QUERY COLUMN.

Does the President of the Connecticut Mutual print at his own expense the long addresses which he publishes in all the papers, or at the expense of his policyholders? If the latter, what advantage do they get from it? M. P. B.

Answer-He has an admirable style. His writings look well in print. Policyholders who desire to improve their literary style cannot fail to profit by a perusal of such writings.

Have you seen the very pretty picture which one of the great life companies has printed on the back of its annual statement? There are twenty figures in the picture, one representing the company "extending its blessings" to the other nineteen figures-"the nineteen centuries." Has the company printed a key to the symbolism of this picture? I don't understand it. Surely the company is not old enough to have extended any blessings to the first century. It may have helped at Manila in the nineteenth century, but how about "the pleasures of Versailles" in the eighteenth? And where does Martin Luther come in, not to speak of Christopher Columbus and Charlemagne? Answer-We give it up.

X. P.

Can you tell me the name of the company that has adopted the following motto? "Just for to-day. Let the Future Be-What It Will." L. M. B.

Answer-Several companies might adopt this motto. There is one in particular that it suits to a turn, but, for the moment, the name has escaped us.

BETTER THAN GOVERNMENT BONDS

An Actual Case.

On September the 15th, 1898. Mr. Albert Van Wagenem, of Auburndale, Mass., bought from the Equitable $15,000 of Gold Debentures on the Endowment plan, paying the first premium therefor. The contract guaranteed that at the end of the Endowment Period the Society would deliver to him 5 per cent. Gold Debentures to the amount of $15,000, guaranteeing an annual interest income of $750 for 20 years.

On December 21, 1899, Mr. Van Wagenem was in Boston on business, and while in an office building the elevator, in which he was riding, fell, and four hours afterwards Mr. Van Wagenem succumbed to the injuries he received in the accident.

Thus, for the payment of two premiums, the assured secured to his family $15,000 invested in an absolutely secure way, and yet guaranteeing 5 per cent. interest for 20 years.

ONCE PROSPEROUS, BUT ENDED HIS DAYS IN AN INFIRMARY.

James Smith, who was at one time a wellknown and substantial citizen of this county, died yesterday at the County Infirmary of diseases incident to old age.

About a week ago the deceased sustained a hard fall, which probably hastened his death. Mr. Smith was for years a prosperous farmer of this county, but financial reverses, accompanied by ill health, swept away his property, and he was forced to become an object of the county's charity. He will be buried to-day.

The above clipping from a daily paper was sent by O. G. Wilson, who said in sending it: "Comment on Mr. Smith's case is almost useless. The tale is sad and the moral obvious."

FROM THE ROCK ISLAND UNION. It is said that only about one person in a hundred voluntarily applies for life assurance, yet the one-hundredth man appeared recently at the office of a leading regular life company, and said he wanted assurance and "wanted it bad." He was, of course, not allowed to escape, although a bystander suggested that he might get a certificate in some assessment concern, with the certainty that it would be as "bad" as they make them.

PERSONALS.

Dr. Lambert says that in the forty years during which he has been connected with the Society, the Buffalo affair was the first complimentary dinner that had ever been given him. He wonders why the medical director should not be popular. He is respectfully referred to the lines in the libelous "Agents' Alphabet," which appears elsewhere:

"N's where we get it, to wit-namely-the neck, When the medical sharps of our hopes make a wreck."

Max Laymon contributes the following:
Assure to-day and thus save sorrow,
For you may be too late to-morrow,
But while you live and have your breath,
Your family guard against your death.

The Secretary says that Pittsburg is not as black as it is painted. Everything was white while he was there. The ground was covered with a sparking mantle of snow, the sky was of silver, and from time to time the golden rays of the sun painted the spires and chimneys of the busy city. Truly, Pittsburg is a favored spot, and although no process has been discovered there for turning its coal directly into diamonds, there are mills in every direction where carbon is converted into gold.

Here are extracts from two of the many bouquets received by Henry L. Rosenfeld from his clients before he left Georgia for his new position in Cincinnati:

"By your departure Georgia loses one of the best life assurance agents she ever had, and in saying this I am not trying to throw bouquets at you."

"I assure you that I regret your leaving very much, as we need assurance agents like you, who are always conscientious and upright, and who represent what they are selling to be exactly what it is.

W. H. S. Whitcomb says:

"Any agent can get business in a good time, A good agent can get business any time.

Amongst the visitors to the home office recently we noticed I. L. Register, Joseph Bowes, H. J. Trask, Elliott Marfield, F. P. Powell, F. A. McNamee.

"A fellow who wanted to get married in Chicago said that he did not want Men

delssohn's or Wagner's music played at his wedding, but he said he wanted something pop lar, and added, 'When I go up the aisle I want you to get the band to play There's Only One Girl, etc.' I suppose that is the way it is when men get married, but the groom's best man thought he would vary the programme a little, and when the bride and groom came up the aisle, instead of playing 'There's Only One Girl,' the air the band played was, 'You're Up Against the Real Thing Now.'"

The above story was part of Louis Wilkes' speech at the Convention last July. Wilkes was married on March 1. How about it now, Louis?

Everyone knows that Eddy Woods's young friend, Agnew, that genial and ruddy youth from the Highlands of Scotland, passed through Ireland on his way to America. Those who heard what he said at the banquet in Pittsburg about the Secretary and the Actuary, and Bowes, and Woods, and the other guests, discovered that on that journey he had stopped over night at Blarney Castle.

F. H. Hazelton called the other day and brought his "successor" with him.

N. B.-His successor wears short trousers.

Thanks are due A. F. Aird for a picture of himself making "A personal appeal."

