Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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mum NINNIES' SIDE* mXEMMMRS Or a & V. A. SHOW WHY THKY ARK QUITTING 8TATE. ?tr* Insurance Agents Much Worried Ad Say That They Win Probably Hare to Clone ap Ofllcea?Number of Large CXnnfxutfea are Withdraw? ing and Some Waat Polities Now in Blee? Cancelled?Agent* Say That Local and Independent Companies Cannot Handle Insurance. Tha ore insurance situation in thin mate Is creating quite a great deal of Interest Just now, both among the agents, who say that It seems that they will be forced out of business, the companies, who say that they are forced to withdrawn under the recent act ?f the legislature, and property holders, who do not know that they will be able to place any insurance on their property, when the present poli? cies expire. The Insurance act passed by the legislature has caused a big stir and the withdrawal of numerous large companies from the fire insur? ance field in this State Is In effect leafing the State practically without means to write fire Insurance. The local agents are much concern ed and say that Indications are that they will have to go out of this busi? ness. Letters from no less than twen? ty-two large companies were received by their agents here this morning, following up telegrams which had al? ready bean sent, stating that they had withdrawn from South Carolina and would db no further business hose under the recently enacted law, which, goes Into, effect the latter part Of this month. Hartford and New Tork are the centers of Insurance for the large companies of the United Iff? and the Hartford companies practically all sending out the lame circular letter xto their agents notifying thsm of their withdrawal. Tna Ns* Tork companies are sending out similar letter*, under an apparent auneosnent of the companies, stating 'tniWthsy will do no, further businete ; "ItTXtJi State. The letters are all very much alike and the following letter i to a local agent Indicates the reasons i of tho companies for withdrawing: ???. Home Insurance Co., i If Cedar Street, New Tork. March a, 1916. The Sumter Insul ance Agency, Agent, I ffcimter, Sooth Carolina. ? Dear Sirs: Please note that from i rH ^fter the receipt of thfw and ?m tl] l rther notice*, your authority to at t rfsks against tire,, lightning and i * Horm or hail, and to Issue i pt tee of this company thereon, is disvuaUaued. and you are proitiUted i accordingly from performing any and all acts as agent of this company, < excepting the collection of unpaid premiums, if any. on policies written . before that data * - < In Justification of our action and In support of the conclusion abovo i stated, ws cite the following provla- ( Ion? of ths law recently enacted by your legislature Knd approved by ycur governor: Under Section six the law vesta In the Insurance commissioner the p>w er "on written complaint or upon his own motion to revisw any rate and to determine whether same Is discrimi? natory or unjust, with the authority to require us to substitute a rate which In his Judgment la not discriminatory sr unjust. In oth<r words, the price of the Indemnity v e are prepared to of er to your customers is no longer to be under our conti ol. \ In Section seven, it is provided that no company or agent "shall make or permit any difference or distinction in rates, in methods of payment of pre? mium or in any other way whatso? ever between insurers of risks of es? sentially the same fire hazard." Any company or useut violating this section shall be guilty of a misde? meanor and upon conviction thereof shall oe fined not exceeding 6X00. Manifestly it is impossible to com? ply with these two contradictory conditions. The one takes from us all control over our rate?; the other penalises us If we Co not apply our schedules uniformly. It subjects you to a fine of 9160 if you collect a pre? mium In ten^daya from one customer and give another th rty days credit. Section two requires that an offi? cer or agent of th* company "who resides In the Htate' shall on the first day of March 1917 and In each year thereafter, file with the insurance commissioner sn affidavit stuting that the company has no. In the precedliiK twelve months entered Into any com? bination for the purpose of preventing competition In Insurance rates in the State. It will be ?