An Amusing Sell

Feilding Star, Volume IX, Issue 132, 7 June 1888, Page 3

An Amusing Sell

In a settlement where the kauri iadus- ; try. thrives in the Kaipara, lives one; Simeon Wilcox. of a bluff looking genial type, full of wit and fun, but shrewd and cunning ns a for, who while his tongue showed him to be the best of company, liis eye would take stuck of each word or facial expression of every person in view. A second Seddon in fact. One day a ) well dressed stranger was seen in the vicinity of the mill examining the giant logs and modes cf ha ndling them. While thebystanders stolidly stared, Sim took stock of the stranger, and arrived at the •conclusion that it was someone after a load for one of the vessels lying below, so with the determination of having a spoon \ in the dish, whether it was a purchase or j a freight, he edged near, and soon got j into c nversation. Haying literally j taken possession of the stranger he ' showed him how they handled the logs, the enormous reserve of them in the booms, ami plied him -with details, hist« toi-y. and anecdote about the kauri trade, until under pretence of showing a young growing kauri pine he got him .away by himself. The usual assemblage of loafers watched the manmuvre and opined that he had got the measure of the stranger's foot, which would naturally result in setting a good pall oat of the ! other's business What was their surprise when they saw Sim come over a rising ground a t full speed, turn round a liut, double back under a fence, and then down the gully as hard as he could ran. "What's up old man?' 'Well, bnys,' said h<-, and his eyes twinkled, though he was purple and out of breath, with, his exertions, ' I thought I had a real soft thing on, the fellow was so interested about the timber that. I made sure, be wanted to speculate. He asked lots of questions, and wondered that such great lugs could be handled about without accidents, so I told him that there was often someone getting in j tired, and that last week through a jack slipping a 4 foot lug rolled over a chock, and smashed a ma n as flat as a pancake. The way he looked when, he heard of the wite and .children left destitute almost made me feel pipey-likV, and I agreed that it was a disgraceful thine that some provision for them should" not be made a_ainst such risks. Qut he pulls a little book from his pocket, and by gum it turned out he was a Life Insurance agent;'. H»! lia! ba! laughed his auditors, and one stupid looking person proposed to drink Simeon's health for not being had by an Insurance agent, but h> told him not to he too fast, as you can't argue against l,i fe In-urance, and none but an idiot could ridicule it, but said he, -there is one thing I don't like, and that is they are not satisfied with having a doctor overhaul you, but ithev question and cross question until they liave a chalk for every " knot" in the tree and every " shake" in the branches,, and charge you «xtra for them, and unless you are the heart and soul cf a' liar there is no getting *w,ay from it. If that was righted, he added, there is hardly a man in' the colony who wou'd not insure, especially if they do away with the doctor too, and not leave out in the cold any poor fellow because, he iias had any rheumatic fever or because his -mother died of consumption. V:.- ■V. :-. ; ' : '" ■•. ' ■■■' ■■ ■ 'Mr Frankland, the eminent actuary to the Government I nsurance, has laid i a scheme before the Government by which Such Changes may be brought about.'- "thk actuarial authorities at Home endorse it as practicable and safe, but they hardly think such a new idea will find favor with the public, and in that we £p not agree. The plan is to charge a low premium for insuring any* one, whether they have a rotten family history or a flaw in their own health or not; and to pay them by results - that is,, not a particular sum at death, but a larger or 'smaller amount, according to the mortality resulting in each period. In illustration, we will suppose a thous* and persons pay £2 'each annually, de« ducting 12J per cent, for expenses leaves £ 2000 plus £80 for in'erest at tnd of first jear. Now under ordinary calc . a inns nine death* would have taken place, but as these are unexamined or impair* d lives we will say four times that number, or 36 policyholders have di<-d. As the ordm ary valuation tables show that 40- per cent, is the proportion payaU'e t-at amount or £880 will be divided m <nfrsl the claimant s, being a prfitib'e little result of £24 each, while tie £120.) is carried on to the reserve fund. The second year, owing to there being 36 less than a 1000 persons wfi the add t ; on of JJI 2OO, of course the } rofits and p y:nen(s will be in an increased ratio, even if the same quantity die out of the les?er number. People usually like to Ivve companions in misfortune, but in tliia schf m •» the fewer -that die within a jeriod, the forger will be the payments upon each death, distributing the prizes in fact in a manner that smacks of the tolalisalor. Jfo medical examination, and no inquisitive questions asked. People who are at present debarred Will be abe to particU pate. Another step is gained towards reducing distress and poverty, and the benefits of insuring will be opened to the many instead of the favored few as it i« at present. We are pr ud to have such a jrreat public boon originate from a fellow colonist, and most sincerely congratulate the Hew Zealand Government Insurance department on possessing Mr Frankland as their actuary. ; Mr Simeon Wilcox still exists in the Kaipara, though notrunder that name, and possessing as he does a keen eye to bis own interests will doubtless be one of the first to avail himself of it should the proposed innovation be carried out.