April '08 President's Message

In the spirit of April, we tip the hat to Pax Starksen for alerting us to this story. The big San Francisco earthquake occurred on April 18, 1906.   The accompanying fire caused more than 4,000 deaths, most of which were never recorded.   It was the worst earthquake disaster in U. S. history as well as the deadliest urban fire.   A few years ago, when the big quake hit the Los Angeles area, part of the damage included the totaling of a car belonging to a tourist who had driven in from out of state.   When he put in the claim to his insurance company, they rejected it.   When asked why the claim was not covered, the insurance company said it was because the tourist had a policy that denied claims against "Acts of God".   Angry about the insurance company's decision, the policyholder tried to start a citizen's organization to fight this kind of rip-off from happening again.   He called it the San Andreas Fund.   However, nothing came of it.   Hardly anyone would contribute to aid the fund in its efforts.   The general feeling was that charity is one thing, but this was being generous to a fault.

 

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