Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1895-05-10
-. BAD FAILURE.
n. p. Clarke & Co. Make a
Much Poorer Show of
Assests than Elk.
pected.
What was Supposed to be
the Greatest Fortune in
Northern Minnesota
Now Gone.
Clarke'S Morrison County
Property Used to Pay
His Bank Creditors
at st. Cloud.


Clarke's possessions are much
smaller than supposed. During the
past two years he has disposed of
much property for the purpose of
paying debts, and now that his firm
is forced to assign it is found that
he used most of his former fortune
to pay personal and bank debts.
According to the most reliable Of the
many different statements made
about the business of the firm Of n.
p. Clarke & Co., that firm has assets
OF only about 100000, mostly in
lumber at Minneapolis, and the out
standing obligations of the COM
pany are $495,OOO. 1t appears that
when N. p. Clarke found that the
lumber firm was crowded to tahe
care of It's debts, he began to look
after the interests Of which he had
very many in the vicinity OF st.
Cloud. He has been conducting a
bank for many years in the name of
Clarke & Mcclure, and had large de-
posits. The deposits in the bank
were about $120,000, and Clarke's
other debts at St. Cloud amounted
to over $4,000. He felt it his duty
to take care of the interests of all
who had trusted him personally,
and therefore devoted a large part
OF his own property to that purpose.
On Monday. April 20, thirty-eight
deeds from Clarke were filed in
Stearns county conveying property
to the value of $l45,0O0. Some OF
these deeds were direct to people to
whom Clarke was indebted, but in
most cases the buyer gave back to
Clarke a mortgage on the property,
and these mortgages was used by
by Clarke to pay his own and his
bank debts. Among the Stearns
county deeds were seven from Clarke
to E. Rothwell, of this city. with
aggregate consideration OF $25,700.
In all the Rothwell transfers mort
cages were given back to Clarke,
and used by him to pay creditors.
The deeds were dated Jan. 26, 1898.
Most of Clarke's real estate inter-
ests il, Morrison county were dis
posed of in the same way. On the
same day, April %, several deeds
dated Jan. 26, '95. were filed in the
register of deeds office in Morrison
county.
One deed transferred from Clarke to
Rothwell the Pine Grove addl-
ton to Little Falls (about so acres)
and all his lots in Carke's addition
for a consideration Of $4,000:
Another deed transferred to the
same party 100 acres in sec. "A, Pike
Creek. $50 acres Belle Prairie. AMI 10
acres in Randall for $4,000. In an
other deed Clarke transferred to A.
II. Whiteman This secretary $50
acres in Little Falls town.
All of this property was mort
gagged back to Clarke, and the mort
cages undoubtedly used to pay his
personal debts, although no sssign-
ments have yet been recorded.
Another deed was filed ON the
same date. by which Clarke on April
26 transferred to Henry Anderson 80
acres in Bellevue town.
Clarke has considerable other
property in Morrison county, but 1t
is nearly all pine land that has been
cut over, an / now has little value.
IT. ia claimed that Clarke has thus
Maid all his personal debts, and that
he has left about 100000 to devote
to paying the creditors OF the firm OF
Mp. Clarke & Co. The remaining as
sets of N. p. Clarke and the lumber
firm amount, therefore, to about
$500 600. which will not pay much
more chan so cents on the dollar OF
the liabilities.
Some of the large creditors OF the
firm are much dissatisfied because
Clarke devoted so much OF his assets
to paying personal debts, and unless
there is q harmonios adjustment OF
the natter there will be an immense
amount of litigation.
There is a disposition to place the
blame on Fred Clarke. the M1nneap-
oils manager OF the lumber business.
The books show that that young
man drew $2l5,OOO for personal ex-
Denses during the past seven years.
n. P. Clarke has devoted much at
tention to Clydeslale horses during
the past few years, having a soo "oH
farm near st. Cloud OF over Z,Veo
acres. In five years he has paid $lW,-
600 for imported Clyde horses:
Itdoes not now seem possible tnat
either the creditors of the firm can
ever get near the full amount OF their
claims. or that n. P. Clarke Will