Underwriters are very keenly interested in the catastrophe in Japan, but direct financial interests are likely to be strictly limited since after the great San Francisco earthquake in 1906 fire under writers have been careful to see that the risk of earthquake is specifically excluded from the terms of the ordinary fire policy. In isolated cases companies may have specially accepted the risk for additional premium but it is believed that there has been comparatively little demand from Japan for this special form of insurance. It is believed that. mar-me underwriters in some insurance contracts covering shipping in course of construction also specially excluded the risk of damage by seismic disturbance.—Reuter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.