The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1884-06-13
INTERESTING READING.

INTERESTING READING.
5As Burnside Defalcation-Mors 81 th,
Penn Bank-And Yet Another.
WASHINGTON, June AIN official circla
The embezzlement by Colonel j. O. P. Burn
side quite took the place of politics as {
topic Of excited gossip. The high socia
and official standing Of the man, and hi,
wide acquaintance, intensified interest liz
the case. The fact that it is the third con
secutive ENLIGHTENMENT by officials in tli:
position was sufficient to show that very
loose business methods obtain In this dc
partment, and criticism of the system which
gives an oficial opportunity to 60 on steal
ing Tor months and years without danger Of
detection was unsparing. If the shrewd adj
venturer Lewis had not got caught and been
compelled to run away, Burnside might
lave gone on stealing for an indefinite
period, but his anxiety to learn the where
abouts of Lewis excited the suspicion OF the
Postmaster General, and the Investigation
was at once instituted which led to the
discovery of the embezzlement The
news of Burnsde's default leaked out and
passed from mouth to mouth SO rapidly that
the whole city soon knew it. Everybody
was asking everybody else If they had heard
Of Burnside's arrest, and everybody won
dered whether he would be punished, or
whether he would escape like HO~gate and
"a, ntolf I1- haA or
to tell about the extent to which bucked
shops and other kinds of speculation had led
clerks and officials astray. The fact is this
sort of gambling has become mania with a
great number of Government employees, fe-
male as well as male. Many mortgage Of
small property registered on the docket tells
tale of unlucky speculation of the
mortgager. of course, few Of these
have opportunity to use Govern
ment money, and the Burnside
Ease will probably have the
effect of lessening opportunities in this d.
rection. Chief Clerk Lockwood, of the In
terror Department, said regarding the EN-
beZzlement that he was not greatly sur
prised. I'm our department" said he, 1--WE
have system of checks by which it is al
most impossible for a thing Of that kind to
occur. There was much objection to it
when I first had it adopted. All disbursing
officers of the department are required to
render balance sheet the first day of each
week, showing the amount of funds on
hand, at which depository, and their char
acter. The depository also furnishes a
weekly statement of the officers account,
and the two should correspond" There is
the same difficulty here, however, that ex-
lists under the pOst-Ofiice system. Burn
sides books were all right. and balanced to
a cent. 1t was the cents which did not
ugree With the books.
THE PENN RANK.
PITTSBURGH, PA, May 31.-AR intimate
friend of George w. Rewley, Individual
bOok-keeper of the Penn Bank. made a
statement yesterday that the checks Of d.
Wilson d Co., Hill & Co. and Watson &
Co., the mythical firms, were drawn and
signed by President Riddle and that the
latter represented all these firms. The
blind pool lost over S4,O0O,OO0 in oil and
that overdrafts on the bank aggregate ST.
100000. Riddle, who once possessed hun
dreds of thousands, lost it in oil. The ru-
NOR that the Pennsylvania Protective As.
ISOLATION was seriously involved by the failure
Is denied. The Association had a few thou
sand deposited in the bank when the doors
they will continue business. Notices have
been served on the directors for Il meeting
to prepare statement for the members,
which will be published the 5th of June.
Thomas j. Watson, Oil broker, whose &C
count was overdrawn S97, 900, left suIdenly
Cor New York with his wife. Detectives
have been shadowing his house fm two
days kilograms have been sent East to
arrest him for conspiracy. There IL great
excitement, and other arrests arr antici-
pated. Search was being made fiJ apout
$3.50, 600 securities sent East Frida, ~ Sat
urday, and of which there IL TO trace.
Attorneys are examining q lig box
Of papers found in the bank, which
may throw some light on the oil operations
of the bank and explain man, things which
were much talked of mysteries at the time.
Nearly all assets of Mr.. Riddle which are
available were disposed OF weeks ago.
Those turned over were th1Se on which
money could not be speedily obtained. A
special from Harmony, Pa, says the Har.
mony Savings Bank closed ite doors owing
to money tied up in the Penn Bank. As 1,
was known that the bank die business with
the Penn Bank run was feared and it was
deemed best by the officers to close before
rush would commence. There was no state
ment of liabilities, but they are believed to
be small.
ANOTHER BANK FAILURE
WASHINGTON. May 31.-The following
notice was posted this morning upon the
doors of the banking house of ID. W. Middle
ton & Co., 142T + street: Owing to heavy and
demands we have assigned to
George T. Green for the benefit Of our cred
tors" The doors of the bank are moi
closed, and number of excited persons are
gathered inside talking over the suspension
No particulars are yet obtainable.