Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1885-08-29
THE CITY NATIONAL
viii Open for the Transaction OF Bush
ness This Morning AT Nine
O'clock.
The Examiner Finds the Bank rs Sound as
u Dollar and so Testifes in
His Report.
A nrTRosPEcT.


his labors and announced to the public
that the bank is perfectly solvent, and
that its capital is unimpaired. In ac-
cordance vito his instructions re-
ceived from Washington, he has or
dered the president and board of direc-
tors of the bank TO open their doors this
morning and resume business.
An itemized report of the affairs of the
bank was sought by Il reporter for TIE
/ GAZETTE, but the examiner had no au-
thority to give it previous to forwarding
IL to headquarters.
The following order to the bank ofll-
clals signed by the examiner, however,
is sufficient testimony that the condition
of the banks affairs Is healthy, and that
the public need have no fears of the
solidity of the Institutions
=" In obedience to orders received by
me from the comptroller OF the currency,
| have proceeded to make and have now
completed Il thorough examination and
investigation of the affairs of your bank;
and having thereby found your bank to
be perfectly solvent and your capital UNI
impaired, do hereby, in obedience to
instructions received from the comp
troller, order you to reopen your doors
and resume business on the morning of
saturday, the 18th instant"
The above is a most satisfactory ending
of the so-called troubles of the City Ma
tional bank. Its capital and reserve fund
remain intact and those who have money
deposited in the bank will receive every
dollar of 1t.
The causes which led to the suspension
of the City National bank are in them
selves II matter of great interest to our
4 nnnDIn N "a fu tNh
people thought could never be guilty of u
wrong or a dishonest act. On the 18th
OF the present month John Nichols, vice
president and teller of the City National
bank, suddenly died in the bank, being
seized with commissions Just as he was
opening the bank vault at $3.50 in the
morning. In thirty minutes he was n
dead man, and the last words spoken by
him were at is that collie" uttered
Just as DR.. Burts entered the room. At
the coroner's inquest 1t was developed
that Mr.. Nichols had been subject to at
tacks of collie, and that fact taken in con-
nection with his last words, caused the
jury to render verdict of "dcath from
commissions produced by collie"
Immediately after the death of Mr..
Nichols 1t was ascertained that he was
short in his accounts with the bank in
sum approXimating 100000, and
4 outsiders placed the amount
much higher. At first this
report could hardly be credited by those
who had known Mr.. Nichols from the
time he came to this city, and it was con-
fdently expected that an examination
of the affairs of the bank would develop
something that would brush away the
blot which appeared on his previous pure
. &c i,nt
however, the proof of his dcfalcation be-
came more conclusive, and the idea was
suggested that Mr.. Nichols had committed
suicide.
FELO DE ST.
After a diligent search for light it was
learned that the deceased teller had, on
the morning of the 18th, about half
hour previous to his death, pur-
chased from the drug store of I. W.
Powell, on Houston street, Il bottle con
tanning one drachm of strychninc, enough
to kill twenty men This was one link
in the chain of evidence supporting the
theory of suicide, and 1t was supplemented I
by the statement Of DR.. Burts, that the
symptoms of Mr.. Nichols at the time of
his death were such rs to indicate that
he had died from the effects of strych- I
nine. post mortem examination was
]
general opinion was that 1t was Il suicide
andno post norton examination was nee
essary. When 1t became an established
fact that John Nichols had died by his
own hand those who had unbounded
confidence in him began to have doubts
OF the integrity of his character.
FRAUDULENT TRANSFERS
sun there were men who believed that
ne was an honest man up to the day of !
his death, and did not like to listen to- re-
ports derogatory to his good name. This |.
belief, however, was dlspelled when the
TACT was published that during the
months of January and February Nichols |
mad conveyed to his wife large blocks of
city property. This was the straw that
broke the cancels back, and the memory
oil John Nichols, n man who once stood |
SO wen, Went down under a cloud He
was pitied and his heart-brokcn wife
syihpathiIed with, but this could not
orlng BACK ms once good name, and thus |
II was that John Nichols passed from this
world-a defaulter and suicide.
THE CITY NATIONAL sUspENps
Upon being convinced that Mr.. Nichols /
was deiaulter, President Britton of the
Cl'y National bank telcgmphed the fact
TO the comptroller at Washington, as is
required ny law. The comptroller inn I
medmtely answered, ordering the bank
To DC closed and the assets held intact
uhtll an examiner should arrive. pre- |.
Nlous To this h run was made
on the bank by depositors, who labored
! under the impression that 1t would
DC crippled by Nichols defacation. The
oank met and paid every demand made
on It's funds and was offered thousands
IRON outside parties IN order that they /
mlght he able to tide over the shadows. |.
Assistance was not needed, as the bank
hau an funds necessary and to spare, and
would have never suspended had not the 1
authorities at Washington so ordered.
i,ast Monday Mr.. T.. NJ. Getman, nation.
oank examiner, arrived and at once
.ooA charge OF the bank. Interviews were
attempted by the different reporters of
the city press but little or 10 information .
Cnmll be nhfninnd lru... L.. - = WYNN !