National Republican., 1884-01-21
WILLIAM II. GUIoN's FAILURE.
Liabilities varlously Estimated at iron

Liabilities VnrIousiy Estimated at from
100000 10 6g,C0O, ,0OO-WhUt the As-
ssnec snys-Brief History OF the Firm.
NEW YoEK, Jan. 2O-William II. Guion,
of the firm Of Williams s. Guion, Now York
agents of the Guion steamship line, made an
assignment yesterday for the benefit Of his
creditors to A. r. Brown, lawyer Of No. G3
Wall street. The frm Of which be had bocn
n member for thirty years, was dissolved on
Friday. in consequence, u is undertOod, of
Mr.. Guions pcrs nj embarrassment Which,
however does not affect tho affairs Of the
firm. The extent of his liabilities Is not
known, but it was rumorcd that they would
amount to S2,ODOOOO, His friends say that
tho amount is greatly exaggerated, and that
tho direct liabilities will probably not OK
coed S2OO,OOO; the contingent liabilities no
ono attempts to estimate. The National
Bank of the Republic, of which Mr.. GuiOn
was one of the founders, and Is still u dircc-
tor, has a loan OF about $4,000, which Is
partly secured. 1t was said ut the bank that
its loss by the failure would be insignificant.
blr. Guiun has been interested in an almost
innumGrablo number Of enterprises Of all
kinds. Some of these have been unfortunate,
and by the collapse of the American Steam
Heating and Power company, in which he was
u large stoCllholdcr, he suffered u heavy loss.
IL Is unutEhtOOu llltb IGJtuLly nc mas lOaJ
largely also in speculation in grain. 10 was
rumored yesterday that he owed u largo sum
to Henry Clcws S Co., through whom in part
he had conducted this speculation. Mr.. Clows
said that Mr.. Guion had lost somo money by
the recent decline in tho price of wheat, but
that ho owed the firm only about $500 Mr..
Clews attributed the failure 60 Mr.. Guion's
embarrassment in 1873, from which he had
never fully recovered. Some of his intimate
friends declared that tho failure was due
primarily to Mr.. Guion's great kindhcarted-
moss to his business associates and friends,
and TO his personal obligations on account OF
tho many schemes in which he became inter-
osted. lie freely lent tho use Of his namo
both to the companies in which he was inter-
ested and to persons associated with him in
them. He constantly lost money by this
kindly action. Great regret but little sur
prise at the result was expressed by friends
who wero acquainted with some of his trans
actions,
Mr.. Brown, the assignee, was seen at his
Office by reporter. "All can say about the
failure" he said, "is that Mr.. Guion made an
assignment to-day without preferences. 1t
was n square, straightout failure. 1t was i'm
possible for mo to estimate tho liabilities or
tho assets, as the schedules have not been
made up. What do / think of the streets
estimate of 81, ,0O0,O0O as the liabilities? 1t is
grossly exaggerated, | should say, without
"
put down tho liabilities in any failure at 25
per cent. of the general estimates. | imagine
that Mr.. GuOn's embarrassment comes from
his helping his friends. lie is most genur-
Gus and warm hearted man, and he has pro-
badly found it difficult to refuse to help his
friends when they appealed to him. Ills as
sets may comprise securities, but l don't
think he has been in Wall street for some
time. No, Mr.. Guion has not expressed to me
any idea of what he owes"
The firm of Williams & Guion was estab-
lished in 1872 by John S. Williams aud Ste
phen b. Gulon, the brother of William II.
Starting with doing u general commission
business, they soon became large shippers of
American produce abroad, and later on %
branch house was established in England
undOr the charge of Stephen B. Guion.
About 1851 the firm es blished tho Black
Star Packet line between New York and
Liverpool, the Universe being the first vessel
built, and eventually twenty Others were
added to the fleet. William ii. Guion, who,
with his brother, was native of this city,
was admitted to the firm in 1858. With the
introduction of steam on tho ocean the house
established the Guion line of steam
ships, their first steamer, the Manhat-
tan being built in 1866. In November,
1876, Mr. Williams died and the two Guion
brothers continued tho business. Since the
death of Mr Williams all of tho steamers
built for the line have been the property of
Stephen b. These are tho Alaska, the Ari-
zona, the Oregon, and the Abyssinia. The
Wyoming, tho Wisconsin, and tho Nevada
were built and are owned by the Liverpool
and Great Western Steamship company, an
English corporation, but the controlling in
tcrest in the stock is held by Stephen b.
Guion. The only effect on the New Yorl;
| firm is the withdrawal of William IL. Guion's
| interest in it.
Several judgments against Mr.. Onion have
been filed in the supreme and superior courts
within few days. The largest is for $5, l7TO)
in favor of Orlando VI. Bogart and others, on
| n nrnmSsorY motto inlnrsnl by Mr. Onion.