New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1857-11-20
A REVELATION or TIE RECENT PROSPERITY
THE oRIME AND FOLLY OF rHos. ALLrDoSK
HIGH LIVING AND LOW MORALITY
IN os the BANK OF PENNSYLVANIA.
e. Enormous Complications OF Fraud
IN ~ occ~siOna! Correspondent

hhtIed 70 thunder crash from ciDvdless skg.
Men stand sshsst from the very suddepaess Of the
shock, forgetting thar all EXPLOSIONS Of tbs kind
are necessarily unattended BY prsmoaitory symp-
toms. ard that in either ca,e the revelation must
be Istsr tsne our. This is absolutely true with
reiereIce ~ disturbance Of the electrical equi.
hbrum; but when the morsl equipoiss which KEEPS
zen within the narrow path of rectitude 10 lost
creu m,tar cts mr,t he constantly occurring ia thse
conduct to which their intimate associatss canooS
be wholly blird. Suspicion msy DO excited m pa.
vate, and even apprehension of danger entertained
But upon the public ear upon which no premonitoU
been breatbed. the great crash falls
with staggering suddenpess. The first nervous shock
over. panic supervenes, 10 be succeeded BY COM
narrative calm, during which the plundered victims
of the new fraud have opportunity to calculate the
chances of the future and ascertain whether is %
be absolute beggary or not Modern detdcahons
have, unfortunately, become 30 comprehensive ~
not only to astoni,h community, but almost to in
powerful it. Their magnitude, moreover seems 10
be progressive. They have also ceased to be the
offspring of sudden impulse, hut have become
matters of deliberate and systematic design, con-
cealtd beneath a tortuCus labyrinth which nothing
short Of the most consummate skill could devise.
and hich nothing less can unrsvel To crown all.
the more infamous The fraud, the more certain ap-
pear to be the chances oiescape from punishment.
No crash has ever occurred in Philadelphia hks
that winch prostrsted the Bank of Pennsylvania
Ii is singular too that while events Of nero every
day occurrence have occupied the columns OF our
daily press the particulars OF this Disastrous fraud
have never been laid before the public. Not that Il
would have been proper to priat the countless ru-
mors, many of them holly false, which circulated
from mouth to mouth, but that the utmost scrutiny
WAS applied to every coroners inquest, while tho
s.roDs facts in the case of the bank its delinquent
President, its general antecedents, and the positsa
of the directors, were comparatively ignored in To
columns of all our leading journals, aud distant
stockholders and depositors, as Well az the pubic at
large, were left comparatively in the dark as to facts
which might have been ascertained, and which no
feeling for individuals can succeed in suppIessng. ~
they must in time come out in all their enormity.
The great fact Of the ruin OF the bank having ben
accomplished by the conduct Of the President, every
circumstance explanatory of that Conduct Should
have been sought for and published Such coarso
was due to the public but their just expectations on
this point have been miserably disappointed and tho
prospect is that nothing will be now communicated
until the result of long, tedious and elaborate O-
cial examination is known. Why this matter has
been 70 studiously overlooked by the press leave
TO others to determine. impute no base motive to
any party, but mention the fact ss ono which has
been the subject of uent remark in private circles.
The antecedents OF every great criminal possess
certain interest in the eye OF the community Those
of Thomss AibOne, the abscondins President of tho
Bank of PennsJ AHA, are 30 curious as to DO worth
referring to- His father died many years ago, leav
NJ widow with eight children entirely destitute
of the means of living. The widowed Mrs. Allibcae
was woman of exalted character, of charming
manners, and endowed with energy fully equal t.
hs trying emergency in which che found herself
placed. She Immediately opened ilst-clsss board
inc. house in o fIst-class locality, aud succeeded
bey ond the most saneuine expectations OF both her
self and her friends. She educated and provided
for her large family, purchased the valuable prop
er,y where she resided, now occupied by tho Read
ing Railroad Company an Office, and left ut hsr
death a very handsome estate. Thomas, the eldest
son of this excellent womsn was brought up o
merchant on the wharf, and 10 now about fortyeight
years of age. When young man, and in fact up
to the period of bis going into the bank as Preu-
dent his manners were affabc and even captivating.
He made friends without difficulty, and succeeded
in attaching to himself many worthy men BY the
Gods of friendship that amounted to blind infat-
ustion They regarded him as the embodiment Of
all that was generous, honorable and just Ha
formed a business connection with Mr. John TrOu-
bat. a careful, cautious, worthy man; and the firm
of Alhboue & TrOubat obtained prominent poi-
ton in the community. Alb0ne WAS from the first
dashing operator but his impetuosty was tenn
pered by the conservatism Of his partner, who, not
wi,hstandDg his caution, was possessed Of equal
courage But his was a courage regulated by
sound Judgment unimpared by the rash impulsiye-
ness which his partner exhibited.
A stroke of good fortune, the natural result Of this
combination OF courage with Judgment, brought tho
finn prominently into notice some twenty years ago.
Troubat discovered that the crop Of clover seed had
failed throughout the country, and OF this fact he had
managed to obtain certain Information. He quietly
slipped of to Liverpool and secured the great bulk
Of the English CROP The fruit Of this wel-tmed
stroke was said to be profit Of hundred thousand
dolars but the eclst Of the operation was immense.
In coffee, and other South American produce, they
al.o operated to an extent and with boldness that
staggered the merchants Of the old school who wit
messed their doings. Success, however seldom failed
to crown their undertakings. But 10 the midst OF
this career Of almOs. mbroken prosperity Mr..
1roubat was drowned while bathing in the surf at
Cape May. He left handsome property, and ms
partner succeeded TO the business Deprived, bow.
ever, Of the solid Judgment taat Dir Irouoas naa
invariably shown in these extensive operations DIR.
AIbone Was less successful in many which he sub
seouently undertook. His purchases were eaos-
mons hit his saes were too often forced. Hoover