The Archibald C. Haynes Agency, in the Empire Building, 71 Broadway, had a meeting on Saturday, which the genial "Archie" called the "christening" of the agency, in view of the fact that it was the first formal meeting at which he was able to present officers of the Society to his gallant colleagues. Addresses were made by Mr. Haynes himself and by Messrs. Tarbell and Wilson. Among others from the home office were William E. Taylor, executive assistant; A. W. Maine, second auditor; Dr. William R. Bross, assistant medical director. There were about fifty present, and it was unanimously voted a big success. Although the Archibald C. Haynes Agency made a great record for itself in the year 1899, the agency looks upon this year as the real test of its strength and ability, and proposes to "do itself proud." Success to it!

AN AGENTS'

A sister company says: "The best company is the one that does good to the greatest number." If the best advertisement is the one that gives publicity to the greatest number, then the following, from the Greenburg, Pa., Christian Visitor, is probably the best advertisement ever written:

Leech's Business College is prepared to give you a good business education for life's work, and the genial E. S. Naly is ever ready to insure that life for years to come. Should you be so unfortunate as to lose loved ones, you will not find a more polite and efficient undertaker than E. J. Perry, while Saxman, the liveryman, can furnish carriages for the occasion, and R. H. Koontz will furnish necessary granite vaults, tombstones, etc., as you may desire.

$1. FOR 57 CENTS.

The following frank statement was made to the New York Herald by the committee having charge of the gratuity fund (assessment) of the New York Produce Exchange:

"The fact is, we went into the life assurance business ignorantly, supposing we could give a dollar's worth of gratuity for fifty-seven cents. But we have had to pay the dollar just the same, and now we must go out of the business or readjust rates."

And there are others.

RENEWAL PREMIUMS.

1900

There is an old saying to the effect that "it is the first step that costs." In life assurance it is the second step that costs. Many men pay the first premium on a policy and then fail to pay the second, as the first premium is often paid on impulse, or persuasion; but as the time approaches for the payment of a second premium a change has often taken place. He asks: "In what respect has the payment of the first premium benefited me? Here I am, alive and well, and I might have been richer by the amount of the premium if I had not taken out that policy a year ago." Then is the time his judgment is tested. If he is wise, he will resist the temptation and pay the renewal premium. Then he will join the great multitude of continuously assuredthe real protectors of their wives and children, and the wisest providers for their own future welfare. Such men are the most desirable members of any life assurance company and for every agent. If a company had the power to forsee and take only such members, it would, other things being equal, be by far the most prosperous of life companies. For this reason the Equitable is fortunate in the fact that it has the largest renewal premium income of any life company in the world, more than one million dollars in excess of the next company in this respect, and in round numbers, thirtythree millions of renewals in the year 1899. This is a record which reflects the greatest credit on the Society's managers and agents, who are responsible for this splendid showing.

KEEPING BUSINESS ON THE BOOKS.

F. P. Chapin, of the Toledo Agency, is a firm believer in looking after business once secured and keeping it upon the books. He seems to feel that old friends are better than new ventures, and that old friends will always help and be instrumental in swelling new business.

His success in building up the Toledo Agency has been very gratifying and there are few agencies showing an equal percentage of business that stays. When he took charge of the Toledo field, it was one of the places in the United States where the Equitable was comparatively unknown.

He advertises freely, and here is a letter which he sends to all new policyholders about thirty days before their second annual payment comes due. These are written, and so have the value of a personal appeal, instead of being printed circulars or mimeograph copies, which are often so mechanical in appearance as to destroy their greatest good.

"You have undoubtedly received notice of your premium due at this office on April 25th upon your policy in the Equitable Life. This being your second premium, I thought it best to write you so that even if the official notice always sent from the home office fails to reach you, you will have proper notice of the time and amount of your payment. You will receive the "Equitable Record" hereafter, a little publication (magazine form), which is issued quarterly by the Equitable Society and mailed to policyholders, and which will enable you to learn all about the company you are assured in, and which is the strongest in the world.

Sometimes agents of competing companies attempt to dissatisfy men with the policies they hold. Some such may try to induce you to throw up your policy, lose what you have already paid and take another policy with them. Their whole effort is to secure commissions upon the first year's premium. There is no company in the world that can write you a better policy than can the Equitable, and if for any reason you feel that you have selected the wrong form of policy, the Equitable will usually allow you to change it before your second premium is paid. I trust you will feel at perfect liberty to address me upon this or any other subject at any time.

As time passes all men realize that their assurance is one of their best assets, and they de sire to keep it sacred and secure. The motto of the Equitable has always been: "Not for a day, but for all time," and a strict regard for this principle by its officers in the conduct and management of its growth has made it without doubt the strongest, safest and best company in the world, with assets of two hundred and eighty million dollars."

ARCHIBALD C. HAYNES.

Archibald C. Haynes is so well known to all the representatives of the Society that it is hardly necessary to remark upon his achievements in the life assurance field. We give his portrait, which speaks for itself. Why say that Archy Haynes is handsome and agreeable, full of magnetism, surcharged with electricity, an impassioned speaker, one of the most successful canvassers and agency organizers that the Equitable has developed. His willingness to counsel and assist his fellow-workers has been a source of gratification both to them and the officers of the Society. His versatility is such that he has materially aided many of his fellowmanagers by suggestions as to the best way in which they can enthuse and help the individual members of their agencies.

The first man to carry $100,000 in the Equitable was Hamilton Disston, one of Mr. Haynes's policyholders. Subsequently Mr. Haynes increased Mr. Disston's assurance to $1,000,000, this, of course, being placed in several companies.

YOU GO, MY DEAR.

Cinjurer-I will ask some lady in the company to step on the stage and stand in this cabinet. I will then close the door. When I open it again the lady will have vanished without leaving any trace behind. Man in Front Seat (to his wife)-You go up, my dear.