THE MEMBERS OF THE FIRM OF DILDAY & POWELL, MANAGERS FOR THE STATE OF KENTUCKY. The publication of the above portraits makes it superfluous to say that Messrs. Dilday & Powell are both young and handsome, so we will only speak of those other qualities that do not show in the cold, hard reproduction of a photograph. If we are asked to name the three qualities most conspicuous in the Managers for Kentucky, we should name Enthusiasm, Energy and Cheerfulness-the enthusiasm that never dies the energy that overcomes all obstacles-and the cheerfulness that comes up smiling under all circumstances. No matter what the momentary discouragement may be, Dilday & Powell are always full of enthusiasm over their work, and cheerful over the outcome. Genial is a word which is often misused, but, without fear of contradiction, we may speak of the genial managers of the Society for Kentucky. The agency force throughout the State is devoted to the managers, and nobly second their efforts on behalf of the Society. The result of this is shown in the yearly increasing business of this agency. For example, in 1899, the Society's business in Kentucky nearly doubled that of the year before, and last year's business was far ahead of that of 1899; and this year the agency has promised to eclipse all former records. Messrs. Dilday & Powell are both fine solicitors, good generals, and thoroughly up-todate, all round life assurance men. They are prominent in Louisville commercial and social life, and are held in high respect throughout the State; and we have pleasure in adding that there are no managers of the Society more highly esteemed by its officers. WITH DUE APOLOGIES. Old Grimes is dead, that poor old man He failed to have his life assured, Or lay things up in store. And now his wife and children three * License-poetic, not restaurant. A REMINISCENCE. Back in the sixties, Jim McCorkle and B. R. Miller were two of the most successful canvassers in the profession. McCorkle died years ago. Miller is working for the Society to-day, and if he still enjoyed his former health and youthful vigor, Haynes, and Woods, and Hill, and the rest of our prize-winners would have to look to their laurels. Mr. Miller tells the following story: "One day in eighteen sixty something, I asked Mr. Hyde to give me a letter of introduction to the president of one of the largest and strongest banks in New York. Mr. Hyde told me there was no use of wasting my time on him-that I could not possibly assure him. It so happened that two of the directors of the Society were in Mr. Hyde's office when this conversation occurred. Usually Mr. Hyde was quick to grant an agent's request, and his apparent indifference in this instance irritated me, so I determined to do without the letter, but to get the assurance. Leaving Mr. Hyde's office I crossed the street, entered the bank, told the president I was the general agent of the Equitable, and said I had called to talk with him about assuring his life. Finally I wrote him for $50,000, and he was examined by the doctor the first thing the next morning. "I followed the application through every stage, sitting by Fred Fenning's desk for nearly an hour while the policy was being written; and I arranged that it should be signed by Mr. Phillips and Mr. Alexander, so that Mr. Hyde should know nothing about it. After that I delivered the policy and got the banker's check for a little over $4,000. Then I went to Mr. Hyde's room and entered without knocking, and, as luck would have it, the same two directors were again in conference with him. Mr. Hyde said: 'What is it, Miller; I am very busy, you must excuse me.' I answered: have just delivered a large policy and received a check for over $4,000 in payment, and it has just flashed upon me that no investigation has been made of the financial standing of the assured, and I am anxious to know what my position would be if the check should not be paid. I have delivered the policy and I have nothing to show for 'I it but the man's check.' Mr. Hyde looked up quickly and anxiously and said: 'What's his name?' I answered: His name is on the check which I have left in my drawer. I'll go and get it.' When I returned and showed Mr. Hyde the name at the bottom of the check, he looked up at me from under his eyebrows and said: 'I have no doubt you meant well, Miller, and if this check should not be paid you would be in a very embarrassing situation, so in view of your faithful services in the past, I will see that you are protected if this check goes to protest.' After that I called the attention of the directors to the fact that I had obtained this policy in spite of Mr. Hyde, and asked them to consider whether he was the right kind of a president to have at the head of a life assurance company. In those days there was free intercourse between Mr. Hyde and the agents, and he always appreciated a joke, provided it was not at the expense of the