The herald., 1894-01-04


house wss full of the men Of finance,
and the meeting was organized as fully
as the occasion demanded. On motion,
a committee of three was appointed to
lease all the ''saie deposit" boxes in the
city, and another committee TO arrange
for separate connection by telephone
Of all the banks in the city, with an
improvised central Office" and accom-
panying switchboards. Thus equipped
for the battle the bankers adjourned to
await the firing OF the magazine. They
did not have to wait long, either. By
10 O'Clock next morning individuals
could be seen hanging about every bank
in town and waiting for the doors to
open. A man walked into the old
pioneer bank and presented check for
$4,000. The president, VINO stood behind
the counter, asked:
"Will You have it in gold or notes ?"
''Gold. l deposited gold and want
gold in return" growled the man.
"Psy the gentleman in gold, Mr..
Briggs" said the banker with his
blandest smile, and then resumed
his perusal of the morning paper. The
depositor, staggering under mis- weight
OF coin, went down to one OF the 'safe
deposit" companies and asked ;or a
box.
Every sorry, sir, but they are all
leased. We have not an empty box in
the building. You might try the other
company, however"
The man went to the Office of the
other company, but found every box in
town leased. He walked off to q saloon,
whose proprietor was an old friend of
his. Glancing into back room, he be-
held the proprietor playing in game of
poker. No, that was no place for his
money. He walked to one of the hotels
and asked the proprietor to lock up his
$4,000. The proprietor, who was di-
rector in two banks in that city, said
giuffly:
"This is q hotel-not bank"
The man carried his money to one OF
the savings banks. The teller said :
"You drew this money out OF the bank
of --- & Co., and are doing your
best to precipitate upon this city panic.
decline to receive 1t.
He went to another savings bank and
got similar reply. 1t was now past
noon, and the gold was beginning to get
heavy. He began to think of the old
bank, and how he had known men to go
there with brilliant schemes for real
estate deals; and how the cautious old
president had refused to listen TO such
chimerical projects. He walked back
TO the old bank and made out a deposit
ticket for $4,000. The teller took it as if
nothing had happened; and the sight OF
so much money going ON deposit from a
man who was notoriously stingy, was a
prominent factor in allaying the fears of
poorer men. By o'clock the scare was
ended, for in toe last two hours the de-
posits had exceeded the Withdrawals.
Other men had drawn their money out,
and, finding no safe place to put il, had
replaced it in the very banks whence
it had been Withdrawn.
So ended the scare and so.Seattle
escaped, by unity of action alone, a
panic that would have swamped her be-
yond all hope of recovery. She is a
handsome city and lively one, but she
owes terrible big pile of money, and it
would have been sorry day for her had
the panic been prolonged. The HERALD
narrates this little incident in no invid.
ious spirit and has no desire to draw ILL
natured comparisons between that city
and this one. The wealth of Los Ange-
les is proven not only by the gross value
of her exports over what she consumes,
but by the prompt way in which she
recovered from the big furry of last
summer. She will have her individual
commerce and has no need to belittle
any other community in order to main
tain it. The story may be long one,
as we have written it, but we have given
it solely for the purpose of showing the
value of united action, in financial di-
lemmas or any other sort of trouble.
The shrewd old heads in the city beside
''the Mediterranean of the Pacific' de-
serve credit for the way in which they
pulled together to meet disaster that
is in no danger of immediate repetition.
Tuv rpacvDv IN rpAcrnv