The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1891-10-05
DIRECTORS KNOW ALL ABOUT IT NOW,
But Were sereneIy Ignorant while
Half a Million Took wings.
Great pefaIcatIon in the Ulster
County IN. ~ Savings Bank.
Poor People Whose Savings Are Gone
Say Some Bitter Thlngs.

hINGSTON, M L ., OctOuek os--Auo OiesOA
County Savings Institution has closed Its
doors and Is in charge Of Bank Superinten-
dent Charles M. Preston. Expert examiners
have been at work since Tuesday and have
found already that the enormous sum OF
$450,0O0 has been stolen by Treasurer 0s-
trander and Matthew T. Trumpbour. assisr
ant treasurer, and 1t is feared that the steal
ings will reach larger amount. AT mid
night Superintendent Preston swore to
complaint charging Trumpbour with perjury
In swearing to false statements contained In
the July report Of the bank to the banking
department. and the latter was arrested at
his house and locked up just as he had his
clothes all packed and was preparing to flee
from town. 0strander was arrested about
two weeks ago for embezzling $4,000, and
was under bonds of $4,000, but his bonds.
men last night turned him over TO- Sheriff
Dill and he was also locked up in jail.
The trustees have made public the follow
ITO the Depositors of the Ulster County Sdc-
ings Institution.
Ostrander had misapprOpriated some money
of the Institution it was at once determined
that 1t was our duty to promptly take the
necessary steps to secure such punishment as
the law provides As 1t was fully realized
that one effect of such action would be the
Inauguration of run on the bank, was this
institution solvent was the all important
question at that moment. Ii solvent, 1t was
our commanding duty in the interests Of all
the people Of this county to make every ef-
fort to save the bank, If not, to at once close
the doors so that every dep0sit0r might re-
ceive his proportionate share of the assets.
We knew what the securities were and now
are, for they have remained untouched from
the day Of our former statement until this
time. We were then only concerned In as
certaining the exact amount owing to the
depositors. AS one step in that direction we
summoned Assistant Treasurer Matthew i.
Trumpb0ur, the man who had produced
vouchers which he asserted represented the
whole of Ostrander's defalcation, aggregar-
ing $75,O00 and, after impressing upon him
In as f0rclDle language as we could com
mand the Importance to the whole people
that his answers should be truthful,
we asked him. first whether those
vouchers represented all there was OF
loss and second. whether the general ledger
aud July report to the State banking depart
ment, to the correctness Of which he had
made oath, stated accurately the amount
due the depositors. Both questions, he an
swered most emphatically in the afhiIme-
tive, repeating 1t again and again. Mr.l Van
Hostrand the bookkeeper, alo assured us
that the depositor's ledger was correct ana,
SO far as we knew, his statement was true.
We then determined it was our duty to
prepare the bank for run and in the two
following days there was paid out over the
counter $3.50 representing $50 pass books.
| A comparison of this large numuer of pass
books from every part of the:country, failed
| to show any discrepancy between the pass
books and the records of the bank. This
| strong confederation Of statements Of Trump
bour and all the evidence tnen in our pos
| session satisfied us that the general ledger
| accurately stated the amount due depositOrs
and we determined to so inform the public.
TIumpboursubsequentl volunteered to make
| confession Of his own part OF the transac-
| tion and the confession, when made, was a
| confirmation of the loss. Our statement.
| therefore, Of September 10. was made upon
evidence then uncontroveTted, on which we
thought we ought to act forth interests of
| the whole community, Subsequently for
| In thesbank, full faith that the accuracy OF
or former statement would be demon
| strated, we requested the superintendent OF
banking to send his trained experts
| the affairs of the bank. Those gentlemen
| commenced work Tuesday morning last, and
| after laborious effort, they unravelled Q
| scheme for Justification of the books hereto.
| lore unknown in the history of the banking
| department and which, for a series of years
had bsfled the skilled examiners of several
| successive superintendents and deceived the
| employees in the bank, other than the treas
| uAO duu doolotdut tIedouIbEs 1dtc lhSL night,
| at the request of the superintendent, the
board of trustees met and he stated that, so
| FAR as his examination progressed, it HAD
been found that $3.50, 900 had been taken. To
meet this, we had a surplus of about $780, 0O(
| as heretofore stated, the bonds of our default.
ing officers, and large equities In real estate
| which we discovered our money had been
| taken to pay for, and considerable sums Of
| accrued interest. But these were not deemed
| sufficient to make good the loss and. in the
| interest of all depositors, it was determined
to turn our bank and its assets over to the
| state department at once"
1t Is impossible to tell or even conjecture
what effect the closing of the bank will have
| on the people of Ulster county. The msjOri
| ty OF the depositors are poor people, many oi
| them old men and women, dependent on the
interest on the few thousands OF dollar:
they had in the bank. The feeling against
the trustees who signed the statement Is bit
ter in the extreme, and directors Barker
| Sharpe and the others are characterized a:
| thieves for making the depostors believe the
| bank was solvent when they should have
known its condition.