New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-11-28


death. which was from natural causes ana tba
ward when the statement was puphcy ihaue '""'
AsSI have said those who knew him intimately
know that he ough, no; to have gone into business
hsIn assseT man He was eminentiy lifted for pro
fessorial chair and for all forms OF public activity
business man because he altogether too unset
Ash and altogether TOO Welding to the IN
regard to business matters. s,..,,.x
He was Induced to go into business by Mr. Skehan
during the fall Of 1892 the firm TO be organized a,
the hegnnlng Of @ Mr. ske sae ha and 9a was se
man lie entirely won Mr.. Bernhem's confidence.
a Arm which. with Mr. Bernheim,s money and his:
TSsa ana aH Mr Maquand they
would be able ultimately 10 establish an unusually
small way. their firm being Marquand & skehan;
January isss the new concern Vas started with
capital Of s5 Of which NJ Mr oo Rsr nd Kin s sIn
han 1880. The firm name was TO be cnanged 10
sehn Con- ana sh9% 9Te M han pe w
thirds of the entire capital he, nevertheless was TO
sGeye Sny of e prs o
qrand and Skehan. Ii was understood al tne .iins
and Skehan were run the business. and that Mr.:
Rernheim, although an active partner was so loe
members of the firm for the manageme en- OF .ne
sgsTTss 5qf1 as This Mr. BenSe@ did
MIR BERNHEIM's MANY ENGAGEMENTS
At this time he was personally very busily en-
gagged IN the execution OF his trust as the repre-
sentative Of syndicate known as the Mammalian
Syndicate. which had been organized for the pur-
nose of disposng of the properties of the Man
haitian Electric Light Company ana the Harlem ,heia
had az this time been disposed OF 70 ~, ~.
hdson PswT fnd srn h. we're IN tangled
condition. and Mr.. Bernheim was devotng mos Oslo, OF
his time to this work. the balance Of 1t being given
as is generally known, to his work at Columbia
College and to his pnes year and that all
OF the smaller brokerage concerns In the city, as
well as many Of the strongest business hOuses' sur
II appears now that throughout that year Nj
irm to an extent far beyond the firms capital ana
to such extent that finally involved Mr. ,an,y
most ruinously. and the books OF Marquanu en- Ne
han CO. VII s fs2T iha' Nt the
pose OF the firms specuatons which he was con-
trolling. 49,, sor
MIR. WINS then said that at this time under
Mr. Skehan's suggestion and upon his ADVICE,
Mr.. Bernheim, for the purpose OF endeavoIlmns
somewhat to retrieve the situation individually
entered upon some specua tons. but that, d! 'he
Arms books. the individual speculative account
Of A. c. Bernheim shows only trifiing losses
AN UNPROFITABLE YEAR
He continued as follows
At any event by October Of lsss i now , appfaa r
had lost according to their rS I ana mo o1f Of its
for that mS S during or almost ns haf as much again
its entire capital BY January l, that is, during
SeS 600 The proper thing for the firm then TO nave
done was undoubtedly to have declared us sDd
his rea attn Would have had have borne practic
cally the entire loss As matter OF tae,, v ne
face of the books The profit and loss sheet OF
made|ff certain accounts which were, for instance;
An Edison Illuminating account when SHOWS an , az
parent loss Of 6.65S bond account showing oss
Of over $34 600 a stock account showing a loss o,
over 5000 Chicago Gas account showing o S Dl
900,
:rg loss Of over $4,000 another bond account show
Ing loss of over $1,000 and NUMBER Vi o'"ei
smaller accounts.
INVESTIGATION OF THE ACCOUNTS.
We have recently been investigating these ac-
counts and the investigation is not yet conrudeu'
Take for instance. the so-called Edison ILLUMINATING
account: this account is made TO snow an apparent
loss of ssGGs An examination Of the account, how
ever shows that the actual loss up to the end of
June was $4,000 on that alone for i appears
rpo+g of reducing the apparent loss the ledger
This account was credited with 100000. and G l.
i3ernheim. A. c. Bernheim's father, was charged
with 100000. entirely WITHOUT C. /. Bernneiin m
knGwedee or authGy IhGse epTsenped mo no
transaction OF any kind whatever II was BOOK
keeping ana nUhng mare st6 ,Ge Whcb d9 not
belong to the firm of skehan & Bernheim We're dis,
credit of this for the of reducing the
losses. These facts were called to Mr. Skehans at
This Illustration only Of what the books show
with regard to the msnrsr IN w'cn sns bad
way al the end of the first year Mr.. Bernheim's
through Mr.. Skehals management; ana III ADDITION
10 that Mr. Berrheims relatives had sustained
creditors of the concern. and he believed he could
do 50 by continuance and by falling back S upon
Nh ske9Sn eRTr into new mmar Wn h
s Of his prvate as we'll as ali Of the firms
papers were in the hands OF Mr.. skehan Those
have never been able to get any Of them except one
private ledger and fey other mm mi papers
nership papers except the account books, and those
were held from us until very recently.
A New PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT.
Among other papers which he withheld was the
partnership agreement. which was entered into
between himself and Mr.. Bernheim in February of
1894 Believing himself to have had possession of all
existing properties. Mr. skehan recently went far
as TO deny the existence of such paper. We, how
ever. have copy. which we were able to obtain
from the lawyer who drew the document. John T.
Pine
The points Of the agreement were then cited
by Mr. WINS. 1t provided for a continuance Of
the partnership until January g. 1895, and for
the gradual payment 10 Mr.. Bernheim by Mr.
Skehan of $4,000 the amount to which the latter
had overdrawn his account with the firm. 1t
also stipulated that Mr. Bernheim should have
the entire supervision OF all the FIRMS business
transactions. and Mr. Skehan agreed that he
would take no action involving or affecting the
firm without first having the consent Of Mr.
Bernhe!m. Mr.. WINS then said:
II was upon these conditions that the business was
as yu nder h &
and different results shown, and very hand
profit Of $500 realized
Mr., Bernhem. in the mean time had not lIqu-
dated his syndicate matter. and the condition Of his
own firm had resulted in involving his accounts and
in postponing settlement. However. toward the
end Of 1891 for the purpose Of effecting settlement
Mr.. Bernheim attended series of hearings before
referee, who had been appointed in an action
brought by Mr.. Bernheim himself, plaintiff. for
the judicial liquidation OF the Of the syn
dictate and for the settlement Of Mr. Bernheims fees
and commissions trustee for transactions invo.V-
ing upward Of 100000. which had involved prac-
caly all Of Mr.. Bernhem's time for five or six
years. This accounting was still pending when Mr..
Bernheim died. and II is impossible for Mr.. Bern
helms administrator 20 say what the condition Of
that account is until after the hearings have been
concluded.
THE DEATH OF MR.. BERNHEIM
Mr.. Bernheim conducting this business try
ing TO retrieve his fortune against the specula-
lions and losses OF Mr. Skehan.-and was making