Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1893-03-23
lionaire for $40 without

one Tour years. This new suit, SIS we
all agreed, was the finest thing he had
ever worn. He also got new hat,
went TO the barber TO be shaved, and
there was such change in his general
demeanor about the office that the
head bookkeeper, who had been with
him eighteen years. seriously thought
of rendering his resignation. When a
grOceryman came into the bank one
afternoon at 2 o'clock and -solemnly
asserted that he had seen Donald Cam
eron out riding with the Widow Stir
ling the routine business was inter
rupted for fully twenty minutes. When
the banker came in half an hour before
closing time, looking very happy and
| humming Il tune, we were knocked SO
completely out that the bookkeeper
made the first mistake of his life in
adding up figures, and my count Of the
/ funds on hand was wrong by nearly
f1OO.
From May to September we were
standing our our heads" as the saying
is, and every day brought some new
surprise. The first Monday of Septem-
Der | started off for a weeks vacation.
That had always been the rule. Mr..
Cameron insisted that each of us take
a week every year, though each had to
lose his salary for that week. [ put in
my week at Aberdeen. On the first
day of my arrival I caught sight of the
| Widow Stirling in confidential conyersa-
ton with very keen-lOOking, Well
dressed man, whom | took to be an
American. Without any management
on my part | overheard enough of their
conversation to make me suspect some
conspiracy against my employer. His
name was frequently mentioned, and
! I caught something about plans"
money" @oldfool,' and America y
! The woman left in the afternoon
without having seen me, while the man
remained. I fell in with him later on
and sized him up to his discredit. l
let him know after a bit that / was
from the town where the Cameron bank
was situated, and in q cautious way he
made many inquiries about the banker.
l learned at the hotel office that the
woman paid him a brief visit about
once Il fortnight Before the week
was out I was perfectly satisfied in my
own mind that there was a conspiracy
2foot to victimize the banker, but my
hands were tied. / not only had no
proofs, but he was a man who could
not be approached on his private affairs
was full Of trouble for the remainder
of the week, especially as the stranger
made a hurried departure Thursday
and the hotel people then announced
that they had looked upon him with
considerable suspicion for many weeks
He left Aberdeen ostensibly for Dun
dee. but | accidentally learned that
he had bought a ticket clear through
to Liverpool and engaged passage for
two on q steamer to New York.
I returned home feeling sure that
something wrong had happened during
my absence. [ reached town at 8 o.
clock Saturday evening and Mr. Gamer
on was at the depot to meet me and
ask me to accompany lin to the bank.
| He was not the man I had left a week
before. III his stelTness and gruffness
had returned, and [ could detect some
thing beyond that. He looked pale
and desperate. I asked if anything
had gone aw1y during my absence,
but he only answered by a GESTURE of
impotence. We walked side by side
for half a mile without another word
being spoken The bank was always
guarded by a Waterman inside He
had already been sent away. Mr.
j Cameron locked the door behind him
rs we entered. removed his coat and
hat and after taking Il seat and motion
ing me to another he said:
''The doors of this bank have been
opened for the last timer
''Why, what do you mean?' [ asked
Simply that | am ruined man.
haven't EGO to my namer'
But the paid-in capital of the Gamer
on bank is 100000.
and yet every pound of it is gone!"
/ sat for a time like one stunned by
a blow. The Cameron bank had been
noted for it's conservatism. It's checks
were as good as gold all over Scotland
and England. There had been no
panic and the failure of no other bank
could drag it down. For the moment
1 had forgotten the Widow Stirling
"And the cause of your failure?" T
finally queried.
THAT woman!" he quietly answered
"She has not only made fool but a
victim of me. By loans and forged
drafts she has bankrupted me and is
out of the country ere this
But the police-she can be tracked
I know her confederate-there may
be time to stop them at Iverpoolr'
the sort. 1t would be ruin to me, even
if [ got every pound back. Come and
count the cash. Andrew"
[ opened the safe. and he assisted
me to count the gold and bills Then
we took the value of loans and notes
and bonds.
Now check off the deposits" he
said as / announced the figures on the
above. I couldn't help but notice how
nervous and uneasy he was while I
N;lS engaged IN this work, but his face
frightened up when l announced the
figures.
I've will now overhaul the safe-de-
posit vault" he said as he lighted the
way.
! We were a safe deposit company or
| institution as well as a bank Being
! the only one for a long distance around
We had many customers. Many had
| private boxes and carried their own
/ lot n