Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. The wisdom of any generation, says an old writer, IS the best thoughts of its learned men. The policy contract is the most important document in the fire insurance business for it is the visible and tangible evidence of the goods sold; the bridge between company and customer; the charter of their respective rights and privileges, and the rock of safety or of wreck in their mutual relations. The simplest and clearest lan guage is sometimes susceptible of more than one interpretation, so it is not strange that there are differences of opinion regarding por tions of the standard policy.