, 1872-12-06

|
cinnati, Hamilton 1; Dayton Railway Was near
ing Glendale, Thomas Moran, brakeman, fell
from the platform Of q car, while running at
full speed, and sustained injuries which, it is
feared, will prove fatal He Was picked up in
an insensible condition and moved 10 his homo
in Dayton, where he now lies in critical con-
dition.
A COMMERCIAL DISASTER.
The Failure OF messrs. BosVIes H.ot1-
e1s d Co.--Actio1i OF the Creditors OF
the Eifm.-EffeCt of the Failure ON
Americans Abroad.
London (Nop. 1 Correspondence efthe Ne1o Pork 1ib
! 171e.
The proceedings at the meeting On Saturday
Of the creditors Of Bowles Brothers & Go: are
not well calculated to relieve the approximations
OF those who have feared the failure will turn
out bad one. Alr. Keith, the manager Of the
London house formerly, beievs, partner in
the Boston firm OF Butler, Keith 4 Hill, and
Mr- Robert Bowles, seem to have known Little
| Of the actual condition OF the house, as wholo,
and still less Of that part Of the business which
Lr. Charles Bowles took into his own hands.
Mr.. Keith's managership, indeed, appears to
! have been only sort Of head clerkship, for Mr.
Robert Bowles states that Er. Charles Bowles
had exclusively managed all the banking part OF
the London business. The Suspension was oc-
casioned by the refusal Of the Union Bank,
with which BoWles Brothers kept an account, to
When Mr.. Robert BoW1es went to ask why, he
was told that 1t was not in consequence Of the
deficiency (about 81, 5000 in their cash account,
but because Of the depreciation Of the securities
! exclaimed Mr. Rob Robert ~ Bowles 4'l1 whereupon
he was shown the book in which the
securities deposited by his firm had been
Brothers' own books, to which Mr.. Robert
] Bowles and Mr. Keith must have had access,
would have contained corresponding entries, but
it does not appear whether that is the case.
one Of the creditors, By whom bonds to the
amount Of nearly $4,000 had been deposited
with Bowles Brothers for safe keeping, and
which, it is said, had been hypothecated to the
consent. 1t was stated BY the same cred
these bonds, had neglected to take up
| $4,000 Of Nashville shares, which they had IN
ton could be elected from Mr. Robert Bowles,
who said that he had no wish to conceal any
| thing, but he had nothing to tell, because he
had the management only OF the reading-room
| and similar matters at the bank.
Mr. Keith, however, appears to have been
| better informed Of what went on, and there can
| be no complaint that his answers in respect to
another case were not explicit enough. This
was the case OF Mrs. Maria Gates, in whose be-
half an inquiry WAS put as to what had become
| Of s., 900 Of United States bonds, intrusted to
| the care Of Messrs Bowles Brothers, whose re-
ceipts she held Mr. Keith eaid-I quote the
words Of the report before me-" he presumed
they we're in the Union Bank; they we're taken
| there without Mrs Gates permission"
| No money hnd been advanced to Mrs. Gates
| upon them, and the bank had no claim On her
they were left with Messrs. Bowles simply to be
taken care OF !; but, By Mr. Bowles' direction,
everything YES placed in the Union Bank, and,
from time to time, as money was required, loans
were obtained upon the securities thus de-
| posted.
Transactions to considerable amount had
| taken place between BoWles Brothers and T. $.
Morgan 4, Co., all of which appear to be SUBJ
Nj. Robert Bowles states that it was not till
morgsn for YET sna nes hen sboat I $50 had BEEN
| paid them through the New York house. The
| amount thus paid he described as having been
! realized from moneys received by Messrs..
Bowles in New York and Boston on letters Of
| credit, but not IN any way out Of the funds OF
| the depositors present at the meeting
It is not stated how Mr. Bowles knew none Of
them were present at the meeting. am in
clined to think one Of them Was. An American
gentleman who arrived in London last week
paid into Messrs. Bowles' New York house, just
before sailing, the sum Of 81, 500 in gold taking
q letter on the European houses Of the came
firm for that amount. He reached London only
to learn that his letter was-for the moment, at
any worthless. The case seems Q pretty
strong one. The gentleman was, 7 believe,
present at the meeting On Saturday, and will
have the Satisfaction Of proving his claim at the
proper time. The decision reached by the meet
ing was to appoint COMMITTEES to Investigate
the affairs Of the firm, and to take such action
as they sha]l deem fit.
There can be no doubt that the failure OF the
Messrs. Bowles has occasioned 8 great deal Of
Inconvenience and even distress to American
| travellers in Europe. Business men had long
known that the house was attempting too much.
and that the expenses OF its various branches
- f1 ffu oy,6 fho
amounts OF its regular transactions. One such
man, who had considerable SUN with the fFm,
drew it out two years ago, simply becauee he
foresaw the crash that must follow the sEstem
pursued.
But the general public knew nothing Of al
this They knew simply that Bowles Brothers
and the Joint National Agency (Which vas the
same firm under another nancy saved them
great deal Of trouble; that they we're rot only
bankers, but expressmen and postmasters
and commission agents, and that, in Ford, you
could get anything you wanted done BY that house:
Their Offices always contained q directory Of all
bankers offered similar facilities, but the differ
ence between this and other houses Tas that in
them banking Was the main thing and other
services were done incidentally, while with
Bowles Brothers the banking was less prominent
than the express business
Their houses at London, Parist and Geneva
we're certainly most convenient rendezvous for
Americans. It may, perhaps, be said that they
H1Dp{teQ q WauL, AlueIlEAQ tIAFEl4e1b LII
being gregarious, and theirhappinese beinglarge-
ly dependent on meeting other Americans. Messrs.
Bow1es understood this rather more fully
than other bankers, or perhaps they found it
better worth their while to supply large teadlng-
rooms, we'll stocked with American and
European newspapers, and to make people feel
that they we're welcome, and feel sure they could
find out what they wanted to know, and be adj
viBed what shops to visit what route to take, and
so on.
AL the 1etter-of-credit bankers do this, but not
on such scale as Bowles Brothers did it; and
here, I think, is the secret Of the popularity OF
their house, for popular it undoubtedly was
People found that they paid vary large prices for
the actual amount IN esch case was not very
great though the aggregate Unjust have made q
very pretty sum Tor the firm
Then when Mr.. Appleton, Of Boston, was IN
duced to become special partner, the credit Of
the firm was much improved. Mr. Appleton, it
is said put in 9100, 900, which he can we'll enough
afford to lose, no doubt. But hear 8 report
f41 H. Ar 1ro1I