Omaha daily bee., 1893-07-30
BANK ROBBERS FINE WORK
IeuQ
How a Plainvew Iustitntion Was Wrecked
Without Violence.
d
HAS COMPROMISED The OFFICIALS
Three Thousand Extractca from the Safe
and suSpens Forc.d-Condition
as Explained byHthe state
Bank Examiner.

LINCOLN, July 30 II SPECIAL to The BEE l.
There will be many things connected with
the suspension Of the Plainview State bank
that the officers will have some difficulty in
explaining to the court before the matter is
finally adjudicated, When the bank was
opened by its officers las; Monday it
was discovered that something over $1,000
had been taken from the safe since the Sat
urday previous. Owing to the loss of this
amount of money the bank was compelled to
suspend. The State Banking Board was
notified of the suspension and r. H. Town
ley, clerk of the board, has been at Plain
view all week, making an investigation into
the condition of the affairs OF the institution
His report was filed with the clerk OF the
supreme court today and the attorney gen
eral ut once petitioned the supreme court to
appoint a receiver
The examiners report raises some very
grave doubts as the correctness of the re-
port that the bank had been robbed. There
are many other suspicious circumstances
about the affair For instance, the examiner
found that the discount register had been
mutilated and great many notes held by
the bank missing.
Examiners Private Judgment.
In closing his report, Examiner Townley
makes the following statement:
There seems to be ample resources to
meet all deposits and TO discharge bills
payable. The suspension was forced by the
abstraction of S3,3Ol 13 from the safe. The
books show that this amount was on hand on
saturday when the bank closed for the day.
The money was gone when the examiner
took charge. There was absolutely no evi-
dence to show that any violence had been
used to open either the bank building or the
safe. The safe was either left unlocked
which is improbable, or was opened by the
proper combination. The only persons in
possession of the combination were the
president and the cashier. There was no
written copy of the combination. No out
slider could have had any knowledge of the
combination.
THE currency and gold were taken The
silver was left undisturbed This fact to-
gether with the mutilation of the discount
register, and the lack of evidence of forcble
entry are circumstances which place the
president and the cashier in unenv vable
positions They both possessed the conf
dence of the community prior to the sus-
pension.
"The president stated that the latch of the
back door had been forced open and that he
had repaired 1T with larger screws This
may have been true. There was no evidence
either for or against this assertion"
Something About the Bank.
The bank was a small one doing busin ess
in one-story frame building for which it
paid but $40 per month in rent. 1t had no
vault, DuU lCS SAFE was ono OF Jne standard
make and had n time lock in good working
order The face of the books shows that the
resources were as follows3
Notes and bills dscoupted ......... sl5,s47 SO
Due from Omaha National bank. 76 %
Due from Union National, Omaha. / 73
Due from state banks, ,.....s....... II Ol
Furniture and axtures.M tn....... 7i6 90
Current expenses. i. ;as........ $50 So
Cash short from alleged robbery. 3,S0l rs
Total. 500 4o7 II
The liabilities of the bank were us fol.
lows @
Capital stock paid in. ............,.. $4,000 90
surplus. '....'... s'...'.i,.t,......'.. 69S W
Bills payable. .....,.:...t.. 2,4oo Oh
Total. ..........................s. O,4O7 II
Both the president and the cashier claim
to have no knowledgeof the manner in which
the discount register came to be mutilated.
The mutilation of this book will play most
important part in the settlement of the
banks affairs, for the reason that there are
several thousand dollars worth of notes due
the bank. There will be no way of collect
ing these notes and The presumption is that
the records were mu jllated by the same
knowing parties that robbed the bank. OF
the loans and discounts shown by the regu-
lar books of the bank, amounting to
Sl5S4753, the examiner found s7,096.S6;
while the bank had placed notes to
the amount of s4.757.l9 as collateral
ioI oIlS pdydDlc lchNiuS So,oJofo uu uC-
counted for. OF the missing notes the ex-
aminer could find evidence of only one H.
r. Hecht, one of .ae stockholders, admitted
that one note for $500 sts given by him. Mr.
Hecht also acknowledged that he had solo
notes to the amount of 81 ,924 to the Omaha
National bank This amount he claimed to
have taken out of the assets, leaving the
total amount of missing notes at So. 493 The
bank had n capital of Sl2, 800, divided among
the following stockholders j. F.. Hecht
president sixty shares; John Roush vice
president, sixty shares; e. Il. White. cash
Ter, five shares; H. T. Hecht, sixty shares.
The examiner estimates that the assets will
show shrinkage of Sll,30l. 73 leaving the
net assets at $S,67l.25 He gives it as his
opinion that the depositors will be paid in
full.