128 THE SEA. 



sacrificed? This is often the fact of which the 'Black Book' takes but little notice; 

 the matter with which it has exclusively to deal is the property insured against the 

 perfidy of the sea. Who was the insurer? and who has lost? These are the great 

 questions. It is also remarkable, after a storm, to see with what anxious and fidgety hands 

 some of the insurance speculators turn over the pages of this sibylline book." And no 

 wonder : for the underwriter * is a speculator who is taking long odds against a terrible 

 gambler the ocean. 



The Underwriters' Room at Lloyd's to-day is a splendid hall, with Scagliola columns 

 and richly decorated ceiling, and mahogany tables placed at intervals all round the room. 

 " What an animated, yet demure, hubbub is here ! " says the French writer before quoted. 

 11 One might fancy that the sea, with the thoughts of which every brain is occupied here* 

 had imparted some of its agitation and uproar to the business world. The current of 

 news, transactions taking place, and chat going on, runs from one end of the hall to the 

 other with a kind of deep murmuring- roar." Those going to and fro are of two very 

 distinct classes the insurers of ships and the insurance brokers. The latter have become 

 very necessary, the reason being as follows : The merchant who wishes to insure a 

 ship, or a certain kind of merchandise that he is about to export, may by no means 

 always meet the underwriter who is prepared to take that particular risk. While he is 

 trying to insure his ship she may have already started may even be at the bottom of 

 the sea. In the latter case a delay might be fatal, for the news once arrived that his 

 ship had been wrecked, he could not, of course, effect any insurance. He therefore goes 

 to a broker who knows the habits of the place, and probably the very underwriter whose 

 means or known predilections for certain forms of investment will make him desirous of 

 taking the risk. 



The business of Lloyd's is conducted by a committee of twelve influential members, 

 while the working staff includes a secretary, clerks, and a staff of assistants technically 

 known as "waiters," which would make it seem as though the odour of the original 

 Lloyd's Coffee-house still clung to the body. The funds of Lloyd's Association, as it 

 might be termed, are large, and are used to great advantage : partly in charity bestowed 

 upon deserving, though unfortunate seamen, and partly in rewards, in various forms, to 

 special cases of merit. It costs an underwriter 50 entrance fee and 12 annual 

 subscription to belong to it; the brokers are let off for about half the above rates; an 

 ordinary subscriber pays 5 per annum for the privilege of entering the rooms of the 

 Association. We have now traced the history of the greatest maritime company of the 

 world, one that could only belong to a great nation. No other could devise, much less 

 support it. 



* The term is applied exclusively to maritime insurers, although, strictly speaking, anyone signing a 

 bond is an underwriter. 



