The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1896-08-26
A SILVER WRECK.
Hilton, Hughes & Co. Bank
rupIed By the Threat
of Organism.
A THOUSAND OUT oE WORK
Business Was Bad and No Credit
Could Be Had in Such Dan
gerous Times.
! THOUSAND OUT oF WORK

name of Hilton. Hughes & Co, at Tenth
street ard Broadway, successor of the
old firm of A. T. Stewart & Co, today
filed deed of assignment for the benefit
of his creditors.
George NJ. Wright, Of No. $50 Broadway,
was made assignee.
The announcement that Hilton, Hughes
4 Co. had failed was first made public
this morning. The employees of the estab-
lishment found the doors of the store
closed when they came to work this
morning and the following notice posted
on the front door
Hilton, Hughes & Co. have discontin-
ued business, and have made a general
assignment, without preference, to George
NJ. Wright. All employees are notified
that their services are no longer needed,
and that they Will be paid in full to and
including this day. The store will re-
main closed until further notice. If the
services of any employees are desired by
the assignee hereafter they will be noti-
fed. HILTON, HUGHES & co,
GEORGE NJ. WRIGHT, Assignee.
The deed of assignment was filed
promptly upon the opening of the County
Clerks office.
It was in the simplest form, and after
setting forth the name of the assignee,
declared that the assignment was with
out preferences.
The firm of Hilton, Hughes & Co. has
been in financial straits for some time
past according to one of the bookkeep-
ers in the employ of the house. He said
that for two weeks past there had been
run on the house on the part of the
creditors.
Every day." said the bookkeeper,
s'there has been line of creditors in
front of the cashiers window from the
time the doors opened in the morning un-
til they We're closed at night. Few of the
creditors were paid and many Of them
have been threatening to attack the firms
stock.
A meeting of the heads of the depart
ments and Mr.. Hilton was held last night
The firms condition is said to have been
discussed fully, and a statement, after
being examined, showed that the house
was hopelessly insolvent. The janitor was
then called and notified not to open the
doors. The sign was then posted on the
door.
The heads of the departments and Mr.
Hilton were in the Office of the store at
an early hour this morning. BY the time
the employees began to arrive watch-
man had been stationed at the front door
Not a single person was admitted.
some of the employees insisted upon
being allowed to go into the building,
but they were all fought off. Later such
crowds had gathered that several police
~, f1r and
the crowd Of excited men and women
back Lines were then established and
no one was allowed to get near the doors.
There are in all 1000 employees in the
house.
When all of them had arrived and stood
in front of the store they made quite a
crowd. They were Joined by persons
passing in the street. and by $50 o'clock
the whole block on Broadway and Tenth
street was almost blocked.
Some of the employees feared that they
would not get what was owed to them
and insisted on getting in the store to
see some official and satisfy their doubt
Not only were the employees refused adj
mittance, but Representatives from the
Bradstreet and Dun commercial agencies
were also turned down. The doorkeeper
said that ne had special instructions to
admit no newspaper representatives.
At the office of ex-Judge Horace Rus
SELL room 165 Stewart Building, whore
the assignee, Mr. Wright, also has his
office, young lawyer connected with
the office said that the assignment was
made for the benefit of creditors and
that there were no preferences
la5 ~
sharp this morning in the County Clerks
Office The big store was open and doing
business until the close of the usual
working day yesterday. but did not open
up this morning
The title of the firm was Hilton, Hughes
& Co., but the sole owner was Albert b.
Hilton. one Of the sons of ex-Jldge Henry
Hilton. He owned everything connected
with the business OF the department store.
The land ON which the store is located
is the property of the Sailors Snug Har-
bor. Ex-Judge Henry Hilton has a long
lessehold of the building which was
built by the late A. T. Stewart.
The cause of the failure was said gem
orally to be the utter inability of the
firm to obtain credit in the present finan-
cial stringency, owing to the scare that
affected all moneyed men resulting from
the silver craze.
Ex-Judge. Horace Russell and Elihu
Root are the counsel for the assignee.
They expected early this morning 10 give
out sta tement in brief later in The
day 1t was said that the affairs of such
q concern were so vast and far reaching
that no such thing as a fully prepared
schedule Of assets and liabilities could
be made out for some time to come.
Early this morning not even an APP
proximate dea Of the situation could
be ascertained. The lawyer from whom
the above facts were learned could make
no statements as to whether assets ex-
nj nxaf xrsl sl4lart1 t1or laa