The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1893-06-06
ADAY OF PANIC IN CHICAGO.
v,1D RUMoRs OF FINANCIAL TRoU-
pLE CAUSE RUNS ON MANY BANKS.

r,e,tsd Crowds Throng the Rooms OF some
oftbe soundert Institutions In the City
,,,u,ou. OF Dollars Drawn Out-Sone
Rank. Apply tho sixty-day Ruie, but
o,b.r. Pay Out All the Cash Called for
. Number OF Commercial Taiiures-Bir
FURRY on the Board OF Trade and q Col
,ap-e OF Prices = Failures Elsewhere.
cu,c,oo. June 5.-wild rumors Of I'm pending
eroncial disaster caused a senseless run on
many OF the banks In Chicago to-day. Whether
m,lico or Ignorance inspired the rumors Is
unknown, but. whichever It was. tho effect was
instantaneous and widespread. Fortunately
the effect was confined to uncomfortable
crowdIng In tho banking rooms, to pushing
and hauling among excited depositors. and to
the gathering OF curious crowds upon the
sldevalks outside tho banks.
One OF tho earliest rumors. and apparently
TIA most malicious rumor OF the day. was to
,hs affect TINT John NJ. Smyth. the large furni-
ture dealer on West Madison street. had
failed. With specific detail tho rumor reclted
that the cause OF the alleged failure was tho
fact that Mr.. Smyth had lnrCe amount OF
money tied up in tho failure Of Herman
schafrner & Co. At the big store business was
being carried on as usual. and there was no
evidence OF change from normal conditions.
Tho only possible cause that Manager Gaynor
could assign for such rumor was that Mr..
smyth had recently transferred his account
from the Schafrner to tho Chicago National
Bank.
Stories that certain other great mercantile
and packing houses had gono under provo
false upon Investigation.
Tho private bank Of Meadowcroft Bros. was
placed In the hands OF o receiver. This was
BY no means failure. Tho bank has been
practically in the Probate Court since the
death Of Mr. Meadowcroft. ST.. q year ngo. and
% the estate then scheduled $1.000.000 and
has not been diminished since. there Is no
doubt about its solvency. 1t has been difficult.
however. to run bank which 10 practically In
the hands Of the court and so the partners de-
cided to go out OF business. and a receiver was
appointed this morning for that purpose.
Another story has 1t that the cause OF the
shut down Is to be found In the fact that the
brothers have been specializing largely since
their fathers death. According to this au-
thority they have lost about 100000 in a
Worlds Fair hotel scheme. and their losses on
the Stock Exchange. particularly In North and
West Side Cable stock and on the Board OF
Trade. have been very heavy.
Shortly after tho doors OF the Bank OF Com
merce were opened o run was started. which
cOnuuuou uOuTbs n lOuR lluS OI oACltou
depositors soon gathered. Tho rotunda Of the
Temple was crowded by curiosity seekers at
tracted by the excitement. Many OF tho stock
holders were stationed inside the bank and by
their encouraging statements did much to al
lay tho feeling OF distrust prevailing among
dspositors. Soon 300 depositors were In limo
Withdrawing their cash.
President II. Felesenthal remained at his
desk. unmindful. apparently. OF tho excite
mont. He said:
'This bank is as solid as the Bank OF Eng
land. and why such run should have been
started on us cannot understand. Tho
bank is conducted on tho soundest financial
principles Wedo not speculate. The Schar-
ner failure had nothing to do with 1t. There
u plenty Of cash in our vaults to meet all do
mands."
At 2 o'clock outside assistance came to the
Bank OF Commerce. A number OF its heavy
doposItors sent bags Of coin. but whom Presi-
dent Felsenthal was asked for tho source and
the amount sent. ne declined to give informa-
ton.
At tho Dime Savings Bank. as at the Bank Of
Commerce. the run was made chiefly by small
depositors. and there was really moro excite
ment on tho sidewalk than inside the bank.
President Samuel G. Baiy stood on tho thresh-
old and stopped all those persons whom he
didnot know personally to have deposit in
side. The bank paid only percentage to de-
positors. but asserted that 1t had on hand
cash enough to pay every body in full
Tho Hibernian Bank did not escape tho gen
eral excitement but the result was not alarm
Ing to the officials. A run was started this
morning, and throughout the day depositors
were paid as fast the tellers counted the cash.
The bank has the right to demand ninety-days'
notice. but 1t was not doomed necessary. and
oil demands were promptly met. The state
mont shows that the bank has resources Of
H.243,25d. while it's savings deposits. indi-
Ndual deposits. demand certificates OF de- |
posts. certified checks. and cashiers checks |
amount to S3.GeO.345.
run on tho Union Trus. Bank started ut |
noon and continued all the afternoon. A |
large crowd occupied the sidewalk and made |
hnert to impossible for pedestrians to elbow |
thsiI way through. The frightened and ex- |
cited dapositors fled the space allotted to |
them in the building. There were three un-
broken broken lines around tho entire floor. which
Granville NJ. Wilson cashier. occIpisd his
customary seat. He was cool throughout the |
BANK dd 81 not xh sra ss O. ts si.t;
GAY notice.
There was heavy run upon the Prairie
S Ssto National Bank and the lrairio state
sayings savings and Trust Com pnny all day Both In.
su.a ,Sas ARE largely b West Side
S ". owned and managed by the same capital
~ When the doors Of tho Prairie State
Eauonal opened this morning there was 4
s ,Ss crowd OF people waiting to gain an en-
From o'clock until the hour for closing
s nss was constant stream OF depositors 10
smaaraw their money. An immense amount
s.n s Pa!d 9nt during the day, without any per.
tmes 1itn,hishtng In the crowd. Several
sstehels q gold and dumped it upon he
demands made upon thom 0' Ill LILO
dc INC thrS ron which all day surged about tho
~ Joo even greater than that which stormsd
Twas nha as eomposed largely q laborlns peapie
IN mo I had PLACED their Al in this bank. tniko
not tTthdrsw all their deposits and tho sq rule
days notice, must be given before tho NH
amount, OF deposits may be withdrawn WINS
enforced. Those who called at the bank To-.
received z. ten per cent other deposits. and
me- Herc told mat II they chose they could secure
s ssRs Al, np IT, This rule o. TIC
many deposlt0rs learned Of Il they cnnclmded