The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1875-10-01
FORTY CENTS PER DOLLAR
4 BiNK THAT SHOULD HdVE BEEN
CLOSED FOUR YEARS 400.
The Vain Attempt Of the Third Avenue Saw
inss Bank to Defy Public Opinion shrunk-
en- Real Estate aud Worthless Bonds.

receiver by the Supreme Court on application
by the Attorney g eneral. Several hundred per-
sons. most Of them women, gathered round the
bank building as the news OF the suspension
spread, but were not admitted. All the doors
were closed, and excited depositors expended
their energy In loud condemnation OF the bank
management.
Under the heading A Savings Bank TO Burst"
the SUN printed the report Of Mr. James s.
He uneasy to the Bank Superintendent, showing
;n,, M through H enc wisnanaeoment Of three or
M iority, large deficit existed.
ATLANTIC MAIL.
The dencit was owing TO certain transactions
with funds OF the bank In 1898. In that year the
officers were Spencer X. Green, Presid ent VIM.
Vcyar A. Dunn. First e' Yice PresGsSt GeSt;' ssm S
rison, counsel W. A. Darling, Auditor. Spencer
X. Green was "a director In Atlantic Mail, on
which enormous sums were loaned to Dimmock,
the President OF that steamship company.
Some II the trustees demonstrated against the
such an unsafe and huctuating nature. and W.
| A. Darling offered q resolution to effect the cali
ing In Of tl.WQ.oO Darling was a supporter Of
! Green and this resolution was supposed To have
| been offered with view of appcasing the mi
nority. Green called In number Of loans on
| lSlD. he made another loan Of about t20O,000 on
! Atlantic for three months. The stock fell from
| 100 To ~. and the bank lost quarter Of mil
lion Of doll1rs. Tho bank superintendent sent
Emerson W. keyes TO- nyestigate the institu-
".
! tion with the officers who hrd made the loans,
reported favorat ly. Thus strengthened Ia the
lie, the majority continued their ruinous course.
; EQUATIONS in real estate foluwed. which have
ultimately caused the downfall OF the bank.
LOAD oF RIAL ESTATE.
Some real estate III larry town. including the
place known as Herrick's Castle, then worth
about flO,UO was accepted from Dimmock as
compromise for his debt OF quarter OF mil
hon. and fl0oOO was also paid to him, the prop
erty being thus placed at the exaggerated valu-
Him - Ntnd Nha H.at..l
Of the bank as representing ssSI,5OO3 3;. In 1870
the castle and surrounding ground were
tween EightS fourth ana Eighty NTH streets,
called In figures $1,000 each. tho pank pay Ing
tbO,tCO In cash On the exchange, and assuming "A
mortg ge OF 5000, which sull exists. The
three houses cannot now he Id for $4,000.
rhc title To the real estate carried m tho
name OF " II. Waring belonging TO the law nrm
Uf Vim. lI. Harrison, coun ei OF the bank. WIN.
-. Harrison also occupied the Ffth avenue and
IhrfNtown property Tor some time without pay
ing rent to the uank.
Besides these losses, the bank lost about t75,0O
IN 1851 stoi en- from u - Augustus Dee, clerk
in the bank and brother-ir Jaw Of Darling. one
Of the trustees. The bank wss secured by
bond ~ SlOur, executed by Lec'a mother. who.
having 60 onsdcraOle means, was able to pay tho
bono. In 1855 she was called upon to make tho
bond good. but nothing was done for some time
after~ard, wnen sd,JoD was paid as compro-
mise. :" The money" says Mr.. Hennessy's re.
1t never found It's way far as the vaults of the
bank MIR. Harrison says II was used ior legsl.-
tive purpo es.
An lNEfFftTtAL PNOTfS1.
In 1859 a strong opposition to the Green man
agemcnt arose IN the board. Dr. A. q. Dunn,
samuel H. Cooper Dr. Is. hbbins, Jonn A.
Murphy. and wm A. Dooley were the protest
n,cx 1@g n%ri nna ~ se, dsnsndsd @ change q
Green, and in January, 1871, Il, was rejected
President. In January end February, 1871. the
a%nanca % state@ents. TSey "SI were "iisnced Tor fnr
the tine, but In March they renewed their pro-
tests with such vieor that the Prc-ideni, At
n WI Az
nent Of January, and virtually acknowledged
deficit OF about 5000. instead of a surplus OF
$l0kHG.lA MS claimed In j Januarv Tho minoruy
being unable TO eject a change In the pOncy {
the bank, resigned IN March aud Aprl, 1871.