company. In later years he underwent no change of heart, but the conditions changed, and as the Society grew, and as his cares and responsibilities thickened, the opportunities for personal intercourse with the agents became less and less frequent." A FRIEND TO MAN. Let me live in a house by the side of the road, Where the race of men go by— The men who are good and the men who are bad, As good and as bad as I. I would not sit in the scorner's seat. Let me live in a house by the side of the road, And be a friend to man. I see from my house by the side of the road, By the side of the highway of life, The men who press on with the ardor of hope, The men who are faint with the strife. But I turn not away from their smiles nor their tears Both parts of an infinite plan— Let me live in a house by the side of the road, And be a friend to man. Advance. DEAR OLD POLICYHOLDER. Dear Little News: Three great life companies claim leadership for the following reasons: The first has the largest surplus. The second has the largest assets. The third claims the largest amount assured. "You pays your money and you takes your choice"--but as security is admitted on all hands to be the chief desideratum in life assurance, and as the expenses of the first of the companies cited above, under all the usual tests, are, and have been for many years, lower than those of the other two, persons of discernment desiring life assurance, will naturally prefer that company whose superior management has secured the maximum of safety with the minimum of cost, as well as the largest fund from which dividends can be paid. It should also be noted that the differences in assets and the amount of assurance in force of the three companies are not of sufficient magnitude to have any practical significance. J. H. B., An Old Policyholder. A DUB HEARD FROM. A strong argument in our favor, and which has given me a good risk in the face of two competitors, is the fact of our Expenses being distributed over such a number of policyholders as to reduce the expense to each member to a minimum. So far as the first year's commissions are concerned, each company's expenses would, of course, be determined by the amount of new business written, but the comparison is plainly in our favor, in so far as the Equitable does not pay, proportionately, nearly so much for the procurement of new business. This fact is such an important element in our favor, and enables one to sell our policies so much faster, that our first year's remuneration is now ahead of what it would be under former conditions, and the renewals are just so much to the good. So soon as the full effects of the change show the inevitable results in increased dividends, there should be a hot time for our competitors. A Dub. P. S. Since writing the above, the medical department has pronounced my good risk to be a bad risk. THE EQUITABLE NEWS An Agents' Journal. FRANK F. EDWARDS, Editor. MARCH, 1901. The Society did more business in February of this year than during any February in its history. Why not keep up the good work, and let the first year of the twentieth century be the greatest of all the great years the Society has ever experienced. Don't forget to study well the Forty-first Statement. Taking it altogether, it is the finest canvassing document ever issued by any life assurance company. Such magnificent results, accomplished at such a reduced expense, should make it easy to show to any man the best company in which to assure. The following paragraph from Mr. Tarbell's circular is well worth learning by heart: "If I were a cobbler, it would be my pride If I were a tinker, no tinker beside Should mend an old kettle like me." "If I were an Equitable agent, I would never allow any other agent to outdo me, if I had to sit up at night to study out a way to beat him. If I had not, on February 28th, secured at least two-twelfths of what I intended to do in 1901, I should work twice as hard every day in March, and catch up with one-quarter of my work before the close of the month, or know the reason why; and if I were ahead of my quota, I should still work hard to get a bigger margin on my side against some possible disappointment in the future. And, in any event, I should work, for work's sake, and for the satisfaction of results accomplished. If I believed in myself and the dignity and worth of my calling, I should never let my enthusiasm flag, for 'enthusiasm is the genius of sincerity.' Has any man a better right to such a feeling of enthusiasm than the Equitable agent? Has any man a nobler calling? Has any man greater possibilities? Ought any man to accomplish more? Then let our opportunities measure our results." IF YOU HAVE BEEN AN AGENT FOR 20 YEARS OR LONGER, READ THIS. In connection with the biographical sketch of Mr. Hyde now in preparation, the surviving agents who represented the Society in the sixties have contributed reminiscences of their