Milford chronicle., 1895-03-08
A BANKERS eLuNDsR.
It Was Embarrassing For the Lawyer Be
fore 1t Was Reetihed.

AG w as embarrassing EoN INC AAWIoE ANl-
fore 1t Was Reotified.
Although bankers are presumed to be
the most careful and exact Of all men In
business matters, they occasionally make
grievous errors. The following narrative
tells of a blunder committed by the head
of one Of the first banking Institutions In
the city. He mislaid letter containing
81, 200 worth of checks, and but for the ao-
oident of finding it two weeks later might
have got Mr. 4. L. Carter Of Kirkwood
Mo, into an embarrassing predicament
As it was, the mistake scared Mr. Carter
pretty thoroughly and has made him pom
der deeply ON the treachery of ciroumstan-
tial evidence.
Mr. Carter is lawyer and has his home
at KirkwoOd He comes to st. Louis
very often. Upon the morning Of Jan
10, just as he was boarding the train for
the city, one of the leading physicians of
the little town handed him an envelope,
asking him to leave it at a certain bank
ing institution in st. Louis. Mr.. Carter
readily consented and asked no questions
as to the contents Of the envelope, as no in
formation about it was vouohsafed by the
owner When he reached the city, he at
tended to his friends errand placing the
letter into the hands Of the president Of
the bank
Here is a letter from DR.. - of Kirk
wood, " said Mr. Carter.
The banker took it, read the address
and remarked;
THAT'S all right"
Mr. Carter then left
That same afternoon the lawyer ran
across the physician in circuit court room
No 8.
"Did you leave that letter at the bank?"
the doctor inquired rather suspiciously.
''Yes, with the president himself" " was
the reply.
We'll, " returned the doctor, "the cash
Ter said he had seen nothing of it, but I
presume the president has not turned it IN
yet
That settled the matter for the time be-
ing, and neither of the men thought any
thing more about 1t until Jan. %, when
DR.. - went to the bank TO draw a check. |
The teller was very polite, but he informed
the Kirkwood man that he had Overdrawn
his account 81 600. The doctor was nat
urally nonplused and he Immediately
made inquiries about the letter he had
given to Carter This had contained
81 200 worth of checks, and he now began |
to get anxious about it. The cashier told |
him he had heard nothing Of it. The |
president was then interviewed and he 1
declared as positively that no such letter |
had ever been turned over to him. Car ]
ter's character began to cloud up consider |
ably in tie DOCTORS mind despite his ef |
forts to prevent it.
With view to strengthening out the /
matter, if possible, the physician hurried |
right out to Kirkwood, and SO great was |
his haste TO see Carter that he ran into the /
back gate and through the kitchen to reach /
him. When confronted, Carter stuck TO 4
his story that he had given the letter to
the president, and SO an arrangement was
made whereby the two were to visit the J
bank the following day.
This they did The banker was found /
in his office.
DO you mean to say, began Carter,
addressing his remarks to the fnanoier,
" that on Jan. TO- between and 10 O'Clock
in the morning, did not leave with you
a letter incloscd in a white envelope ad !
to your concernf"
Il do, sir"
did you not take the note and lay it
aside on your deskP'
You are mistaken altogether. You
never left such a note with me"
Mr.. Carter began to get angry and lit
Tie DlG frightened as We'll Ale ftdAlAeu
what tioklish position he was in. Rails
Ing his voice and pounding the spot where
he had seen the banker lay the note, he
demanded that a search be made for the
missing paper.
Rather oontemptuously the request was
complied with, and there, sure enough,
was the envelope, just as Carter had de-
livered it, still unopened.
The missing checks were Of course found
inside.
Now, what have you to say to mer'
demanded the recently suspected man.
The banker went on to apologize and ex-
,use himself on the ground that so many
papers and letters Of all sorts were brought
10 him that he could not pay attention to
Them all
Carter was somewhat mollihed, but ever
since be has been thinking about how
,lose he came to very serious trouble His
wife, who was greatly alarmed at the turn
,ffairs took OF the day Of the physician's
,alI has advised him never again to re-
,eive letters without knowing their con
ents.
The names of the banking institution
md Of the physician are withheld at Mr..
Carter's reQpest-St. Louis Post-bis-
patoh.