\ holly impossible for any agent of tlds com pa u v SVCf to msks such an affidavit and we h. li never ssk one of them to do so. Clearly It Is unsafe Toi ? Ither you or us to do business under thin Statute. While It Is a long time since our oper? ations in Mouth Carolina yielded ? profit to this company, we are reluc? tant to withdraw QSJf protection from Its property n. oern und to Interrupt our vsry satisfactory relations with you but we cannot do business under fiuch a law npr do wo see how you oan. Please acknowledge receipt of this. Hold all supplies subject to further in? structions and send us at once your account covering all transactions to d??te, with remittance to balance. If you have issued any policies taking effect later than the 16th day of this month, please cancel and return them together with any and all other out? standing policies on which the prem? ium has not been paid. As the South Eastern Underwriters' Association withdrew all jurisdiction from the State on the 1st ingt., you will please send all daily reports directly to this office instead of to Columbia as here? tofore. Yours truly, P. C. BUSWELLs Vice-President. South Carolina, the local agents say, has the lowest average premium rale of any State in the union, while at the nmo time it has the highest avurage of loss of any State in the un on. The Southeastern Underwrit? ers' Association was an independent rating bureau, whose rates practically all of the old line Are Insurance com? panies operating In this State had ac? cepted. Now, the agents say, since thew companies have withdrawn the insurance will be left to the local and Independent companies. The local companies have not sufficient capital and none can reinsure their risks in the companies which have withdrawn, so this will leave the State practically without insurance, or that is the pres? ent indlcat' n, according to the ag us. i * agents will not have com panies, they will have to And others, an almost impossible task, or close up their businesses. This, of course, makes it necessary to hunt other work. Another thing which affects the Insurance field here is that the business done by the big companies Is comparatively small and it will af? fect them to only a small extent to withdraw, conditions being different ' from what they were in Kentucky and other States in that section several years ago, when similar legislation was enacted and the companies with? drew, when the Insurance was larger and aiTected the companies to a great? er extent, making them seemingly In? different to the matter here. It seems that no fight will be made on the law. In fact some of the companies have not only withdrawn, butmave written their former agents, who are no long? er agents upon the companies' with? drawal, to cancel all policies now in effect, not merely wafting *^>r their rapiratJbn, but this, of course, they canunct enforce, if * the agents ami 1 pulley Holders ore unwlllln So mo of the companies heard from today notifying their agents of their withdrawal were: The Home, J?n- v don Assurance, Merchants' Union, Phoenix of Hartford, Glenn's Falls, I Aetna, Firemen's Fund, Hartford, i Connecticut, Northern Assurance, At? las, Quenn, Westchester, Rochester German, German-American, Aachen and Munich, Dixie, Yorkshire, Provi? dence Washington, Security, German Alliance, Hamburg Bremen. The four local companies in the State to cure for the insurance now arc Pa' metto, Sumter; South Carolina, Colombia; Southern Home and Equitablo, Char? leston. These four tgre all very small companies and can give only a small per cent, of the insurance which will be required. Fire Saturday Night. Fire Saturday night about 10 o'clock practically destroyed a building on East Canal street. The building was occupied by AlbsrU. Brown, and was owned by H. Harby estate. SUMTER PROOF. Should Convince Every Sumter Reader The fiank statement of a neighbor, telling the merits of a remedy, Bids you pause and believe. The same endorsement By some stranger far away Commands no belief at all. Here's a Sumter case. A Sumter citizen testifies. Head and bo convinced. P. R. \laye, retired grocer, 126 E. Liberty l*:t., Sumter, says: "1 hurt my back and after that I had backache all the time. Some days I could hard? ly get around. I used plasters lini? ments and several other medicines, but found no relief. The kidney se? cretions were tilled with sediment, and I could not rest well. If I tried to lift or stoop, sharp pains darted through me. On using Doan's Kidney Pills the pains In my back left, my kidiu' s became normal, and I felt fif? ty per cent, better in every way. (Statement given Nov. 14, lift.) On Jan. 12, 1915, Mr. Maye said: "Whenever my back bothers n.e, or I have the least sign of kidto-y weak? ness 1 get a box of Doan's Kidnev I'lls at Zemp's Pharmacy. They ncv i er fall to relieve me." Price 60c, at ull dealers. Don' simply ask for ? kidney remedy ?get Doan's Kidney Pills?the same tlur. Mr. May has twice pu Micly rcoin mended. Foster-M ilhuin Co., Prop* liuffalo, N. Y.?Advt. (It] "0UTRA6E: