The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-09-09
EVENTS OF sATURpAY.
The Run ON the Bank The Dead Cashier in
His Coffin.

Bank of New Jersey. The other half stood
| about and watched the struggle, sagely shaking
their heads with wise 81 told you so's.n Inside
the perspiring clerks worked silently, counting
out great stacks Of bank bills, and in little
back room halt. score of gray. bearded directors
famed themselves and with becoming dignity,
discussed the situation. A few blocks down the
street the body of Georges S. Hill, the dead
cashier, lay in rosewood coffin, awaiting burial
It was the old story. Hill was seemingly all
that bank official should be- sober. industri-
GUS, obliging, strictly moral and shrewd busi-
ness man. His father before him had been a
respected banker, and for twenty years he him
| self had presided over the destnes of the Ma
tional Bank His income was 50, 600 year
| Everybody knew him and trusted him. Thurs
| day morning he was found dead in bed -Four
gas-jets were turned on, and they called it
asphyxiation, not suicide. Then the directors
began to inquire into the affairs of the bank, SO
did the depositors. Friday the run began, only
| q few timid ones Withdrawing, but before
| o'clock 500, 600 had been paid over the counter.
| Matters looked serious, and great preparations
were made to meet the run expected yesterday
1t came with vengeance.
/ The lanitor, who opened the doors of the bank
/ shortly before o'clock, was confronted BY lit
| Tie cfOWQ OF sWdltlng QeU0Sit0rS They not
afraid. but they wanted their money. Ten min
1 utes after the opening the crowd had doubled
| and there was jam at the door. The little
j space reserve for customers was packed, and
twice as many men and women Sweltered in the
/ hot sunshine outside on the steps and down il.
/ the street A squad of policemen guarded the
] door and forced the anxious depositors in line
Ragged urchins kicked their bare heels from every
window where they had climbed to watch with
curious eyes the patient crowd. Across the
street the white marble tombstones looked in
/ vitingly cool against the soft green Of the
| church-yard, but the throng had only eyes for
| the paying teller. The room grew hotter and
hotter. A clerk tainted, but the stolid walters
/ only growled the louder regarding this as a
needless Interruption. Every check WAS paid in
full as it was presented-but how long it took
| and how long the line was
Shortly before / o'clock the acting cashier
closed hisswindow, climbed upon chair, and,
overlooking the long lines of waiting check
bearers, calledout The amount of bills and
| gold has given ont. but Mahlon @, NJ rtin, one
of our directors will be here from New York in
an hour with plenty of money
tired buzz ran Through the standing hearers,
but not one dropped out Of line There were
old farmers with checks waylup in the thusands
and pale-faced women with checks Of only two
figures. But she with her $13 or deposit was as
anxious to getit as the Pennsylvania railroad
representatiye who drew out SO, 900, In just
an hour Mr. Martin returned witha big package,
the window wasreopened,. and until 3 o'clock all
geomers we're paid Then, with sharp tBusi-
ness hours are Dverp the forty disappointed de-
positorssWere turned out in the street. 1t was
said that $l54, 900 had been paid out
~ In afew minutes the directors followed and
took, thFr9way to where the remains of their late
cashier lay in his comfortable home The rooms
were crowded, and for half block the street was
thropgedf with curious loungers. For over an
hour these hung about the place. idly gazing at
the house of the suicide. Rev. Drs Cooper and
Hutton made brief addresses over the remains
referring only once to the Fascination of deathh
yvarA AOiv lis or lock af lolA
companion. upon whose coffin a simple wreath
OF immortelles rested. and then all were asked to
retire, as the iHterment was private So with a
word of coincidence to the widow, who knew
nothing of the real cause of her husbands death,
the rooms were cleared and she was left alone
with the dead
n. The directors went back To their private room
and conferred again Early in the day they had
issued the following notice, which failed Of the
soothing effect they had hoped for
We. the undersigned directors having made an ex-
animation, find that while our surplus has been inn
paired yet capital is safe and every epostor viii
receive in fun every dollar he has deposited.
JOHNSON LETsoNY
WM. O. STopDARD,
LEWIS 7. HowELfs
The expediency of publishing fuller state
ment was voted down and the president and di-
rectors declined to state how much the deficit
was or how much had been withdrawn by depos-
itors. They asserted positively that everybody
would be paid in full. Two correspondents rep
resented Jersey Civ hanks who had rallied als0s
declined to sIy ANYTHING. gMr. p. n. Wyekoff.
one Of the directors was irdorsed bv the presi-s
dent of the bank when he said:
ernment bank examiner comes Onr bank Is
able to meet all demands but7 If the 7rnn eont;ns
,1es We NAV be cornpelled "a sIlsnend for few
days No insttution could nay SS50 0O0 to ,ds.5s
positors at twenty four hours notice. The def
cit is a small one and doesn't touch the banks
capital 1t Is the only bank in the city and ev.
erybody is naturally excited about it.