of the company and that ways and means would have to be devised to
finance the California through this crisis.

The fire maps of the company were entirely destroyed and it was not
advisable to open the safe in which the records of the company were kept
until it was sufficiently cool to prevent danger of combustion. In light
of these facts, it was impossible to immediately ascertain the actual
amount of the company's obligations.

In response to an inquiry as to the probable extent of our liabilities,
I, as secretary of the company, ventured the statement that I believed
they would reach a total of $1,500,000 net, explaining that I based this
estimate upon the company's income and the average rate. I also knew
that the larger part of the entire liabilities in San Francisco were in
the burned area and that if the safe did not afford protection it would
mean the loss of the company's records, leaving it without means of
ascertaining the amount of the loss until claims were filed. This would
cause a delay of several months before the exact total could be
developed. I explained that the policy contract allowed sixty days for
filing claims and expressed the thought that this limit would
undoubtedly be extended by legislative action in view of the magnitude
of the disaster.

In the meantime, in the April 27 edition of the Examiner, on the first
page, extending over its entire width, had appeared the following
statement:

"The California Insurance Company Will Pay in Full."

This was discussed and the meeting began to assume a more lively