The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1873-04-27

,,..,... ~tn report adversely to the bank open
ing A lss dG %sat on win be action Clearing
House In regard to the BanA ''.'Ss 0H'0AS on
'Wny, we shall simply ignore the certiht,s tio on
ana an, throw the checks out 1t is the only course
''Can you explain to me the process by which
cashier, situated as tins one was can embezzle
SUCH an amount oil money without being discov-
cred ~
III is very easily explained n we have ofncers In
| bank who do not strictly watch everything the
cashier does. In many banks This is the case, and
| 1t then renders ENLIGHTENMENT impossible, but
where officers are lax and don't constantly look
over cashiers d0ings he can do as he likes and
| STEAL AS MUCH AS HE PLEAsEs
crash comes. ON the other hand If Taintor had
made money in his specnlatlons the fraud never
| would have been discovered
| 'He specialized. then ~
"He .od me to-day that he had speculated In
Wall street from the day he had entered the bank,
which is period OF five years.
and has this money been going ever since
'Ijudge not. He must have lost it recently"
what mas been the standing OF the bank IN the
''Well the bank has not been looked upon as
prosperous lately. have known during the past
TWO years That something was wrong and in fact
without ever having given my views any ventila-
ton have been somewhat distrustful OF the bank.
!, OF course knew nothing OF the speculations Of
the cashier, but my impression that the affair
was managed rather loosely. think this was the
general impression in Wall street. Tor the business
/ OF the bank was not very arge.''
what do you think OF TaintorY,
| 'Wen, think his GOODNESS Is marvellous. Alto
! gether l think he Is very remarkable young
4 man."
'.what shall we do with Tantors, asked one OF
4 the directors, who was standing by during this
| interview.
Il should certainly hold him, answered Mr.. Tap
pan; "you had better consult with Mr.. Tracy your
! counse.u
| Mir. Tracy came in few minutes after and adj
ylsed the officers to arrest Mr.. Taintor and keep
In the meantime Mr.. Tappan had teegraphed to
| the Comptroller OF the Currency, John Jay Knox,
asking him for instructions as to what should he
/ done with the bank and explaining the situation
| INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR
! TWO old gentlemen stood around all this time,
| looking very GUM. They were both directors.
The HERALD reporter interviewed one of them.
eve, of course, had no idea that such a state or
affairs existed. We made our last examination in
December
! ''Dld you then find anything to excite your sus-
| picionsgi
NO, nothing. Exerything was correct. We
/ Went through the bank and examined everything
ana found all right. We examined the securities
| also and found them correct There was nothing,
indeed, That could cause the slightest suspicion or
! complaint, and thought and have thought since
that things were going well with the bank. had
bank were speculating IN the street. remember
saying at the time and Tantor was present, that
| II had heard these rumors, and that II had
thought for one moment any OIL
THE BANK OFFICERS WERE sPECULATING
with the banks money, should resign on the
ridiculous and that there was no truth in them.
| You see the resut.n
"How much had you in the bank from deposit
| ors ~
''rne deposits amounted to about five hundred
thousand dollars. The business of the bank was
good. We moved round from Broadway because
| our expenses there were too heavy. Our credit
| was good, as was shown by the fact that short
| time ago our stock was above par. There was
none OF our stock in the market lately The largest
| depostor we had was the State OF New York,
which deposited its receipts for canal tolls in our
bank. The State had with about thirty thousand
dollars. We had several depositors who had a
balance here OF from five thousand to fifteen thou
sand dollars all the time.r
"Wnat will you do with Taintor ~
I'VE shall arrest him, OF course, and hold him.
The scoundrel has ruined us all. hardly know
what to do, the blow has come so suddenly upon
me-"
About this time the bank ofilces were cleared or
all who were there except the clerks, the officers
and the Clearing House Committee.
LATER DEVELOPMENTS.
Later IN the evening HERALD reporter again
called at the bank A telegram had been received
from the Comptroller OF the Currency. 1t ran as
ioliows:-
WASHINGTON, April &c, 1873.
Have notes protested under section A. and will ap
point MeRs rev RNmx soon a. n91eo s
In accordance with these instructions Mr.. Tap
pan had note Tor SIS protested pro t0rnd for the
purpose OF throwing the bank into bankruptcy.
Mr.. Meigs the United States Bank Examiner, then
took charge as receiver. In the meantime District
! Attorney Bliss had sent orders with two United
States Marshals to arrest Taintor and conduct him
to Ludlow street jail Mr. TaintOr left the scene
OF his brilliant exploits In the same cool manner
day.
The reporter had another interview with Mr.
Tappan He said
TIE AMOUNT OF MR. TAINToR's DEFALcATIoN
is something between 100000 and $685. 600 1t Is
from the vaults Of the bank; 100000 OF property
which had been placed in the bank Tor safe Keep
ing; tine balance was in securities which had been
in the bank as collateral on loans.
"Did Mr.. Taintor tell you when and how this
money went ?o
"Yes,' said Mr.. Tappan. "He said that lie had
lost great deal of TINS In February last
and that the decline in Pacific Mail had hurt him
panic"
The committee of the Clearing House has been
able to make only cursOry examination OF the
affairs of the bank Tie committee finds that not
only the capital OF the bank but also its assets have
completely vanished, owing to Mr.. Taintor's skilfu
manipulations. Mr.. Tappan says, however, that
not suffer any loss as the stockholders
are responsible TO the last dollar. Mr. Meigs VIII
begin on Monday to make more thorough exami-
Will deal with the defaultng cashier. The appoint
ment OF Meigs as receiver is only temporary.
The following Is the
FINANCIAL CONDITION OF THE BANK.
Realizabe assets, s54o, 0CO; liabilities to deposit
1852, 900 1.-THE actual value OF which in market is
$22s, Ooo) capital OF bank $500 900 surplus s76 0o0
making an actual deficit OF s6O4 600 This leads
to suppose that the real losses OF Tantor are
much larger than he stated.