Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1891-10-19
HALF A MILLION
IN TEE FORM OF CHECKS, DRAFTS AND TX
CHANGES
Burned or Badly Damaged in the Mingo Railroad
Accident Causing Great Delay to Large
Business Interests.

road accident at Mingo Junction, not
contained in the published accounts,
was the burning of bank checks, drafts,
ETC., to the aggregate of half million
dollars. These valuable papers were all
the property of Cincinnati banks, and
much inconvenience and nolittle actual
loss was the result. Nearly every bank
in Cincinnati and most Of the
brokerage firms had papers
of one sort and another in the mail or
express packages on the Inflated train,
and all were destroyed. 1t is not
thought there will be any actual money
loss because Of the catastrophe, but it
will be long time before checks aud
drafts can be issued in duplicate, and
so placed once more to their proper
accounts among the hundreds of banks
and individuals involved. Then, too,
there will be the interest loss on moneys
concerned in the transfer that will have
to be borne by the owners of the paper
AS has been said, all OF the banks
were interested to greater or less de-
gree, and it has been intimated that
fully half-million Of dollars will be
tied up for varying length OF time.
1t may be for but three or four days,
and it may be weeks before everything
will be Strengthened out in satisfact-
DRY manner. The interest on this
amount is about $3.50 day, which is no
inconsiderable item as business runs.
As much as the mail matter as could
identified by the post Office authorities
was returned at once to Cincinnati and
placed at once in the hands of the
various bank officials. Yesterdays
Commercial Gazette had the following
bearing on this phase of the accident:
''The Ohio Valley Bank, which does
heavy business in foreign exchange,
had It's mail returned considerably the
worse for wear and tear, but clear
enough for Identification, so that very
little difficulty will result there. With
the major portion it had been a light
day, and it could not be learned that
there had been any movement OF stocks
or bonds. Had this been the case, the
trouble would have been vastly compii-
Gated, as proof of loss would have 10 be
established aud duplicate certificates
issued upon the basis OF said proof, and
the giving of satisfactory indemnifying
bond for the possible temperance OF
the lost papers at future time.
"In the Equitable National Bank
Cashier Blair and his lieutenantS were
found looking over the tire-SwepJ frag-
mentS of their bundle OF checks and
drafts. These had come out Of the mail
bags where they had been put in closely
packed bundles, and so compact were
they that only the edges were black
ened. In almost every instance the
name of the signer was legible, and the
same is to be said of the amount the
piece Of paper called for. Mr.. Blair was
congratulatng himself on one point. In
the vault he had two s., 900 COvingtOn
bonds ready for shipment. They were
four per cents, but he forgot them for
the moment and when they entered his
mind it was too late to register them
for admission into the mail. So they
were saved from the wreck. The item
lied list Of paper of this bank aggre-
gated about $4,000, it being a light
day.
cashier Rowe, of the First National,
also had an experience. He had S10,-
600 U. 5. bonds for the Eastern mail
and for once was afflicted with q lapse
of memory, that caused him to leave
them lying on his desk until the hour
had passed.
ED. HeinSheimer, the broker, was to
have sent on one hundred shares OF
Whisky Trust stock.
"He wrote his letter all right, and
thinking ne had put the certificates in
the envelope, sealed it up and sent it
off. Later he found the papers lying
on his desk. The aggregate of the
Third National Banks shipment was
about Sos, 600, all in checks and drafts,
but Cashier w. A. Lennon yesterday
busted himself sending ont circular
letter TO all OF their correspondents,
notifying them of the possible delay
arising from the accident and the ac-
companyng fire. Had the accident oc-
Cured a day sooner the bank would
have been hit hard, for they had sent
of the nice sum of S12O, 600 in securi-
ties.
1t was understood that the Adams Ex-
press Company had no currency in the
safes on this occasion, but the boxes
were shipped on to Washington as soon
as they had cooled off sufficiently to be
handled. This led to the Supposition
that there was consignment from the
sub-TreaSury within them. The Off
cialS of the express company were not
inclined TO discuss the matter TO any
extent.