Swarming across riot-torn Detroit, an army of 400 insurance adjusters poked through the rubble for days, arrived at a damage estimate of $84 million. That was a far cry from the $500 million figure offered at one point by Detroit
Fire Chief Charles J. Quinlan, and the truth probably lies somewhere in between. For one thing, insurance adjusters naturally tend to put a low figure on damages. More important, the adjusters' estimate referred only to insured losses within the riot areas, where many looted and burned-out properties were only partially insured, or without coverage altogether.
Understandably, the rioting in Detroit and...