SAYS WMASTER SCORES COMPANIES FOR QUIT? TING STATE AND SEEKS FED? ERAL AID. Insurance Commissioner Writes Sen? ator Tillman and Representative Lever Urging Investigation?State Powerless, Says McMaster, Who Thinks Fire Companies Have En? tered into a Conspiracy. Columbia, March 4.?Insurance Commissioner F. H. McMaster this af? ternoon addressed letters to Senator Tillman and Representative Lever asking them to have the United States Government Investigate certain lire insurance companies that are with? drawing from South Carolina because of the passage by the legislature of the anti-compact bill. Mr. McMaster says that the State is unable to deal with this situation, but "it does seem to me that this is a most outrageous condition, and one that should not be permitted by the federal government," said the,commissioner. He says that he believes these companies have en? tered into a conspiracy, to withdraw from the State and to injure*the peo? ple of the State by disturbing the bus? iness conditions. The following letter was written by Commissioner McMaster to Senator Tillman and Representative Lever at Washington: At the last session of the legisla? ture the Laney-Odom compact 1 bill was passed, i It was signed by the governor on the second ana goes into effect on March 22. "Thin bill practically, in ^effect, simply forbade the companies 'malt? ing any compact or combinations with other Are insurance companies, associations or partnerships or to al? low their agents to enter *into any i compact or combinations with other companies, associations or partner? ships fcr the purpose of governing or controlling the rates charged for fire \ insurance upon property in -South Caroline." "The bill practically put out of business the Southeastern Underwrit- 1 ers* Association, but left each com? pany tho right to make its own- rates. | It permitted the companies to employ | a common agent for the inspection of ? risks, at vising as to defectivo atruc- , tures, et?. As you know, for the-past i ten years the Southeastern Uader- j writers' Association has dictated ; the rates of tire Insurance in South Caro- ( line without practically any ablllty'by . the State to control theo? raters1, The purpose of the Laney-Odom bft) wfcs to provide for independent acllojv by, the companies and permit some | competition In lire insurance, rate:-. "From tiio public prints, informa? tion received through telegrams to tho , local agents und from other sources, I < am conviiicod that a large number of . com pan le 4 have agreed to withdraw bodily from tho State, and they are now doing so. I believe that they have entered irto a conspiracy to injure the people of the State by disturbing in ( every way possible business condi? tions, depriving agents of means of , livelihood and otherwise working great injury and loss to the people. "Of cot rse, the State is wholly un? able to deal with corporations which withdraw from tho Stats and Which have their home office* in other States. "Dut it does seem to me that this j is a most outrageous condition and | one that should not be permitted by the federt.1 government. "The companies have claimed that they lost money In South Carolina, and yet tie law, when it goes into ef? fect, will permit each company to make its own rates by its own ex? perience, numbers of them threaten and in a practical mass withdraw. "Is thero not some federal remedy? It does seem to me that the federal authorities should have the power to Investigate the matter and to put an end to a condition Which seems to me 'to be ruthless-and outrageous. ' "I feel f-uro that you will leave no stone untirned to do your best for the people of South Carolina In the present emergency. "Asking that you take prompt ac? tion, I am very truly, "F. H. McMaster, "Insurance Commissioner." Several more companies notified their local agents today that they were withdrawing from business In South Carolina. It is believed here that practically all of the big lire in? surance companies will withdraw from the State. ? 1 1 ? MOEWE'S CHEW HONORED. Capt and Men to Receive Iren Cross ?Vessel Captured Fifteen Ships, i lerlln, March ,;. 