The San Francisco call., 1897-12-24
CheStnut-Street National
Of Philadelphia Forced
to the Wall.
Failure Carries With It the
Closing OF a Trust and Saw
ings Fund Company.
Publisher Singerly, the President,
Has Sustained Heavy Losses in
His Paper Mill.
Special Dispatch to The Call.

PHILADELPHIA, Dec. pa SEN
sation was created in this city to-day
by the announcement of the suspen-
sion of the Chestnut street National
Bank, regarded as one of the strongest
financial institutions in the city. The
suspension carried with it the closing
of the Chestnut street Trust and Saw
ings Fund Company, doing business
under the State banking laws. Will
liam NJ. Singerly- publisher of the
Philadelphia Record, is president of
both companies, and the same men,
with one exception, act as officers and
directors.
The first information the public re-
ceived that the banks were in trouble
was in the form of a notice posted this
morning on the door of the building
occupied jointly by the two concerns,
signed by National Bank Examiner
William NJ. Hart, to the effect that the
Chestnut street bank had closed it's
doors pending an investigation of its
affairs. No statement of assets and LA
bilities is available, but it is stated
that the deposits of the Chestnut
street bank amounted to 81, 700 900, and
of the trust company to $4,000.
President Singerly gave out a brief
statement tonight, il which he said:
1--WE are working to secure the indebt-
edness of the two banks so that they
can go into voluntary liquidation and
thus avoid a receiverShip."
In this connection Deputy Comp
troller of the Treasury George NJ. Cof-
fin, who was sent here from Washing
ton by Comptroller Eckels, said to-
day: 1.-The matter of putting the
voluntary liquidation has been taken
up by Philadelphia men of great f1nan-
cial ability. Their first step will be to
ascertain the value of the assets of the
bank. They must first be satisfied
that they have q value sufficient to
warrant them in assuming the indebt-
edness.
1t was known for some time in bank
ing circles that Mr.. Singerly's banks
were in trouble, and the national bank
examiner, it was said, was aware of
the condition of affairs. Last night a
number of the leading bank officials Of
the city held conference, lasting un-
til nearly o'clock this morning, con-
sidering the matter of raising sufficient
money to relieve Mr.. Singerly's banks
of their distress. 1t is understood that
proposition to float 81, 000, 600 pre-
ferred stock of the Philadelphia Rec
ord had been practically agreed to
Nnen the ulScONeTY WAS UlduC lIldL De-
cause of the involved condition of the
trust company's finances this sum
would not be within several hundred
thousand dollars of the amount re-
quired. Negotiations were, therefore,
declared off, and the banks were forced
to the wall. Now it is hoped that the
committee which began tonight where
the former committee left off will sue
ceed in successfully adjusting the
finances and thus permit the banks to
pay depositors dollar for dollar.
The net earnings Of the Record last
year are said to have been $249, 600
more than sufficient to pay dividends
on a sum sufficient to pay all of Mr..
Singerly'S Indebtedness to the banks.
The statements of the cause of the
failure current here agree with that
made by Comptroller Eckels at Wash
ington to-day that it was primarily
due to the loss Of much money by Mr..
Singerly in his unproductive paper
mill at Elkton, Md, one of the largest
in the country.
One statement placed the sum thus
involved at nearly a million dollars.
Mr.. Singerly also has much money in
vested in other enterprises in this and
other cities. Rumors were current to
the effect that the ownership of the
Record would pass from Mr.. Singerly
but this he denied, stating positively
llloI l4S ~ III dDSOlulG COHtEOl VI the
paper and will continue at its head
On Monday of this week the Chest
nut street National Bank made the
following reports to the Philadelphia
Clearing House: Loans and discounts,
50, ,261, 900; legal reserve, S396, 600; depos-
its, 81, $4,000; due from banks, 1856, 900;
due TO banks, $685., 900; circulation, $43,-
900.
The reserve has been below the le-
gal requirements for several weeks
The deposits on October 5, when the
bank reported to the Comptroller OF
the Treasury, amounted to s2,035, ,s56.
The shrinkage in this item, therefore
has been more than $300,O00 in a little
over two months. 1t is said that there
have heen quiet but steady runs on
both banks for several days past.