The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1893-03-26
CLOSED By YHB MARSHAL.
The e. G. Coffin Hardware Com
pany Suspends.
THE JUDGMENTS CONFESSED
The Claim Of the National Bank Of
the Republic Is S3O,417.
The Liabilities Are @4s 900 and the Assets
S55, OOO-Causes of the FaiIure-The
Credit system and the Stag
nation in Mining.

| Shortly after O'Clock yesterday after,
noon the doors of the E. @. Coffin Hard
ware company were closed and locked
and slip of paper bearing the following
announcement was posted:
'sClosed Under an Execution.
81. A. Benton, United States Marshal.
BY A. G. Dyer, Deputy"
A few minutes later Mans H. Coffin
the vice. president of the company, was
seen by HERALD man, and he said
fThe credit system of Salt Lake city has
driven us to the wall. We confessed
judgments today in favor OF the National
Bank of the Republic and Mrs. d. w.
Jewell, for $50, ZOO, and the store has been
closed under that execution. The claim
of the bank was for money advanced to
tide us over. Il. G. Coffin is now east,
where he went to try and raise funds, but
have apprised him by wire of the col
lapse of the business
'sThen you will not be able to re-
sume?'
mo, there isn't any probability OF
that. We are owing about SAT 600, OF
which SS2, 900 is represented by the judg-
ments and SIS, 600 is owing in the east.
We do not owe anything here. "
'have you list of the liabilities?''
ssNo; they consist of many small ac-
counts. There is only one that amounts
to 81, 200, and of the others only one
reaches $780,
nWhat are the assets?"
"The assets consist of the stock, worth
from $40, 900 to $45 1000, and our book ac-
counts, which on January 1 amounted to
almost SOS, 900. The accounts have been
cut down considerably since then, and
am unable to give the exact amount due
US at present"
Chow long had you been going be-
hind9''
"Wen, we had not made anything fol
Idaho, in 1882, was the beginning of our
trouble. Our loss there was S53, GOO, and
we were insured for only $50, 900. We
started IN business here in 1883, and in
corporated the E. c. Coffin Hardware
company, with capital OF $50, 900. E.
G. Coffin, the president, e. W. Cooper
and myself were the principal owners -
The confession of Judgment was filed
with the clerk of the Third district court
yesterday, and was made in pursuance OF
the action taken by the directors of the
company on Wednesday last.
ASSETS AND LIABILITIES.
The claim of the National Bank of the
Republic is $50, 417, and there are nc
other local creditors. The eastern cred
itors, whose claims aggregate about
ST., 600, are mostly firms with whom the
company have been doing business for
many years, and their claims are small.
1t was learned from an authoritative
source that the book accounts and notes
are actually worth S15, 900, and the esti
mated value of the stock is $40, 600,
making the total assets sos, GOO, while the
liabilities, as shown above, are SAL, 900.
A LARGE MINING BUSINESS.
The e. @. Coffin Hardware company,
as stated above, was incorporated about
four years ago. The firm of Coffin Bros.
formerly had extensive mining and mer-
camille interests in the Wood River
country, in Idaho, where one OF
the brothers still resides. The
company has always done a heavy mining
business until this winter, having made
a specially of mining supplies. But with
the decline of silver, came the closing
down of many mines and this branch OF
their trade suffered a collapse during the
past winter.
The members of the firm are full OF
business energy and it is to be hoped that
they will be able to resume business. I'm
less they succeed in satisfying the judg-
ments, the stock will, of course, be sold
by order of the court. A hardware stock
connot be disposed of at forced sale
to advantage, and some arrangement
may be made to avoid this sacrifice.