4 'ounl von I >ohna-Schlo(lian and his crew of the commerce radier Moewot which has II turncd to n home port, are the heroes of Germany today, They will receive the iron cross and many oth? er honors. All newspapers laud i h< ir exploit i and point oul I hoi facl that other iwlfl raiders can evade the British Heel and destroy commerce, as did the Muewc, she capt tired or de? stroyed! fifteen ehips during Inr (!l" ? SUMTEB jWin FIELD D?Y. TO BE HELD AT SLMTEIl Fit I DAY, APRIL 7TIL Information and Instructions for Sixth Annual Event Issued by Tlic Sumtcr County Teachers' Association. County Field Day this year will be a bigger event than ever before in the history of the county. The plans and program mapped out by the County Teachers' Association, H. IT. Bruneon of the Mayesville School, president, are as follows: Parade iu:3o> o'clock. All the schools of the county, both city and rural, will join in parade. Rural schools will form alphabeti? cally and according to districts, com? mencing with District No. 1. The formation will begin promptly at 10:15 o'clock in front of the court house. The city schools will form at the same hour at the monumental square, and join the rural schools at -10::>0 o'clock. The line of march will then *)egin. Laying corner stone of Girls' High school building 11 o'clock. The pa? rade w ill terminate at the .monumen? tal square, in front of the new Girls' High school building. The ceremony of laying the cor? ner stone of this beautiful biiikling will then take place, conducted by the high school of Sumter. Addresses will be delivered by Gov. 11. I. Manning, State Superintendent of Education J. a. Swcaringcn,' and State High School Instructor, W. H. Hand. Light Lunch .Served. Immediately after the ceremony of laying the corner stone, while' still in line, a light lunch of sandwiches and cake will be served free to all pupils^ Sociul Feature. After having been served lur^i, the i pupils will be allowed the pleasure of i meeting each other and enjoying the j social feature of the day. Great prominence should be given this feature. The schools of the county all stand for one great aim. The children are all Sumter county children (Game Uocks). On this one great occasion i of the school year let us Join in with the purpose of uniting al forces in fellowship and In friendliness. Remember the childrer of Sumter county represent her future citizen? ship. Train the Child in the way he should go, and \. iev be IS plci he will | not depart ttforefrom. Athletics ?30 P. M. (Rural Schools.) Kote the follow inu: 1. Only one representative from ' i each school can take part In any con? test, except in the relay race and th<< tug of war. 2. All "starts'* for races will be 1 made, as follows: "On your mark," "get set," and then the pistol fires for 1 "go." None ',ut contestants and prin? cipals allowed within the ropes. 3. No pupil can enter more than three events. 4. Only bona fide pupils?those who have been In school at least twenty days (school days) and who arc making p issing marks?may en? ter. 5. Teachers should see to it that their representatives are on hand when the race is called. Hoys' Contests. Section I, includes those from any grade and not over 4 feet tall. Section II, includes all "those be? tween 4 and 5 feet tall. Section 111, includes all over 5 feel tall. 1. 100-yard dash-?Section III. 2. 50-yard dash?Section I. Running high jump?Section HI. 4. Sack race?Section I. 5. Running broad 'jump?Section II. G. 76-yard dash?Section II. 7. Tf/ug of war, team of 1?Sec? tions 1 and II. 8. Relay race, team of 4?Section II. ' 9. ?20-yard dash?Section III. Girls' Contests. (Sections will be the same for girls as for boys.) 1. 50-yard dash?Section II. 2. 50-yard dash?Section III. 8, Sack rac<?Section I. 6. Hope jumping race?Section II. I 0. Potato race?Section 1. Prizes (Rural Schools.) A prize of $10 will be given to the rural school thai has the largest per? centage Of children in the parade. The percentage to be calculated only on the number of pupils in regular attendance since the first of March, A prise of $10 will be given to the rural school making the best showing as to marching and appearance gener? ally. The Women's Christian Temperance Union of Sumtcr will offer a prize of $."> in gold be prest nted Field Day, to tin* pupil In the intermediate or Advanced grades who will write the best essay on "Alcohol and the Human llody." (Information an to ihe rules of this contest will be sent to all touchers of those grades.) Blue ribbons will bo given to the winners in all the athletic contests. One ribbon only in each contest. The County Hoard of Education will (dvc a book to each winner who will pre? sent Iiis ribbon to the County Superin? tendent of Education, and who will place the book in his or her school library* some Points to i>e Remembered (Read More Than Once.) That all the people of Sumter county are invited to intend the Sum? ter County Field Day, Friday, April 7th, 191G. That all prizes given will bo to the Rural schools. That each school is asked to carry a banner with name of school on it, while in the parade. That for the sake of uniformity, it is suggested that, where possible, each girl wear a white dress with purple bunting sash. That the boys