The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-08-27
THE H11ToN-HuGHEs FAILURE.

pOl9 tO A is okSNaAS AO'--CiiS CL New YorlS's Largest Dry Goods Con- cerns--History of the House--A Sen sation in the Business World. New York, Aug, 26,-The dry goods firm of Hilton, Hughes X Go. (once A. T. Stewart & Co.) have made an assign ment to G. M. Wright. Figures not yet obtainable.
 The assignment is without prefer 1 ences. Elihu Root is attorney for the 1 assignee. Among the banks and Wall street the | failure is regarded as due to gradual decline in business. The firms credit for the last five years has been badly impaired, and it Is understood that very little if any of the single name paper l is out The firm has been taking stock l for several weeks past, and recently was understood to have received about S75O000. which has been used in reduce | ing the liabilities of the firm, | It is reported that Siegel, Cooper & Co., will take over the stock of Hilton, Hughes & Co.
 | The assignment was made by Albert ! B. Hilton, who comprises the firm. No ! statement has as yet been made as to the amount of liabilities and assets. 1 For more than hals century the | house now known as Hilton, Hughes X Co, has been one of the biggest in the ] trade and has been regarded as one of | the landmarks of the city The build | ing was the creation of the late A. T. l Stewart. He erected it at a cost of over l S1,000,000 at a time when the city was l slowly moving northward. In it he also established a wholesale dry goods business. which he carried on for years gradually moving everything from the ] building at Broadway and Chambers | street, which he had erected years be- fore. It was the first of the big up- town business houses to be erected and like everything to which Stewart put his hand, it turned into gold, ,figuratively l speaking.
 l When A. T. Stewart died and his | widow came into the millions and the real estate, ex-Judge Henry Hilton, l who had been the legal adviser of both, | took possession of the Broadway house | and on the death of Mrs Stewart, he l inherited nearly all of her money, as we'll as all the property of her hus- band. The house of A. T. Stewart, which has latterly been carried on un- der the name of A. T. Stewart &, Co., was then absolutely in the possession of ex-Judge Hilton, who took in as part ner the late E. J. Dunning
 Afterwards the house became known under the name of E. J. Cunning & Co. For many years that firm lasted, enjoying the confidence of the trade and of the public. It transacted an ex- elusive business, never did much in the way of displays, but was patronized al-
 most exclusively by the wealthier classes.
 The progress of the city, the number of other large stores erected and the keen competition forced F. J. Cunning
 & Co. to depart from their exclusive
 trade. and they began competing with
 the other houses in a spirited manner.
 A shock was caused to the business ! community when on August 21, 1894,
 the sudden death of Frederick Hilton
 was announced, He died just after
 leaving his bath room. In consequence
 of this fact the firm name had again to
 be changed. Ex-Judge Hilton took in
 John M Hughes as a partner. He also
 took in his two sons, Henry G. Hilton
 and Albert H. Hilton. The business
 was then conducted under the name
 of Hilton, Hughes & Co., which is bears :. at present.
 When Henry c. Hilton retired from
 the partnership, he being refused $500,-
 900 as his share of the business, he
 made an unsuccessful attempt to place
 the house in the hands of a receiver
 It was stated at the time that he had
 been paid $25o,0Oo to get out. His death
 took place in Europe some months
 later.
 The first intimation the public had , that the house of Hilton, Hughes & Co
 was in any way embarrassed for money ,, and depression in business was in 1893
 when Mrs Hetty Green lent ex-Judgt
 Hilton $1,250,0000 on a blanket Amort gage on the house of Hilton, Hughes s ,, Co and the big Stewart building a Broadway and Chambers street. Ever
 then business men saw nothing in thu
 mortgage to shake the confidence O . the trade It was announced on Ma, 2, 1895, that Albert B. Hilton, son of th
 ex-judge, had bought up the other par | ties and was the sole owner of tn house The price paid by the new own CT was said to be $2,000,000
 Assignee Wright subsequently, gav out statement in which he said Judg
 Hilton had during the last month ad vanced $250, 900 to the firm. But for tn
 stringency of the money market h I would have been willing to advance tn $500 GOO necessary to pay the unsecure' | claims.
 \ It is believed that all the merchan e disc and general debts can be paid il
 full out of sale of the stock, and tn
 collection of the outstanding accounts
 The bank paper is secured, and will 0
 course all be paid.
 y General Manager Gillian declared
 to be a fact that a man with $1,000,00
 in United States bonds cannot borroy :, more than a couple of hundreds of dol z lars on his securities.
 ro,,fa,, and Epo1ich Praakfast rYo1 l.