Passaic City record., 1893-08-05
Miss Haines's Brother.

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was called "The Valley City Bank"
and was supposed to be private insti-
tuition, it was really one of the seven
branch banks belonging to San
Francisco syndicate of bankers. Twas
simply in charge of it on moderate
salary and under heavy bonds, and I
had the credit of being capitalist
where no credit was due. The syndi-
cate erected one-story building for
the bank. The front of this was rallied
off in the usual way, and the rear was
divided into two rooms. One was
used as private room in which
business appertaining to the bank
was transacted and the other was
my bedroom. I was young man and
single, and had not only to act as
president, cashier and teller during
the day, but as watchman at night.
The only help I had was book
keeper, and he was only with me
three half days per week. The re-
mainder of his time was put in with
shipping firm in the same town.
You will say this was curious way
of running bank, but I can find
YOU dozen of them in the territorial
towns of to-day conducted on the
same primitive principles 1 was do
ing business with one six weeks ago
where the family kitchen was directly
in the rear af the cashiers window,
and woman who was cooking dinner
left the meat frying on the stove to
come in and cash check for me. Along
side the burglar proof safe was trun-
die bed, and on top of the safe itself
was smoked ham and sack of -four.
1t was banking and housekeeping
combined.
It was figured that had only one
danger to guard against. A tough
man might'drop in some day and rest
the muzzles of his guns on the ledge
of the window and order me to pass
out the money in sight. The safe WAS
always kept locked, and it was seldom
that I ever had more than 5000 out
side. To prevent any experiments,
however, I gave out that I had ar
ranged shotgun battery just where it
would do the most good, and that by
pressing lever could blow the body
of any bad, bad man through the front
window and clear across the street,
and that he would be dead at the end
of his voyage. Everybody believed
this fiction to be fact, and some peo-
pie were SO timid that I had to do
business with them away from the win
dow. 1t was expressly stipulated in
my contract with the syndicate that if
I received anything for safe deposit il
must be- at the risk of the depositors,
and they must be SO warned in adj
vance. I had scarcely opened for
business before dozen people in
town wanted the use of our safe. AS
we were to do more OF less business
with them, I could not refuse to take
temporary charge of valuable papers
and various sums of money.
The bank had been running about
three months, when my brother Tom,
who had been telegraph operator at
Big Head, $50 miles away, was trans
ferred down to Grand Crossing, only
ten miles away, and he seized the first
favorable opportunity to come down
and see me. I may tell you that Tom
was mechanical and electrical genius,
and is now living on the royalties paid
him for half dozen good things.
When he had visited for couple of
hours, and he had looked things over,
| he said:
"You sleep here, and you are loaded
| for bear, but it wouldn't be any trick
at all for sharp man to clean you out.
| It won't be another three months be-
fore somebody will try it on"
| "How!"
"Well, you'll get caller in the
evening probably, and the first thing
Fou know you'll get rap on the head,
and before you come to he'll have
opened the safe and skipped with your