The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-11-15
Failure Due to Endorsing Paper for
the Stott Mills, for Which
the Firm Was Agent.
COINCIDENCE IN DEATHS
Ex-MAYOR STRONG AND MIR. STOTT
DIED ONLY THREE DAYS APART.
Branch House ira Philadelphia, and
Attachments Issued i'm Behalf
of Heavy Creditors.

NEW YORK, Nov. H-Edward A.
Treat has been appointed receiver for The
great wholesale dry goods firm of w. l..
Strong & Co. William l.. Strong died last
week. and f. III. Stott, of Stottsville, N
Y, former partner, died some time ago.
Receiver Treat made the following state
ment: mo one can tell whether or not the
firm is solvent The books must be gone
over and days will be required for that
work Just as soon as 1 can / will issue
statement of the firms affairs
The appointment of a receiver for the
firm has been discussed with great inter-
est in mercantile circles here to-day, in
view of the fact that the firms affairs are
in much worse condition than those who
knew the late ex-Mayor Strong were
aware of. The al-Advertiser to-day
prints the following: "A banker who has had
business with the firm is quoted as saying,
to-day, that it had been well known in the
street that the ex-mayor was not by any
means rich as was generally supposed.
He was not millionaire and he was not
very wealthy. Lately he and Mr.. Stott had
been presenting their notes in sizes all the
way from $4,000 to 100000, so that the
leading banks became cautious, and then
many of us refused to discount their stock.
The dead members of the firm had been
doing what We call swapping paper Mr..
Strong indorsed Mr.. Stott's notes and Mr..
Stott Endorsed Mr.. Strongs. 1t was an ac-
commodation paper and served to show
that the firm was in growing difficulties
The cause of thesstrong failure was made
public to-day by Butler, hoffman, JOHN &
Mynders. counsel for the firm in the action
for the receivership. Counsel said the
Strong firm had Endorsed more than $500, 900
In notes for the Stott wooden mill, for
which the firm was agent, and that the odd
circumstances of the sudden death of
former Mayor Strong and of +. III. Stott.
heads of the two concerns, within three
days of each other, had brought about
crisis by dissolving both firms at a moment
when large sums were due. The Stott mills
are located in Stottville, N. Y. One note in
dorsed for the Stott Company for 100000 is
due tomorrow. Other notes for nearly half
a million are due soon. The Stott Company,
in which the Strong Company is largely in
terested counsel said to-day, had Endorsed
notes of the Strong Company in return, but
for an insignificant amount, probably less
than 100000 in all.
IF either Mr.. Strong or Mr.. Stott had
lived. the difficulty might have been settled
without public embarrassment" said the
representative of the counsel. I'VE cannot
say what action will be taken in regard to
winding up the business of the Stott Com
pany, but 1t is the debts of that concern
rather than those of Strong & Co., that
have brought about the present condition"
The Stott partnership dissolved the same
as that of Strong & Co.
Receiver Treat. when asked about the
Philadelphia dispatch to the effect that the
liabilities Of the house of w. l.. Strong d
Co. might amount to s6;00O0O0, said that
reports OF this kind were all guesswork
He said the liabilities might not be one
half that, perhaps not one-quarter.