Dr. Dunn went 10 Albany and made \ formal
charge Of mism nRGement, The Bank Depart
Hennessy to examine the institution. Keycs
again e1onerated the managers. but Mr.. Hen
messy sent a report Of facts. showing the neces-
sity for the winding up Of the concern.
Mr. Hennessy reported the total liabilities u
sssS az scsn sna t"a asael iG's "a ,s sSr1 7 o'
During the examination, which lasted for
three months, m ny offers II compromise were
made by the majority to the minority. DIR.
Dunn was elected secretary, Dut he declined
the ONCE, saying, "ro accept the Office Of Sec,
retary while these men still hold control would
DE stutlfying all my past efforts directed against
the dlsRrnceful violations OF the charter, the
general laws for the government ot savings
banks, and the sacred trust reposed in them by
the drpositors."
No action was taken by the b INK dep ,rtment
Mr. John il Lyon took the nlAce Of Mir. Green
as President, and William Is. Van voorhis took
Mr.. Dunn's place as first Vice President. But
Mr.. Green continued to control tue policy OF
the bank.
THE FIRST PUBLIC ExPosURE
In January, 1872 The Sun published Mr. Hem
nessy's report and urged IN the interest Of the
depositors that the institution be wound up
hut the bank officers obstinhtely kent their
doors open, and tried to brave out the run that
were almost drained did the run cease. Then
Just as the bank was on the verge Of closing It's
Doors the remaining depositors concluded that
Is was safe. Over S4OOO.OOO had been paid outI
The false exhibit OF strength bred slight re-
little while. About $4,000 was taken in sith,n
a few days after the cessation of the run. But
the reaction did not last, and deposi;ors sought
other and inspected institutions.
In January, 1873 Thompson w. Decker was
chosen President. Spencer X. Green remaining
In the 30 rd Of Trustees. About a year ago
Decker quietly dropped from the Presidency
without giving any previous warning, aud tho
bank had no President until March last. Daniel
Bates then accepted the ONCE. Meantime the
deposits had been dwindling and tho with
drawals increasing
THE FINAL BURST UP.
Mr. II tes requested MIR. William =. CarmAn.
who was chosen Secretary In January last, to |
draw NJ plain statement OF the Affairs OF the
bank, 50 that he might determine whether IL |
was possible to keep open. On reading tho
statement Bates called the trustees together and
they resolved that IL was necessary To 20 into |
liquidation at the earliest possible moment. |
The showing Of the banks affairs Is lamen liable, |
and 4 Is hardly prooaee ~ tnai tue ,sOO deposit
over forty cents on the dollar
Tho Eotal liabilities are, according to the last |
report, 81 520,9l9.2.
AN INTELLIGENT OPINION
In conversation with The sun reporter MIR. |
Bates. the President. said that tho troubles OF |
the bank were all traCeabe To the Investments |
IN Atlantic Mail. Previous to that, no institu-
ton IN the city had n more promising future. |
lie had no hesitation In charaoterizing tho At |
lantic Mail Transactions as improper. lilo had |
decided to close the doors because hs could not |
consoientiOuslY co on.
MIR. Cbrman, the receiver, says that he had |
no connection with the bank previous 10 De |
cember last. lie had searched back for years, |
and had not found any evidences OF mafeas- |
ance by trustees. OF course, " John Jones was |
down in the books as borrower IL W . none |
OF his OR. Carman's) business to find oul |
whether John Jones was or was not tho rrOther- |
in-law OF a trustee. The names OF none Of |
tho trustees Appeared as borrowers
lie added II the bank had no cash II paid |
on the rarrytown aud Firth avenue real estate,
IL could 20 on"
To-day the bank doors Will he opcn to depos- |
itors who can get all The Information they want,
but no money.
DIR. A. q. Dunn IL now resident of Germany. |
Hunter FutRlIV shot.
POUGHKEEPsIR, Sept. 90.-Ilrnrv u. Alden OF
Fthktl, sOn of H. A. Alden. President Of tho York
Rubber olnpnny, while hunting the woods that
IA ull hIa la.aN Ia "A.