in each school dress as near as possible'alike. That only those pupils can enter tho parade who have been In regular attendance since the 1st of March. That only those pupils can enter the athletic contests who have been in regular attendance for the twenty school days previous to April 7th, and who are making passing m irks. That you should encourage your pupils to stay In school, if they wish to take part in Field Day. That all who come to the Field Day should get acquainted with as many other folks as possible. That this program was accepted by the County Teachers' Association at its last meeting as an amendment to the program first adopted. That it is necessary for the County Superintendent of Education to know by March 25th, exactly how many children you expect to bring to the Field Day event. (This is in order to provide for the right number'l of. lunches.) . - That it would be well for each school to learn several good songs and several good yells. (Songs suggested trC "America,'' "Carolina" and "Old Black Joe.") That the County Eoard of Educa ion will ask your trustees to give the rth of April as a holiday. That it will never do for you not to Je in Sumter on April the 7th. W IL SOX TO RFTIIIX TO "WORK.. Washington, March 5.?President tYilson who left on the naval yacht. Wnyflnwer Wittf Wttj W ! 1 lor a week-end trip '.own thi Poto-" mac river, is expected, back eari: to? morrow. Ho probably will confer luring do day with Col E. M. House, ivho returned from Europe mis morn ng Two of the president's callers to norrow will be Representatives l*m root of Wisconsin and Dennett of S'ew York, members of the house -ules committee, which is to pave the >vay for a vote on the armed ship ssuc in the house Tuesday. WiLSON VICTORY PLEASES. british press sees issue * clearly drawn. Senate** Decision Regarded by English Papers as of Ear Reaching Signin? canoe. London, March 4.?Few things short of an actual military victory could have given the British press greater satisfaction than President Wilson's victory in the senate. The Manchester Guardian regards editorially that Germany, having tailed to covince the United States, apparently will ignore sentiment in that country. It continues: "Germany has now definitely as Isumed the line that she is within her rights and means to abide by the con? sequences, if American citizens lose their lives she will make no apology or promise of amendments." The Guardian says it can not imagine that Americans will accept 'such a reversion to absolute bar? barism" and therefore regards the de? cision of the senate as having the greatest signilicancc. All London afternoon papers com m< nt on the size of the vote to table the Gore resolution. The Pall Mall Gazette says President Wilson's dif Rcultleo have not been appreciated fully here, and that it will be possible to judge the magnitude of his victory in the light of these difficulties. From the moment the president based his appeal on the question of national honor, The Westminster Gazette remarks, it was certain the nation would rally to him. CONVICTED MEN RETAIN LIB? ERTY. Dismisses one Rule and Continues Others Drought in Connection With Blind Tigers Gang Sentences. |, Charleston, March 4.?James A. Hennessey, J. P. B. O'Neil, H. O. Has .selmeycr, Dannhauer, S. P. Schiada rcssi and Vincent ' Chicco, Jr., sum? moned on a rule by Special Judge T. G. McLeod' to show cause why they should not serve the chaingang sen? tences imposed'upon them at the last term of court for violating the dispen? sary law and suspended, were heard in the court of general sessions today. The rule to-show cause was dismissed in the Chicco case and continued in the others. In a general order continuing five Of the' eases, Judge McLeod declared that It appeared that the places here alh sed to Have beer occupied by tb id fen i its ? io new alleged to be operated ?hy other person* who have hud ir'io bills returned against them by the grand jury on indictments charging violation of the liquor laws "and for this and other reasons satis? factory to the court, and without prejudice to the right of the State to appear before the circuit court upon the evidence submitted In the returns on the rule to show cause," the rule to show cause is continued. OTHERS CAR Oq almost every road in the country the sturdiness, steadi? ness and unusual comfort of the car have been fully dem? onstrated Steep hills, desert sands, rough roads or mild roads have held no terror for It. it has done everything it has been asked t<> do, and many things that have been called remarkable. The motor is 30-35 horsepower , The price of the Touring ear or Roadster complete Is $785 U*. O. b. Detroit.) DODGE BROTHERS, DETROIT.