The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1878-01-01
ANOTHER BANKER STEPS OUT
JOIN BONNER POCKETS THE CfsH or
W1LL STREETS BROkhIss.
Busy All Dny Saturday xchypothecetinl .ae
C"ilatcrais Deposited with ptiu.-His Part
ncr and Many customers then LETT In the
I.urch-1oss, from gIOO, 900 TO 100000.


ner and Many CUSTOMERS then LETT In the
Iurch Loss, from 100000 TO 100000.
Tho Christmas holiday season OF 1877 will
be long and sorrcwfully remembered in Wall
street. Beginning with the DISAPPEARANCE OF
Meter Co.. involving n loss Of $500 900 or
more. they ended with the failure q John Bon
ner 4 Co.. and the Disappearance Of the senior
member Of that W Unknown firm. The an
nounccmcnt Of the failure at the opening Of tho
Stock Exchange Yesterday created intense cx-
element. and the brokers hurried in crowds To
their offices to compute their losses. and To save
what they could from the wreck TWAS notice.
abb, however. that in spite of the excitement
there were few or no rumors, everybody taking
it for granted. after the developments la tho
Nottcr cnsc. that the worst was to bo expected.
Later in the day there was much talk as to
losses and losers. and considerable grumbling
among the small fry. who saw their year =
profits wiped OUT but. on the whole. the failure
was received with resignation.
Beyond a doubt. the failure Of John Bonner
n Co. aud the flight of John Bonner were lositi-
mate outgrowths of the Meter case. After the
failure Of Meter x Co. there was general rush
throughout Wall street TO look into the safe
keeping of collatorals pledged for time and call
loans. In some cases loans which had many
days to run were lifted and replaced with
Institutions rather than with individuals and
in others borrowers insisted upon the produce
tion Of their securities. To the credit Of most
OF the money brokers. It should he said that
they passed through this ordeal trumuhantly.
but there were n few firms that showed little
alacrty in answering tho natural and reason
ahlc questions Of their customers. Among
these. It IL said. were John Bonner 4 Co. 1t
h, MI. fta,
borrowers wcrr that forced The failure. but 10 is
certain tiat IN this. ~ n the Ncttcr ease. 1t WIS
caused hy thc demands of borrowers for the
production of thrir securities. suspected to have
been rrh ypoth"cnted.
The failure was announced in the Stock Tx
change. when the following letter was read.
aud m,mher. ct Size stock ENchan4c. New YORK city,
our engagements ". have appointed VI Bnrr Il On.
wold Of the hrm oi ntchiord = ward oi.vuA Da
'o-,a our a-wn.e. aud he D. NOW preparing stat
ions BoSssns Co
II was soon easy to tell who the los RS were.
They scarcely waited TO hear the name of th"
firm read. but holtnd Immediately. Soon II WINS
known that John Bonner had gone TO Canada.
that tile assets ~ the firm were worse than
nom nal. and that the Liabilities were between
500 900 and fiNOpU Scores If customers and
victims flo kcd 10 the oflce Of J. Bonner & Co..
NJ 81 Broad street. anxious to learn the full cA-
t"nt ot their loss. Tie assignee found the
hooks written ny To- the close of business on
Saturday. He was thus enabled L. tell borrow
crs whore their securities were. but when they
asked whether lie would be- ahle To MAKE NJ the
differences. h" merely shrugged his shoulders.
and there was No. possibility oi mi-uudrrstahd-
INK him. Mr.. Clarence Sewnrl. rodnrcl tor the
assignee. was kept busy all day in answering
questions
Mr. Albert l.. Sewcn. tho Junior member Of
the firm said that ne had mad no hand in Bon
ner- transactions, and that he preferred 10 face
the storm rather than To- run away.
John Bonner method was similar in many
respects To- that Of Meter X Go. but II had an
element OF holdness and originality He re-
no Nall
loans, AMI generally nj am advance and thus
followed the lead Of the Meters but ia one or
two GIscs me- gave worthless checks 10 borrow
'rs. and IN nearly AL his TRANSACTIONS mixed up
quantity Of worthless stock he had On hand
with good stock that he had received ~ ,ol-
lateral. IL IL thought that he took with him
lar." amount Of money. as he was busy nearly
all day saturday in rvhypothecating securities.
A. far n can be necortaued. he kept within the
criminal law. tai ing only the surplus procured
by rphypOtueration Of bonds or stocks but
leaving the securities 10 be- redeemed hy their
unforunat" owners on the payment of differ
John Bonner WAS h-t seen in Wall street
at ten mluut's past o'clock on Satur-
day afternoon. His presence WAS remarked.
accuse he usually came home at T. "
he was dining at Delmoniro's. Subsequent
store in tue nrighoorhood. There all trace II
him il lost. Prior To- his departure he il said
Ia have told gentleman with whom he is iuti-
mat tAat he was going to spend week. 300
Candda.nskiug him 10 accompany him. lie came
The failure Of John Bonner 4 CO. involves
the downfall OF the Bankers and Brokers As
-nciation. nm institution organized by the Stock
ENchnng" some years ago as clearing
house for brokers of limited capital It, can't
TAI stock was 81 COCOON. ~ which 5000 600 Was
pnid IN II W not ~ ecessful. and soon ceased
b. be pntrouled 10y many brokers . IN spite OF
THIS fact. however. It's stock WIS sold AT 10 az
ouc time. At .rward 1t tumbled almost uut uf
sight. Then John Bonner began 10 buy il iu
and soon procured a controlling inierrst-some
say thrcc-quartrrs OF the whole sto X. But even
in this transaction he showed his peculiar
ehdract nrsti"s. VI" carried the association in
his pocket. used liz earnings. its capital. and II
IL sad. even lis deposits ia the purr has Of its
own stock. and finally got the latter so " cor
nered that ne could 20 into the Stock Exchange
most an al solute certainty that nobody would
accept his hid. Although the stock was a. nearly
worthless ~, a stock could b.. i rated on the
list on Saturday AZ IS ana II is said that Bonner
pledged sln0.UO Of it with conldlng
friend for $4,000; This needs confirmation.
ranged between $40 900 and 10000. but a. this
amount was owned by thirty persons. the indi-
yidual losses are trifing. The Bankers and
Bonner. II capital oi S5uu.uuO WAS used W IN
spccuail on-, IT. deposits shared the same fatr.
and all that remains Is is title It's books hlnnks.
an IT,. water cooler and some Office furniture.
Tho in orporntors named in the art establish
ing The association woaa David droosbeck. os-
sian y. Ashley, GaVn II. Watson. and John
John Bonner mixed with his good 'olluterals.
Thus II may ho that some of IN" institutions
wlih which he rehypotAe'"led securities are
Creditors claim that thoy can lose nothing on
account OF the following provision IN section II
of the charter;
The .tockhofer Of the sall corporation shan be .over
a'N iair or HIl deh- AMI si nc- r nie suf as-.sla
u.n tn amount equal 80 Tho nIIounf ih, fi-,k el
an! DNu.d ly ui,m .r.c.nNcis, winch nauhno, snail
be- In addition 20 thcir h,9hu 70 nay'n tul the stoe
-nN'e 4ned 'or GO chased boy thtul
Ia The early dealings on the Sto ~ hange
te lu'lowinR tUnsa, tiun- uudar the rule
were made Tor ihe account 81 John Bonner &
D. n.nI.N laIl4a lta4as. ....ar