Arizona weekly citizen., 1888-05-12
A RUN ON TIE BANK. YY
A Committee of Merchants Help . D.-
 kota Banker Through a Panic


 ran across New Yoik man the other day who Is largely interested in the bank ing business of Dakota. The oonversa- ton drifted into discussion of the char acter Of the people out there '.They may be rough in their manners" said, he and uncouth in their way, but they stand by man when he is in trouble and they never forget friend. l had an opportu- nifty" he went on, ito test this trait not many years ago. The bank of the town where l was staying found itself greatly embarrassed one fine day by the failure of its principal correspondent in the terri tory. This fact became known late in the afternoon of the day that the news of the failure reached the town. \ run on the bank the following morning was inevit- able. To meet 1t there was but 5000 in the vaults. The remainder of the assets could not immediately be turned into ready cash.
 'Ihe president of the bank was at his wits end. He didn't know what to do. Morning came and he decided to close the bank He was about to give the neces- sary orders when in walked Q committee Of the leading merchants of the place. They Gskyd for an explanation of the sit- uation- lt was given tO them and like wise an opportunity to look at the books. A short examination sufficed to show that the bank was only temporarily embar- rassec. They said to the president, You open the doors at 10 o'clock as usual and. gay the depOsitors; we'll see you through this thing But how arc you going to do it'' said the president I have but S6,OOO here and there are at least $30, 0O0 in deposits to be met Half of that sum k clamOring on the sidewalk now Never mind. you open the bank and go ahead, said the committee and We will See you through
 Well, the bank was opened and in rushed the depositOrs and out went the money. The pile of Creenbacks on the cashiers desk grew smaller and smaller and the crowd Uf depOsitOrs continued to increase with every minute. Still the pay ing at the tcllcr's window went on On the sidewalk the people who had drawn their money were met by some Of the merchants who hI-i promised Co see the bank through. What are you going to do with your money they would ask I don't know came the answer. Suppose you leave it with Us; you know our house and know that we are responsible. We will give you our note and SO much in- terest' To the farmers for the majority of depositCrs were farmers the money in their pockets where it drew no interest was of little use; they preferred, of course, the notes and were without difficulty per suade6 to part with their mOnsy. As soon as they had received the money the merchants would deposit it in the bank. The same money was paid over the counter three times or oftener in the course of the day, and when the bank closed at 2 o'clock in the afternoon it had in its vaults as much money as 1t had started with in the morning. and with 5000 it had paid over $20,OOO of de pOsits. The promptness with which it met the demands of the depOsitors stayed the panic and the next morning there was not the slightest indication of a run This Is an absolutely true story" said my in formnnt in conclusion, for was myself the president of that bank Now can you match that by anything in the east'' Cor. New York Tribune.