60 TWENTY-THIRD ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART II. 



by insurance, the cost at the present rates is altogether too high, making 

 it almost prohibitive. Those in favor of rain insurance contend that 

 it is like any other kind of insurance. It is a protection against loss 

 of a specific kind, the same as fire, tornado or life insurance. They 

 also contend that if the fair's finances are in bad shape, the fair cannot 

 afford to carry the risk. There is another thought brought out in these 

 inquiries namely, that where a fair is successful in putting on a large 

 advance sale of season tickets, this will in a way take the place of in- 

 surance. 



For your information I would like to quote the opinion of a number 

 of fair secretaries on rain insurance, as reported in the questionaire. The 

 quotations used are from all sections of the state and have been se- 

 lected as they express the diversified opinions of the secretaries reporting. 



Crawford County: "Rain insurance is a good idea if handled properly. 

 The insurance should cover the entire 24 hours. The premium is but 

 little more and it eliminates all of the risk rather than making a bigger 

 gamble out of it. We carried insurance from 6:00 a. m. until 12:00 

 noon, thinking that if it did not rain enough in the morning to collect, 

 it would not keep our crowd away. We had a very cloudy morning 

 and a deluge between 1:00 and 6:00 p. m. that completely ruined our 

 attendance for the day, but we were unable to collect any insurance." 



Benton County: "I think rain insurance is a mighty good thing if the 

 kind of soil and the condition of the roads in the locality are such that 

 they make auto travel impossible after a rain." 



Buena Vista County: "I am really not much in favor of rain insur- 

 ance except in some particular cases. If the fair is carrying a heavy 

 indebtedness and is so fixed that a "rain-out" would mean bankruptcy, 

 I believe that it is advisable to carry this protection, provided the ad- 

 vance sale of season tickets is very light. If a fair is in good shape 

 financially I see no need of this insurance. A large advance sale of 

 season tickets is the best insurance and costs nothing." 



Marion County: "We are not very enthusiastic about rain insurance 

 unless it can be secured at a more reasonable rate. We insured for 12 

 hours each day from 2:00 a. m. until 2:00 p. m. against .20 of an inch 

 of rain. On Wednesday it drizzled and rained .13 of an inch during the 

 12 hours. The fair was spoiled for the day but we were unable to col- 

 lect any insurance. On Friday we guessed right and collected a little 

 more than enough to pay the premium." 



Tama County: "I would favor rain insurance if we could get a 24-hour 

 coverage at a reasonable rate. Had we insured this year and last year 

 on a 10-hour coverage basis we would have been out money both years." 



Warren County: "This year we had a heavy rain over the county, but 

 very little locally. It kept the people from coming from a distance. We 

 estimated our loss for afternoon and night at $1,000. Rain insurance 

 would have done us no good as it did not rain .20 of an inch on the 

 grounds." 



Audubon County: "Rates are too high for the forms now in use. It 

 is possible to have the attendance ruined and yet have no protection. 



