Insurance companies are normally willing to insure anything.
Insuring public or private property is a standard parctice in most
countries in the world.If,however,you were holding an open air
garden party ot a fete it would be equally possible to insure yourself
in the event of bad weather.Needless to say,the bigger the risk an
insurace company takes,the ihgher the premium you will have to pay.
It is not uncommon to hear that a shipping company has made a claim
for the cost of salvaging a sunken ship.But the claim made by a local
authority to recover the cost of salvaging a sunken pie dish must surely
be unique.
Admittedly it was an unusal pie dish,for it was eighteen feet long and
six feet wide.It had been purchased by a local authority so that an enormous
pie could be baked for an annual fair.The pie committe decided that the best
way to transport the dish would be by canan,so they insured it for the trip.
Shortly after it was launched,the pie committee went to a local inn to celebrate.
At the same time,a number of teenagers climbed on to the dish and held a little
party of their own.Dancing proved to be more than the dish could bear,for during
the party it capsized and sank in seven feet of water.
The pie committe telephoned a local garage owner who arrived in a recovery dish.
Shivering in their wet clothes,the teenagers looked on while three men repeatedly
into the water to locate the dish.They had little difficulty in finding it,but hauling it
out of the water proved to be a serious problem.The sides of the dish were so smooth
that it was almost impossible to attach hawsers and chains to the rim without damaging
it.Eventually chains were fixed to one end of the dish and a powerful winch was put into
operation.The dish rose to the surface and was gently drawn towards the canal bank.
For on agonizing moment,the dish rose to the surface and was gently drawn towards
the canal bank.For one agonizing moment,the dish was perched precariously on the
bank of the canal,but it suddenly overbalanced and slid back into the water.The men were
now obliged to try once more.This time they fixed heavy metal clamps to both sides
of the dish so that they could fasten the chains.The dish now had to be lifted vertically
because one edge was resting against the side of the canal.The winch was again put into
operation and one of the men started up the truck.Several minutes later,the dish was
successfully hauled above the surface of the water.Water streamed in torrents over its
sides with rebound off the other side of the bank and send the dish plunging into the
water again.By working at tremendous speed,the me managed to get the dish on to
dry land before the wave returned.