The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1900-11-02
RUINED BY HIS FRIEND.
Downfall of the Old Banking
House of Hatch & Footc.
SENIOR MEMBERS TOUCHING STORY

Torture Ira the Constant Struggle
to Keep His Deceit From the Man
Who Trusted Him.
Daniel b. Hatch's account of how his
partner, Charles b. Foote, caused his
ruin, as dictated to the New York
World, In of interest on account of the
recent failure of the firm of Hatch 4
Foote. bankers and brokers in Wall
street. Mr.. Hatch's statement is as
follows.
Yes; Charlie Foote has ruined me;
but, worse than that. he has ruined
himself. He has killed himself trying
to keep back the truth. 1t vas not his
nature to deceive. He was born to be
honest and upright in all things. He
was truer to his friends than he was to
himself. He meant me no harm when,
five years ago. he placed dummy &C.
counts OH the books and began specu-
lating with the firms money without
so much as telling me he was operat-
ing in stocks. He must have been in
! sane then, as he Is now. He was in
sane, | know, or he could never have
done it.
ut was easy for Charlie to deceive
me about accounts. ! was the Stock
Exchange member of the firm. My
business was on the floor; his work
was In the office. There he attended
to the accounts of the customers and
transacted all office business. The
books were solely under his care. We
had such implicit confidence In each
other that such a thing as looking into
his accounts or his looking into mine
was u%nthought of in all the 30 years
we have been associated. We loved
each other too much to doubt the other
even in matters of Judgment.
''How easy 1t Is now to see why he
would not stay at home. He had be-
gun to deceive. and he must keep UP
the deceit. One day away from his
desk might have meant the keeping Of
the accounts by some II of the clerks,
and then might come exposure. He
was eating his heart out all those days.
I don't think he minded exposure for
himself as much as he minded my find
iuE tint bIy otb tlt1bp - pAf aASSt
was false. This only proves to me
that he was truer to me than be was
to himself.
'They say he Is dying OF paralysis,
madness and apoplexy. He Is dying
of a broken heart. 1t Is the worst sort
of death. Those days when he sat suf-
fering at his desk. deceiying me and
eating his heart out. he was wrecking
his brain. No honest map-and he
meant to be honest IL eyer q man did
could retain his senses and suffer as he
did. Think of the strain he has under
gone all these months and years. Then
the final break am That was three
weeks ago, Madness developed In
spite If his determination to overcome
physical and mental Ills In his efforts
to continue to deceive me. He went
to his home. wrecked physically, as
thought. from his constant attention to
business.
"Following the illness OF Charlie and
the confinement at his home came just
what he had battled against for all this
long time, a clerk was put on the
books to get them straight and the dis
cOyery was made that there was a
dummy In ope Of the accounts, Then
came the discovery that there We're
me 50 suddenly that | could not believe
1t. Seeing IL believing, however.
worked on the books and the truth
daWned, The shortage began piling
pp, 1t reached more than 100000 by
Saturday last lSept. l5l and the work
was not completed, then Interview,
I'd Mr., u. Ellery Anderson and notified
him that was going to assign,
" don't know whether was angry
or shocked beyond feeling when
started for Oceanic, the homo Of Char,
lie, SATURDAY, Sept, Is. When saw
him lying there dying and mad, any
feeling Of resentment may have had
gave way 10 q feeling of pity. He
didn't know anything most Of the time
sat by his bed, Once he regained
his sepsibilities and recognized me, He
asked after my family and after the
men In the office, The last question
seemed 10 recall to him that he could
not be at the office and that exposure
might result from his absence, His
senses were gone at once, and he was
again q mailman, didn't tell him
anything, eouldn't, He was mad
too quickly after the lucid iateryal In
the first place, and In the second | did
not have the heart, When left him, |
knew he would never live to realize that
exposure had come, and /, II death had
to come sopnr was glad thar he could
die IN Ignorance, He has been NJ
happy enough In life, Why carry bis
suffering ~ gaRthG He Is happier IN
madness thaR he would be In bis
sfnses,H
Haw VIII Russians Take ~