| THE STATE IN THE MARYLAND ECONOMY, 1776-1807 233
Shortly before, the president and directors had published the
chimney sweeping regulations for Baltimore; the town was di-
vided east and west (of Jones' Falls) and a supervisor appoint-
ed for each section; chimneys were to be swept every month,
and the rates for sweeping were to be determined by the
height of the chimney-.212
Giving every assurance of being a permanent addition to
Baltimore, the company received permission from the legisla-
tore in 1799 to purchase a lot in Baltimore on which to erect
a building.=r3 But Thomas Griffith, one of the earliest author-
ities on Baltimore City, states in his Annals that in 1807 the
Baltimore Fire Insurance Company succeeded the Maryland
Fire Insurance Company which in 1791 had itself succeeded
the Baltimore Insurance Fire Company.=1;
The act of incorporation of the Baltimore Fire Insurance
Company (1807) , in contrast to that of the Maryland Insur-
ance Fire Company, mentions nothing about a reorganization
or a division of the profits of the old company; =- and Scharf,
Nt'ho wrote ]its history of Baltimore when the company was
sill in existence, says nothing about it succeeding any other
tj 1
corporation. 211,
Its capital of 5500.000 was considerably larger than that of
either of the former companies, and it was allowed to make
insurance on lives, transportation of goods and " country pro-
duce " as well as on fire risks. Its capital structure was of a
more common type than that of either of its predecessors. Five
dollars on each fifty-dollar share was to be paid at the time of
subscription and the remainder was to be paid in installments
of not more than 510-when called for by the president and di-
rectors. Dividends were to be declared not oftener than once
in six months. The stock of the company was to be considered
=lzlhid., May 22, 1792, Jan. 10, 1794. The sweeps were to be distinguished
by a leather cap with-a brass letter E or W for eastern or western district.
°" nld. Sess., 1799 c. 22.
2"Thontas W. Griffith. Annals of Baltimore (Baltimore, 1824), p. 120.
"S nqd. Sess., 1807 c. 68.
2'e J. Thomas Scharf, History of Baltimore City and County from the Earliest
Period to the Present Day (Philadelphia, 1881) , Il, 483. However that may
be,
under this name the company continued successfully for almost a century
until
forced into receivership because of losses sustained as a result of the
Baltimore
fire of 1904. The Maryland Historical Society has the MSS " Minute Book of
the
Baltimore Fire Insurance Company 1808-1876," 2 vols.
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