The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1885-01-22
rIIIshmrg Mire Mnrk..

ilIisttld, Jan, lh,-Ihis afternoon
oliver Bro n philips and the Oliver a
Roberts Wire company, limited, issued
| the following card To their creditors:
eve ARE to-day compelled To suspend
! payments, aud purpose calling immedi-
HtvlN meeting Oi those interested, To
whom We believe We can show assets
amply sufficient, with some indulgence,
I tn pay every dollar of our liabilities"
! The report OF the embarrassment Of
oliver Bros, Il Phillips. the greatest iron
/ firm Ia the citN, when all its COnHCC-
lions are COZ sidCrod, How about like
| Wild fire aud set the town NgOg with OK
| element, such an event WIS reCug-
niYcd rs u catastrophe unt 4ua,led 10y
any previous failure, and the great pop
ulaTity ( the individual members of the
/ firm made H. all the more 10 bc deplOrCd.
/ The tIuth Of the matter seemed To he
! that duli times, an immense pay
roll and other necessary expenses
have compelled the firm Ia ask Tor an
extension, somewhat similar To that
| given 10 Gran, B-uuctt a Co., who
| iailud Two years DEp, There are many
rumors uiluut rs 10 tho immediate cause
~ the trouble, hut IN the banks, aud on
all sides, IL seemed 10 he the general
| feeling that AN extension would ba
asked for and IL would be
granted 10y the creditors, IL is imp0s-
Sib,e To guess ri the liabilities of the
/ ilrm. They are reported nj from 5000
900 to S5,GUOOOO. Local bankers say tndt
there il about Sl0OO,OOO or Sl,5OO,OuO of
| paper held with gOGd collateral for al
most nh oi IL, and large blocks OF paper
nrp held i'm eastern states, ~ far east as
Massachusetts, whil' very large sums
arc carried in New York and Philadel-
phia. The firm has made large invest
! ments In real estate, and hrs an inn
m"nse amount of collateral OF various
/ kinds. IL is thought there is not the
| sligo test douat that an extension viii be
granted aud that tho firm will continue.
| The banks have the greatest confidence
D in the management and heads OF the
| firm, and will be ~ liberal as possible in
their arrangements. Harry W. Oliver,
! senior member of the firm, was seen by
] a reuOrtcr this afternoon, lie said the
whole affair WAS 50 suidei. that they
! had not time to collect their thoughts.
| He was unable To give figures to-day,
| but aS soon rs IL WIS possible n full and
complete statement VIII he given the
! public. Every dollar they had belonged
! To their creditors aud he felt confident
| that the assets would largely exceed the
debts. Regarding tho firms embarrass-
mentS numerous sensational stories are
uiluat and been dtuiei. One of the stO-
rics was To tho effect that paper 10 the
amount of $4,000 hun been protested in
New York among bankers. 1t is said
that The banks will continue to carry
the paper of the linn, bat owing 10 thr
hard times the firm WAS unable to raise
money To meet interest and pay their
emplONeS and bankers. He Hrid the
tirn had reduced their tines to lower
point than Tor years, ard their
CmbamaS WIS II surprise
to everyone. Some attribute
the embari assments to the purchase
-
not expecting the mOucV to be called for.
II was unexpectedly demanded. The
embarrassment does not affect the IL.
p. Srutt IL Go. BarbGd.w ire works,
owned principally ~ the firm of Oliver,
Roberts & Co., that arn wire workers,
and ara inclnd q. Don CImer0n's
u8in' hiss Eeeu mentioned in connection
witt ne firm, SuU iarry Diver said he
ha~ not "a dClisr q interest. The his
cory & he isc Of this firm is one Of the
most n uarl able in The annals Of the
country. Srg en'. en- years agp, II. w.
Oliver ir., John NJ. Phillips and Will
liam j Low is entered into Il CO. partner
shin for the manufacture ~ iron.
divers business cAresr, up 10
1855, had embraced the performance
of the duties OF q shipping clerk for
Graf, Bennett IL Co , ana the iilting OF
clerk ships under William IhaWin, IN
the employ Of the Penuay wanna rail
road company. Phillip wa a brick
layer in Baldwin township, auc Lewis
practical irun worker. They built
miniature mill at the south side end OF
Tenth street bridge, IN which Oliver
kept the books, willie Lewis and Phil
lips looked after the practical part Of
the work. The out6t, consisted of two
pudding aud one heating furnace, and
the product wa wheeled away on bar
rows. From This humble beginning has
grown the great firm of Oliver Bros. d
Phillips, which now employs over
1900 mon. Among their variou'
estahl shnents may be mentioned two
mills, on Tenth and Fifteenth streets,
south side, two on Woods Run, in the
lower part of Allegheny City, steel
mill aud two wire mills on tho south
side. One OF their largest ventures WAS
the manufacture OF bhrDed wire. Some
eighteen months ago Harry Oliver Wis
tied England, and, ON his return, i'm
ported workmen and erected a steel
mill, into which it has been impossible
for information seekers TO gain an on
trance. The new process is said to be %
better one than lie well-known "Mus-
kew process. The firm has been uni
forlnly successful, and the profits have
aggregated millions. Three wears ago
Mr.. Lewis retired from the firm with n
fortune of several millions of dollars
Inc pTbscDI o"Il6Ts are W. OllNtT,
ir., George oliver, Otis Oliver, j. M.
Philips and several relations of the
original proprietors. III. w. Oliver, jr,
is the best known member of the firm
outside of the city, by reason of his can
uidacy for United State senator in 1881,
and his membership in The tariff com
mission. He has been known as one of
the stalwart Republican leaders in the
state, and a liberal contributor to cam
no or I'm d. N
cal office. His railroad speculations
have been on a large scale, and he Is
said to have cleared $4,000 in single
deal in Lake Shore alone.
THIS Is VERY CoNsoLING.
PITrsBURG, Jan. lot is expected
that on next Tuesday Oliver Bros. ~
Phillips will make formal statement
of their affairs. In the meantime
there will DO much speculation
as to the condition of affairs,
and many wild rum0rs may become |
public but they can not be based upon
any definite knowledge. The firm says
that it will make lis statement To its /
credi ors first and the public Afterwards,
and no information can be had until |
Tuesday afternoon, when the figures
will be submitted. The clerical force of
the firm is busily at work on the books
for showing. The indica-
lions are that the liabilities of the firm
will reach from "a 100000 to S6,OO0,OW,
IS, 100000 being the sum given by
those connected with installations.
A very large proportion OF this sum is
secured by collateral of various kinds
and is held by various banks. The
banks of Pittsburg hold considerable of
this paper, but it is nearly ali well Sc
cured. Banks in many parts OF tho
country, east ancsegest, also hold pa
oers, eastern financial institutions hav-
ng the large blocks.