St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-11-21
THEY OWE THREE MILLIONS,
Failure of Barker Bros. & Co.,
Bankers, of phiIadelnhia


PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 20.-The fail
ure of Barker Bros. & Co, bankers and
brokers, WAS announced on the stock
exchange this afternoon. The firm is
composed of Abraham and Wharton
Barker. The firm at o'clock stopped
receiving deposits at their offices at
Fourth and Chestnut streets, and at
lis o'clock the doors were closed. The
firm has Of late been doing very little
business through the stock exchange.
An assignment has been made to Ed
ward Melldr, who is the son-in-law of
Wharton Barker. The suspension was
not much of Il surprise to the Weil-in-
formed. as the firms credit has been
poor tor the past two months. 1t
is said that the liabilities will be about
s5,000,000, but the creditors are not
numerous. The suspension is said to
have been brought about by the shrink
age in value of securities and by the
banks calling in their loans. When the
announcement of Barker Bros. Dc Co.'s
suspension was made the stock of the
finance Company OF PENNSYLVANIA, of
which Wharton BarkeriS president, fell
from :6 to &c. but it is authoritiyeiy
stated that the company is in position
to pay every dollar they owe. The firm
for ffty-three years. When the news
of the suspension became generally
known on the street many bankers and
others called and rendered them their
SynpathieS. Abraham Barker, the ven
cradle founder of the bank, is the father
of Wharton Barker, the other member
of the firm. He seemed overwhelmed
by the catastrophe which has befallen
the firm He is one Of the best known
fEaDciers in the country, and was
formerly president of the stock eX-
change. Wharton Barker said this
afternoon:
The assignment is unavoidable. We
hoped 10 DC able 10 avert it, but il was i'm
possible. People who owe us money and
upon whom we depended did not paw US
We expected that they would do SO, but they
failed TO meet their engagements, and now
we have failed 10 meet ours. That is all that
can be said now. OF course the condition
of the money market has much to do with
the trouble. The step was necessary for the
protection of our customers
Abraham Barker in December, 1887.
completed his liftieth year as a success
tul banker and the occasion was cele-
brated by dinner in his honor at the
Bellevue, at which over eighty MEM
bers of the Philadelphia stock exchange
sat down. Mr. Adams, the presiden of
the stock exchange, who sat at the
head of the table. informally congratu
lating the guest of the evening. paid the
following high tribute 10 him as a
business man:
1t is rare that a man in any business can
carry on his work successfully for fifty wears.
and it is still rarer in the banking business,
To use Mr.. Bankers own words: mo man
has ever had to ask him twice for money.
nor has any man ever sued him, nor has he
sued any man.
A. j. DreXel heard of the failure
shortly after it was announced. He re-
marked to friend:
''This is too bad. It could have been
avoided. We would have helped them
out. 1t seems to me there was no nee.
essity for making the assignment"
The failure has been caused largely by
various Improbable railroad invest
ments. Barker Bros. Sc Co. were ident-
Ihed With number of railroad schemes
winch more conservative financiers and
capitalists avoided.and when the money
stringency came they found it impossi.
Die to realize upon them. Amr"a the