Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1880-06-18
BRAT LEBORO'S CALAMITY
THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK
RUINED.
S NJ WAITE A FOBGEE TO AN ENOB-
NOUS AMOUNT
ne Flies the Country. and Develop
nents Show Him Guilt, Of One Of the
w orrt Financial Crtmes ON Record

4AtA AAfl NbuAilN anu llhl Ut was a lOIEtI 10
al unknown amount. fell like q lightning
stroke OIL the whole community Many peo-
pie had feared that Air Waite was standing
Oh shaky foundation financially. but even
thos4 who dlstrusted him most had not Bus-
pected him Of being o. forrer and O cold
bloodel criminal IL financial matters That
he is all this is only toe true We give be
low q careful history Of the proceedings and
developments which led to "a discovery Of the
true state Of affairs.
Ez-Goy. HENDEI' EXAMINATIONS.
On the 2Uth Of May e1-Gov Hendee. Ma.
uoual Bank Examiner for this State made
his first official visit to Brattleboro and made
q careful examination Of the three banks IL
the presence o. Nj Waite and two Of the d.
recturs, Ae went carefully through all the pa
per. assets and securities Of the First Nation
a. he found the assets TO amount IL round
numbers 60 $500, GOO and the liabilities to be
S4a4 600. OF the latter sum $500 600 was IL
the capital stock. $50. 600 III circulation S44.
600 due depositOrs. This showed O. surplus
Of SGT, 600. and the bank was apparently IL q
perfectly sound condition. Ny Heudet him
self examined all the assets OF the bank read
ing the notes one by one and receiving
the opinion Of the directors OIL each
that il was good H also made a complete
memorandum Of these assets figured them
up himself found then 70 balance the liza
b.lities to cent and TO correspond exactly
with Nj Waitc's figures. IL som. minor
matters there were small irregularities. not
unusual il perfectly sound banks. bu, OF Nj
Waltas promise 10 have them immediately
corrected be pronounced himself satisfied
There was one item. however. which at
tracted Nj HeEdec attention. and IL con
nectou with the prevailing loca uneasiness
relative TO the bank AWAKE ued his suspicion
This was 81 credit Of $50. 600 which Mr. Waite
claimed 10 have with Nermilye a Co.. the
large and wel-known tru Of private banker
IL y CIV York it bsinCau unusual occurrence
for q country bank To have so large @ credit
with such al institution Nj Heude, kept
Lis suspicion to himself as b. was morally
and officially bouua TO do until it was veri-
ned curTesponded with the department at
Washington. and took immediate means 70
ind out whether Their, was any ground for
his suspicion. H. became satisfied tina; there
was reason fUr H. and OIL Tuesday afternoon
Of last week June stl returned 70 Brattle-
b0rO. al once sought al interview with Nj
Waite and told hin frankly that he had rea-
SOL &C. suspect that the bank had 10 credi;
witt NormIlye . CO. Nj Waite without the
least appearance o. concern or uueasiness
protested that there was q mistake that TIT
credit stood IL his private name instead OF
the bank Ae showed letter from Nermiiyt
Co.. which indicated that this was the case
and offered 20 bring affidavit. from New York
within reasonable length Of time 10 show
that his statement Of the matter wa correct
Nj. Heudee assured him be hoped it could
b. proved So told hin. BE- had no disposition
to crowd hin into o corner. gave him & week
70 clear the matter ny, and Wednesday morn
ing left for the North with the understanding
that he should remain during the week IL tbs
near vicinity
i j, due to GOV. Hendee 10 say that this
detailed statement, not heretofore published
OF the proceedings and developments which
led to Nj. Waite hiEE; and exposure were
not obtained from him.
