The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-02-03
CHEMICALS CASHIER OUT.
HE MADE UNAUTHoRIzED LOANS
ON DOUBTFUL SECURITIES.

heNS Uou"suVO ON tOHhterht Tnnt Ffenls
dent Williams says u Practically worthless
-silver's Friendship with nauk wreckcrs-
Grnbci's R1ininE and Real Estate Deals
Cashier Quinlnn's Letter or ResiEnauon,
After having loaned for his employers be.
tween 5000, 600, 900 and $500, OOO,O 900 without
a loss, William j. Quinlan. Jr, tho cashier Of
the Chemical Bank. has been taken in and done
for TO the tune Of S303,0O0 His taking in and
doing was by methods as old as the hills. and
one Of the men responsible was an acquaintance
and friend OF Pell and Clnsson and Simmons
and the gang Of bank wrcckers who fourlshed
some seven or eight years ago In tho BUSH
ness of divorcing banks and their money
by methods other than blow " open the safe.
This man himself has been mixed up in the
wreckage of n trust company and the failure OF
q bank. Mr.. Quinlan has resigned from the
Chemical Bank as cashier. and Francis Halpin,
his assistant, has boon appointed to succeed him
temporarily. He has also resigned as trustee.
and w. Emlen Roosevelt, a banker at 80 Wall
street, has been elected to succeed him.
The story OF Mr.. Quinlap's undoing came to
light yesterday when the fact that he had re-
signed his place came to the knowledge Of The
SUN. L. had been known to Mr.. George q.
Williams, the President OF the bank, and the
directors Of the institution since Sunday. On
Sunday afternoon Mr.. Quinlan surprised
President Williams by calling on him al
his house and informing him that he
had been acting foolishly at the bank
and that he had lent a large sum Of money to
two patrons without the Presidents knowledge,
and had accepted rs securities for the loans COLI
lateral that he feared was not as good US he had
supposed 1t was when he accepted IL.
Mr.. Williams was astounded. Mr.. Quinlan
had been employed by the bank thirty.six years
and for years had been its cashier, enjoying the
implicit confidence of every man connected with
the institution. He had the right to mako loans
Of the banks money without consulting Mr..
Williams when the loans were of small amount,
but when they reached any considerable figure
1t was his duty to consult with the President be-
fore he lent the money. Mr.. Quinlan told Presi-
dent Williams that tho two customerso of the bank
to whom he had made the loans we're John S. Sill
yer and Francis G. Grabel. Silver. he said. had
obtained from the bank $3.50. 900. and the bank
held as security for the money stock in q carbon
company, the manufacturing plant of which
was at Railway, N. j., and of which Silver was
President. Grabel had obtained $243, 600 of the
banks cash, and the collateral the bank held as
security was in the shape of stocks and bonds Of
property in the West, including land and gold
mines and town sites.
Mr.. Quinlan explained to the President that
he had not lent this money all at once to either
of the men. but that the loans to Grebel OF.
tended over a period OF some six months and
those to Silver not quite 80 long.
President Williams remembered John s. Sill
yer. He had read things in the paper about him
before, and as an old bank official interested In
the Clearing House he recalled broken banks
that had held silver's paper, backed up by secur-
ities Of various sorts that didn't pan worth q
cent. He was more than ever astounded 40
Mr.. Quinlans having been taken in BY
INV efncRa praaanfaI hu M Giton, NJ,
Quinlan explained to the President that both
Mr.. Silver and Mr.. Grabel had been doing busi.
ness with tho bank for about six years; that
they had each of them borrowed a great deal Of
money from time to time. and that up to about
six months ago each Of them had offered the
very best kind of gilt-edged securities as coli
lateral, and had always repaid the loans when
due.
Mr.. Quinlan said to the President that he had
not in any way benefited by lending the money,
but he said that on one occasion. about a year
ago. six months before any bad collateral was
given for loans. one of the men whom he thought
stock in one OF the Western companies in which
he was interested. 1t was a small block. and
Now Ms; 4Es ~ siam said h hS shd ssis si : t1 i: iSa syIss
done 1t. However. 1T had nothing directly
to tPt,o do with VIZ .ou the ,0f 95sro. he had maSas.
ness for the giver and probably made him more
Vulnerable than he might otherwise have been.
WI Suihihh ooLu VIM, y hopCu LIE I0OTg
regarding the value OF the collateral that he had
taken as security for the loans were not well
ing out all right; but he admitted that 1t was
hardly more than a hope.
~curities in detail. and made up his own mind
that they were not good. At least. he was very
s sny sneh fn amount ns h' on money wSu on aeSer Mae Many ,eo q
them, were securities of which he had mover
9 asnT n t ghff Sim w "a al Z q The n SriysS ct p ,es%; ma &
all Of Mr.. Grabel's companies as described by
Mr. Grabel. He told him that not only
socially, and believed in him and In. bis
Waldorf when in this city, that he believed him
to be wealthy and able to make good all the
had also been very friendly with Mr.. Silver. and
his nformatio about the value Of the stock OF
Prosident indicated that it was almost Kit.
s easrsor sSHiG1T1itIy' w eye Rna Of the SsG Mr. { Williams %as , nSs
2ifter Mr.. .oulnlan had gone Mr.. Williams
and withinsa few hours there was a meeting held
h had s s0'a ' Hen ALSO sss said i'p That 'n he SSsiisved
He told the directors that he did not
believe that Mr.. Quinlen had intended any
wrong; he had simply made some bad loans, and
then instead of reporting them. as he should
have done. had made others to he same parties.
on 'n all n riRSt. hon Honestly silly T b]eiiev i%isf ali m0 the fG%s
that the securities were good.
Al OF the directors agreed with Mr.. Williams
intimated that he would ontertain'a single sus-
picion as to Mr.. 9ninlan,s absolute lbs honesty NJ, : In
man and implicitly trusted by each. They
the President AS to the worthless char
acter OF the collateral he had accented would
turn out wrong. But they agreed further
but little rest, had impaired his Judgment and
DESTROYED his value as cashier of "A bank. They
agreed that he had ovcrworkcd himself In his
thirtysix years OF service. ana that this was ro-
s~ponsible for his fault. Therefore. when the
President suggested that his resignation should
be asked for the suggestion was agreed TO. and
Mr.. Williams notified Mr.. Quinlan that no
wanted his resignation.
Mr.. Quinlan talked with the President about
1t before he wrote 1t out, and insisted on putting
In his letter all about his fault, even to the 40
ceptance of stock In a company from one Of the
men. Here Is the resignation:
"SEw YORK. Jan. 81, 1898.
" To The Directors Of the Chemical National Bank.