Sierra County advocate. [volume] (Kingston, N.M.) 1884-1960, 1893-09-22
IS enc of the elements of interest.

A little iron mining Spectator
named Ferdinand Schlesinger, whe
came to Milwaukee a dozen years
ago without dollar, had wormed
himself into the institution and
borrowed upward of s2,000,000 on
securities that it is feared will
eventually preve worthless. How
| did he do thlsy Goodness enlv
knows. Other large leans on
property that cannot be realized
at present and a general deprecia-
ca of values did the rest. The
financial furry caused depositers
to withdraw about $1,000, 900 in
30 days previous to tho failure.
To this demand John l.. Mitchell
teok railroad and ether gilt edged
stocks to Chicago and raised
81 100000 on them. Then the
slump came, and the holders sold
them for just ths amount OF ths
loan, and thus a full million flew
away.
At that dark hour the bank
closed It's doors, and the great
Mitchell estate is so tied up that
John L. Mitchell will in all prob
ability never realize sent eat of
1t. The bank operated under
special act OF the legislature that
made all its owners liabls for
every cent of its indebtedness.
Immediately after the failure
Mitchell, Johnston and Fargusson
turned ever all of their prope, ty
to the assignee for the benefit of
the bank. Old David Furgusson,
who lived in one of the finest
houses in Milwaukee, finds him
self at the age Of 76 years homeless
and pehniless.
John Johnston is Young man,
bat this stroke of i'll luck came to
him like a thunderslap from
clear sky. Three or four months
ago he decided to retire from bust
ness and quietly sold his interests
in the bank to Mr.. Mitchell. He
had more money than he could
ever spend, but one morning he
awakened to find that every cent
he owned had been swept away.
He was practically out of the bank,
but the special law above referred
to made him equally liable fer a
period Of six months after selling
his interest in the bank. Had it
held out IA days longer Jehn
Johnston would have escaped with
his fortune. There was no hesi-
fancy or legal quibbling on the
part of these three men as to their
liability. They promptly and
Voluntarily surrendered every
thing ia the world they owned the
day after the banks collapse.
To further complicate matters,
Mrs. Mitchell has brought a suit
for her interest in the estate or
enough of it to keep up her income
of $4,000 a year. Sensational
aharges are made ia her suit, AID
she asks that she be made a pre-
ferred creditor and that she he
paid before the creditors OF the
bank. She also asks that her son
bs renewed from his trust as
executor of The estate, averring
that lie is the victim of mining
sharks and others and thnt
through his inexpsrisnce or mat
tentioa to business tbs bulk of the
estate has been
The trial of this suit
will begin at the fall term OF this
court.
Since her husbands death a few
years age Mrs. Mitchell has re-
ceiyed about s550,000 from the
estate, YET she says she is today
funaE aRu 'i1riii iii Utmost nssdy
cIreu instances. although she owns
the splendid summer homo at the
Thousand islands and the p!anta-
ton ia Florida. These assets are
not meney, however, and Mrs.
has been living at the
rate OK $4,000 10 $4,000 a year
the expenditure OF the large suns
she has received thus far froE the
astats can easily be accounted fer.
II costs enormously to keep MP