulldlngs. There an* a great
many wrong opinion* entertained alsuil
lightning rods. Thus ills said that tbo
rod must bo no heavy or tho lightning,
when It strikes the rod, will melt It. Now
when lightning strikes a rod you can be
sure that there ls something wrong, ltods
aro to draw the electricity from tho clouds
quietly and continuously and by thus
maintaining an equilibrium between tho
cloud and earth prevent a discharge.
When lightning strikes a rod It Is conclusive ovidenco that Nometh.iig Is anil
was out nf kelter.
Any blacksmith can mako a first-class
roil. Make It of Iron and continuous;
there should bo no joints; It needs no
points; If 11 rusts It does not matter; it
may bo cither round or square—tho shapo
is immaterial; fasten It to tho building
with iron staples—glass Insulators aro
needless; only bo suro that you havo
enough of it anil that it reaches down into
ground always moist. Don't allow some
sleek tongued agent t<i wheedle you into a
contract that will oost yon ten* times tlio
amount that lietter rods than his nets! cost,
you.
].Tally, I would Insure against cyclones.
Tliero Is no way to escapo tho cyclone and
it has Is-scrimo of such frequent occurrence
as to Justify insurance against It,
I am notopposod lo Insurance; I believe
itis wisdom to pay a small sum for Indemnity against a probable lows. I!nt I
am opposed to needless Insurance; to that
carelessness that makes the greater part of
our farm Insurance necessary. For insurance costs money and money can l>© saved
by lieing reasonably careful In avoiding
destruction of property. Though Uie
farmer is as careful as he should lie, ho yet
might insure; for If ho wero careful the
risk would be so much less that insurance
would cost him the merest trifle. Whon
wo cometo note the amount annually paid
by farmers for Insurance, wo liecome convinced lhat thero Is need of reform In this
matter. Money needlessly paid out for insurance reduces the profits of farming that
mnch; and those profits aro small enough
now; whllo the money goes to those who
are the worst of all consumers and non-
prod ucers.
Weather Report.
OOSOmo.N OP THB WKATHKR IM THB jSTATB
Or IMUANA, FOH THB WKKK KNI1ISO r«l-
BAT N1UHT. _l._.V 11.
Indian*.
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Allon „ ,
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link „	
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!l sirnsun  ...
I«*nry	
Howard.... 	
.my	
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Knsclllsku	
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Miami	
Monroe	
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"'i'ui'.'iii
La Porto Oounty.
K-S11*_*ra Indiana Pan»*.r:
Through all Uie northern part of this
oounty great want of rain; don't know If
ll la mi all over tlio oounty, but think tho
drouth Is general. Meadows and pastures
drying up l-mlly, and young clovpr will
lsj killed in some sandy locations. Whoat
all cut and stacking commenood. Nome
hay yet to put In, and hay vm» heavy and
was got In the barnn In good order.
Health good. (V>rn quite spotted, but I
think the brub has quit working in II.
r.lackts'rrlcs just turning red. Oats hurt
by tho drouth, and wbortlelxirrie* aro
making their appearance at our doors in
four quart palls with * "small l*oy" at-
talched to tho bail, piping out, "hucklo-
lierries, 10cents * quart" which weal-
ways take, (wo mean tho whortllliorrios,
not tho boys) of course.
Mkk. It. A. Davis.
July 17.
Tho Rod Screech Owl.
Kdllnm Inillana farmer:
If your urn-respondent, Mr. KrenUlnger,
who states that the "rod screech owl" and
"mottled owl" aro different, will refer to
Dr. Klliott *"bno», Key to North American
Hirds, page 3»2, ho will seo that Dr. Conos
says: "It lias boon determined tiiat tho
coloring of those owls, lxiars no definite
relations to age, sex or season. They aro
the same bird. Also Hinder, in his reoont
work on tho birds of North America, page
I'll, says: "Although these species appear
different on account of coloration of plumage it U one and the samo bird." Tlio
cause of tho different coloring is not known.
I will also state that several yoars ago I
had a pair of these owls alive, one brown
and tho other red, that were captured in
tho same tree, and which were apparently
mates. Klktchkr M. Nok,
Indianapolis.
. *) . !.■
A. Ilarrettwm, a section hand, working
near Klizatiethtown, was killed by a stone
thrown from a passing freight train.