MI. YATES r-IGHI-IHI DISCOVERY OF Els
CENlEs
On Thursday morning, June lOtL Ny
Wait. left town OIL the ago express telling
his wife that he was obliged to 60 to New
! ORR Oh bank business Nothing wa heard
from or Of hin til Saturday afternoon. about
@:3U. when NJ. / a Mash received o des-
patch from Nj. Libby. the chief clerk al the
Brevoort HOUSE. asking him il he would meet
Mr. Waite Il Sprlnheld or BrAttleboro sun
Gay night Ny. Nash Wa utterly al q loss to
know what TINS meant. surprising as he did that
the Nj. Waite referred 10 was :. N. Waite
: despatch sent IL reply. asking Nh Waite 10
name the place Of meeting brought 10 reply
444A oAAL4lN LlDIl4AE Lt went 70 ClE4L
10y HE owl tram. H. waited there through
the day, and the -.3u night express from
New York brought Nh. ClAs. J. Waite SOL
of tle late c. c. Waite. ana nephew Of : II.
" Glte. The two met al that uutImey hour
Of the LlEli. with the mutual exclamation.
For Goa sake. What does this mean Nj
{. i. Waite then showed Ny Nash two let
ter- which be- had received from his uncle
one from Boston and one from Portland
Both Of them were luconertut IL expression
and written IL d hand scarcely 70 be recoF-
u.zed a. Nj. Waite e. The letter. said, IL
effect that LIE Nh. Waite was IL trouble
that he had made 100 OF himself and
that the trouble began when he helped ms
brother Henry out Of LIZ difficulties IL Chi
cage. several year, age. From Portland he
wrote. i SAL tomorrow. The letters stated
his family would never see hin or hear from
hin again, and requested that Mr.. c. /
Waite communicate Immediately with Mr
Mash. Mr. {. +. Waite stated 70 Nj Nash
that supposing the trouble 10 be that ms III
Gle was temporarily pressed for money, and
had probably gone partially insane he tele-
Crapled him al once 70 come 70 min and 1t
would help Inn out also that he mad put o
/ private detective OIL lis track.
Air AasL returned nome OIL Monday morn
ing AZ 1890 performed the unwelcome task
| Of breaking the sad news 10 Mr.. Waite fam
] lily. got the bank directors together OIL Tues
/ day, and went 10 work 10 make AL examina-
/ ton a comparatively short time sufhced 70
SHOW that there was a large defalcatiou. The
/ fact wac immediately teleEraphed to Comp
| troLer knox al Washington, the appointment
7 Of receiver asked for, HnC Dr. W II.
Rockwell was despatched a. q special ulesseu-
/ ger 70 Aew4 ORR and Washington with instruc-
lions 70 put the best detective 10 be found Oh
Mr. Waite track, and 70 offer reward OF
SJOuu for ms arrest. Within tive hours and
I o half Of the tune when the despatch was sent
/ 10 Washington 4 reply came from MIR. knoz
saying that he had communicated with Ar
/ HenCee and instructed hin 10 come 10 Brat
ueuoru and take charge OF the banks affairs
tuesday night the main facts were known OIL
f the street ana Wednesday morning they
] werl III everyDody's mouth. Wednesday AZ
teruoOu Mr.. Hendee arrived. and Thursday
afternoon careful examination Of the banks
affairs was begun.
TIKI FoEGEEIEs MOUNT AND CHAI.-
ACTEE.
When the directors began their examina-
lion Oh Tuesday one Of the hrst pieces of pa
per which attracted their attention was
note Of $4,000 signed 10y C. j. Amidou Of
Hlusdale. h. f., q large customer of the bank.
and for years one Of its directors. This was
promptly pronounced q forgery. Other pa
T per, either then IL the bank or remembered
10 nav, been there at the last examination
and nearly all Of which II known 10 have
been forged was
. Connecticut River railroad 500. 600
Frederick Billings 10000
T. " Park 10000
Lyon a Healey. Chicago, $4,000
Taunton locomotive manufacturing
company, Is AZ
NerluIIye Co.. X. Y. 20 600
These amounts with the Amidou note ad-
dud figure NJ 70 S2ls,+44 Another for
gerry, one OIL + A. Mash clerk Of Vi Valley
l. l. Co.. for $1,000 has since been heard
o.. which brings the Rmu ant o. paper, d very
large proportion Of which, at least, Is forged
VI 10 S2S3, +42 A rough estimate places the
f0rEeries Al $3.50. 600 with every probability