Track manager A. C. Bickford '24 will be taking a one-to-eight chance that it will not rain on May 30 and 31, when he concludes a $7500 rain insurance policy with the Home insurance Company today on a premium of slightly less than $1000.
This policy is written to cover part of the gate receipts at the annual outdoor track meet of the I. C. A. A. A. A. in the Stadium on the last two days of May. The policy is so divided that the insurance for Friday afternoon, the day of the trial races, will be $1500, and for Saturday, when the championship races, will be run, $6000. In order that this amount shall be paid by the insurance company, it is necessary for at least one-tenth of an inch of rainfall to have fallen within the six hours immediately preceding and during the meet.
Mr. F. W. Moore '93, graduate treasurer of the H. A. A., was somewhat skeptical as to the advantages of rain insurance as a general rule. The last time that the H. A. took out such insurance for any of the University football games was in the season of 1921, when the six main games on the schedule were insured for $5000 each on a policy which guaranteed payment in the event of the downfall of one-twentieth of an inch of rain between the hours of 1 and 4 o'clock on the afternoon of the game.
In each of these games, the H. A. A. lost its bet with the insurance company. The only time that there seemed any chance of collecting was on the day of the Indiana game, October 8, 1921. The clouds had been threatening all day, but the rain held off until exactly five minutes after 4 o'clock, when it came down in a sudden deluge at the rate of about one-twentieth of an inch a minute. The insurance company, however, stuck to the letter of the policy and withheld the $5000.
Since then the H. A. A. has drawn up no insurance policies.
Read more in News
Communication