PROCEEDINGS IOWA FAIR MANAGERS ASSN. 173 



localities, it will be interesting to note the difference in the number of 



average days of rainfall in the counties of Benton and Scott since the 

 weather bureaus were established. 



Benton County Scott County 



December 5 9 



January 6 10 



February 7 9 



March 8 10 



April 9 10 



May 11 12 



June 8 12 



July 7 8 



August 7 9 



September 7 9 



October 6 8 



November 6 8 



Our experience with this kind of insurance, though rather discouraging 

 this year, has made us a host of friends, and we are optimistic as expressed 

 by the poet who wrote, "Hope springs eternal in the human breast; man 

 never is, but always to be blest." So we are going to try it out next year 

 and see if we can be better guessers. 



President Hoffman : We have another paper on the same sub- 

 ject by Mr. W. J. Hatcher, of the Hartford Insurance Company, 

 of Hartford, Conn. 



Mr. Hatcher: In England for many years back, we are informed, certain 

 Lloyds have sold this form of protection which latterly showed some ten- 

 dency to depart from legitimate insurable interest and become of a more 

 speculative nature — a mere bet against rain without tangible interest. It 

 was not until 1919 however that the Hartford Fire Insurance Company 

 saw that the demand for protection against the element rain had reached 

 such proportions that something must be done to adequately provide for it. 

 After months of investigation it began selling its policies in 1920 and is 

 now protecting more business and events against rain in this country 

 than any other company. 



Our policies, as are those of all other companies writing rain insurance, 

 are based on rainfall experience at the place where each event is insured — 

 and predicated on data compiled for many years by various agencies of the 

 United States Weather Bureau. In other words, in attempting to under- 

 write the rainfall hazard we are dealing with averages similarly to all 

 other branches of insurance in which for each class a certain probability 

 or loss expectancy is known. In rain insurance, however, there Is liable 

 to be greater variation of risk from year to year than in any other 

 known line — at least that is true in a majority of places. On this account 

 in order to operate without serious loss it is essential that we secure a 

 wide distribution of liability. 



We were not able to realize this distribution this year, but the ever in- 

 creasing demand for rain insurance indicates we will not only soon reach 



