New-York tribune., 1896-08-27


I'd till : O'Clock on Tuesday Judge Russell was
in homes of raising the money, SGO0.OUo about
which would have carried US throuSh' anu !"
was not until then that any move 10 al a9o,e
ment was considered A meeting was heiu d,
Judge Russe's office. and at about @ O'CLOCK
the assignment was signed. Colonel fin.o.
when the conclusion was reached. seemed near
broken.
THE DISPOSITION OF THE sToCk'
what will he done with the business Is as
vet only subject Of tentative discussion lhere
has been no sale Of stock Of any KING put IN
nuiries have already been received from pis
firms in this city. Boston and Phiiadeiphia'
which may lead to offers. BY tomorrow eN-
meet that many people will be on hand exainii-
inc the stock either with view to buying IL
outright. or to purchasing, with view W ~
Open the place as a going concern. ~ %
deal depends in estimating the monetary Vaiur ,
Of the assets as to the way In which the s'oeM
Is disposed Of. Ii Is untrue that we nave al,
lowed any depletion TO take place In the STOCK
lately. In fact, we had already bought idiseiy
for the fan season. Personally have no doubt
that finally every debt will be paid with lVo
cents on the dollar 1t would be improper lCI
me to say what the last inventory Oh the stoch
amounted TO- but in February last, the repolts pnu
of the mercantile agencies put 1T at S?Vo'ooo,
That think is not an exaggerated estimate.
Asked as to what cause the embarrassment was
due Mr. Gillian replied that. to great extent IL
was to the difficult, in making collections. H. ne
said the firm could have collected nan OF i's SOU
book debts there would have been no need LOT al
assignment He said he had never known a case
I'm which such enity was shown to customers as
in the house Of Hilton. Hughes CO. Alr riliaii,
added that in his opinion. the house had cioseu
for good and ALL which was particularly uhlortu-
nate because on the preceding day an eNceiLent
business had been done. and. with the busy sea
son lust beginning the prospects seemed prlgh|
TIE FIRMS BOOK DEBTS AND PAPER
The firms book debts will take long time to
collect and by more than one person with an IN
sight into the business of Hilton Hughes d CO. II
was said that eventually they would not reaIZe
more than 30 per cent of their face value. the
banks with which the firm did business were the
National Park. Chemical Broadway ana cen-
trail The firms paT3r was sold through Dunn
Brothers, No. > Wall-st. Some years ago the estap-
lishment's paper sold AT about per cent ana the
security offered was always considered 10 p' Oh
the gilt-edged variety. In 1S'l3 the fnancial con-
dition of Hilton Hughes & Co. began TO be re-
garded with some suspicion. and from the tiine
the mortgage on the Stewart Building was ef,
fected none Of the firms paper was accepleu
without the Endorsement OF eX-Judge Hilton. Re-
Gently the chief market for the paper has been
Philadelphia. although the amount outstahdlhS
there is not large at pres mt. About Sl"Voo" IS
the amount floating in Philadelphia while to each
Of the four banks just mentioned there is also an
individual indebtedness OF SlOOoO. 1t Is sald
that a little while ago the banks called for more
collateral security. and in response to the demand
the life insuranceG belonging to Mr. Hilton were
handed over TO tn m.
FLUCTUATIONS IN THE BUSINESS
a. T. Stewart always refused to furnish the
mercantile agencies with any statement but on
his death in 1876 Bradstreet's reported that
Mr.. Stewart was worth between $45,OOOOOO and
S5OO0o000 and that the firm transacted a busi-
ness of from S25,O0O.0OO to $300Oo.0OO an
nually. From a We-infor.ned source Tribune
reporter learned yesterday that the high water
mark in the retail sales Of the business was at
tanned in 1910. when the amount was SlZo'Sl-t
The previous year ii a few thousand dol
lars less while in 1876 it dropped to about SlO.-
OO0OOO After Mr.. Stewards death the retail
business steadily dwindled until 1883, when the
annual sales amounted 10 only S3.2S3O1S. From
that year it gradually again until last
year, when the total was about SInDOOOO The
high-water mark for both wholesale and retail
business was in 1919. when the combined trade
was worth about S4j,OO00OO In 1891 the whole
sale department was dropped.
Last year with a view to putting the bust
ness on a hrmer basis. large sums of money wer.
spent on improvements. and some OF the best
people in the retail trade employed. all how
ever it appears in the end TO no avail.
From August to November last year the bust
ness was increased about S1.o0O,00O. and in the
eight days before Christmas. when the store
opened at night. more than ooUo people
passed through the doors. The recent volume
Of business was about 20 per cent less than last
year.
THE LAST FINANCIAL STATEMENT
From the last statement made to Bradstreets
Commercial Agency by Colonel Hilton it would
seem that the creditors have little occasion for
alarm This was made in March last. 1t showed
s.: 1863 600 in assets and 81 23OOOO in liabilities.
The liabilities were made up of loans and dis
counts 500. 900 and for merchandise S125,000.
The assets included S1OOOOOO Of outstanding
accounts all declared to be good and collectable,
and more than 100000 stock in hand. in
ventoried at cost Since the date Of this re-
port Judge Hilton has advanced money in pay
ment of merchandise liabilities. reducing them
to the present estimated amount Of S6opOOO
DrygoOds jObbers were not worried over The
situation Yesterday In several quarters il was
said that for months orders for goods had been
taken only where Judge Hitons guarantee of
payment accompanied the order while other
firms have refused to sell except for cash. For
the last ten years the establishment mas Deeh
in a chronic state of deferrng payment to its
snail creditors Its urgent need Of ready
money has been ftfully bad for several years.
and it has been continual worry OF the prn-
cipals 10 meet the increasing ueH dhds OF lle
small creditors
last month an effort was made to cut down
expenses. large number Of the horses We're
dispensed with, and many employees were dis
charged The latter included forty of the Oldest
men in point of service connected with the
house some Of whom had worked with the firm
for more than thirty years. There are branches
Of the house in Paris. Berlin. London ana Ly-
ons. which under the charge OF Max Shot-
tick and not controlled by EDWARD G. Hllloh'
as is popularity supposed
SCENES AT THE STORE.
Not the least interesting of The scenes at the
store Yesterday occurred when callers came
who had bought goods which had not been de-
livered Most of these callers women.
and some Of them were not SLOW to express
indignation when admission to the building was
denied to them and they could get no satisfac-
ton from the sentinels at the doors Mr.
Wright the assignee, confessed himself in
duandary as TO what was the riehttu course
to pursue in these cases. The assortment was
made without preference. and, in the strict
order of things these people. wh) are without
the goods for which they had paid. rank as
creditors. Mr.. Gill nm advised the assignee 10
deliver ihe nnrchaees and this will probably be