early experiences. It has been suggested that much interesting matter, which is in danger of being lost forever, might be published in the NEWS if the agents who identified themselves with the Equitable in 1870 and during subsequent years would jot down such items of interest regarding Mr. Hyde; the other officers; the Society, and the conditions formerly prevailing in the assurance world. Did you begin to work for the Society in the seventies? If so, sit down right away and write something, if it be only a single paragraph, and send it without delay to the editor of the NEWS. IN BETTER QUARTERS. The Metropolitan Agency Force Move to More Commodious Quarters, For the past few years the space allotted to the Society in the Equitable Building has been entirely inadequate for its constantly increasing business. From time to time it has been found absolutely necessary for one department or another to have more space, and the only way to accomplish this was to encroach on the already limited space occupied by the general agents. In view of the great amount of business done by the Metropolitan agency force, this was not deemed just, as the amount of business done by them certainly demanded larger, rather than more contracted, quarters. To this end it was decided to find quarters for them where they would have plenty of space and light, instead of the somewhat cramped quarters they have hitherto occupied. Following out this idea, four entire floors of the American Exchange Bank Building have been taken for the Metropolitan managers and general agents. This building is No. 128 Broadway, and is right across Cedar street, the next building to the home office. All the offices are commodious, well lighted and ventilated, and are convenient in every respect, and are a great improvement over the old quarters. On March 1 Manager Woods gave a banquet to the agency force in honor of the proud position of leader which the Pittsburg agency held last year. Nearly two hundred were present, including guests from New York, and many prominent Pittsburgers not connected with the Equitable. Mr. Edward A. Woods presided, and with him, at the speakers' table, were President Alexander, Vice-President Tarbell, J. C. Eisele and Nat King, of Newark; Mr. Willis McCook and the Rev. Mr. Holmes, of Pittsburg. All the above named made addresses, as did also Messrs. Agnew, Fosdick and others. The greatest enthusiasm prevailed throughout, and it reached the boiling point when Manager Woods, on behalf of the agency, challenged Messrs. Eisele and King to a contest for supremacy during the next four months-and it didn't take the New Jerseyites long to accept the challenge, either. The president and vice-president both received an uproarious reception when they rose to speak, and we hope to be able to give the substance of their remarks in the next number of the NEWS. NEW YORK MEETING. THE BOYS HAVE A LITTLE MUTUAL ADMIRATION MEETING OVER THE FACT THAT THEY DID DOUBLE THE BUSINESS OF ANY OTHER COMPANY IN 1900. A meeting of the general agents in the Metropolitan district was held at luncheon in the banquet room on Wednesday, February 27. There were about seventy-five general agents present. The meeting was a most enthusiastic and enjoyable Equitable family party. The glorious results of last year's work, especially that in the Metropolitan district of New York, were dwelt upon with eloquence and pride. The "boys" naturally felt very happy that their issues in New York were twice as much as those of any other company. Addresses were made by Vice-President Wilson, who presided; President Alexander and VicePresident Tarbell. WHEELING MEETING. A luncheon was given to the West Virginia agency, on March 2, by Manager Sweeney, who also had as guests President Alexander, Vice-President Tarbell and Mr. J. C. Eisele. The meeting was a most enjoyable one, and the remarks of the various speakers were enthusiastically received. The number present was, of course, smaller than at the Pittsburg dinner, but what was lacking in numbers was fully compensated for in enthusiasm. The speakers were the president and vice-president, and J. C. Eisele, T. B. Sweeney and others, and all the speeches breathed the true Equitable spirit. The West Virginia agency promised to outdo in 1901 even their fine record in 1900. THE CRITICAL MOMENT. Napoleon once said that there is a crucial period in every battle, during which the victory is determined. Although the battle itself may wage for hours, a critical moment comes, when the superior strength, valor and discipline of one force overpowers the other. Despite the fact that life assurance is one of the best safeguards for a family, and for the members of a firm, it is like a battle to get some men to assure; and the success of the agent's efforts is only determined when, at some supreme moment, the strongest argument and the most persuasive appeal forces the issue to a close. A. H. R. |