The evening times., 1901-05-17


CnavoidabIe-A Statement Pronais-
Csi-The Liabilities About 100000
The brokerage firm Of GurIey ( John
son. 1888 and 1925 + Street. this morning
suspended business, Their doors We're
locked when The usual hour for opening
arrived, and W b GurIey, the senior
member of the firm, who stood in the
street in front of their Offices. informed
all customers and friends that no business
was being transacted pending an enquiry
into the condition of the firms affairs and
an effort to adjust matters in New York
No statement of any kind was issued by
the firm or by their counsel, Worthing-
ton. HeaId & Frailey. No assignment was
made during the morning but it Is under
stood that the firm has little hope Of
averting bankruptcy
Gurley 6 johnson have done an in
nlense business in stocks during the past
winter and spring 1t is understood that
they held 1900 shares or more Of stocks
when the great break came in prices last
Thursday What the extent Of their
losses has been. however. and what con-
dition the firm is in at the present time
no one connected with the house could or
would say today.
hr- WOrthingtOn stated that some an
nouncemeut Will be made as soon as pos
sibIe, probably tomorrow, but would not
venture any surmise as TO what it VIII
contain. 1t is understood however, that
the margins on accounts with the firm
before and during the break IN the mar
l1et on last Thursday were in the neigh
borhood Of $5p5O01. and that the liabilities
on the open accounts are Probably as
much as S200.e0o at least. the remainder
representing losses of customers in the
arflet- The suspension is the greatest
tat ever occurred IN the brokerage bust
IS In Washington
The difficulties of the firm were brought
5out by the panic Of last week. The
ory Of the matter told by friends is that
" of their customers had sufficient mar
rs up on their accounts to carry their
oclzs below the level OF prices reached
IN the panic The market broke from 10
10 CO points in a few minutes on Thursday
morning, and the margins sufficient to
have carried 5000 shares Of stocks would
have been considerably more than S555,COo-
It is said that some customers had only
points margin and others not more than
10 points
= call is understood to have been made
on the firm by its New York correspond
ents, Cooper, Cramp & Beadleston, when
the break in prices began. This call is
said, BY some, to have been for $4,000
and it is understood that it was responded
TO at once Later in the day it is said
another call for $4,000 was made and the
firm was unable to respond immediately
Cooper, Cramp & BeadIeston then insisted
that all, or nearly all, the stock carried
by Gurley < Johnson on margin, be sold
out. The prices obtained were IN many
cases near the worst level Of the day,
making the losses for the firm exceeding
iy heavy.
\ large part Of the customers Of the
firm were ruined in the break even had it
been able to continue IL business It is
said that half at least Of those doing
business with them IN New York stocks
lost everything they had Many Of these
people il addition owe large SUMS to the
firm after the break because their mar
gins were exhausted long before the
stocks could be sold out. In many cases
these amounts de have not been paid up
and this has prevented any readjustment
that might have been possible otherwise.
Mr. johnson, who has entire charge OF
the New York Stock Market end Of the
firms busines- has been endeavoring To
make some kind of an arrangement since
Thursday TO continue in business The
auectIon with Cooper. Cramp & Bead
ton was severed Immediately. but the
-cumstances Of this matter have not
en- disclosed as yet Mr. Johnson then
ranged with the firm Of Shaw &. Co 10
act as correspondents It is supposed that
the firm found itself 50 heavily involved
however, that a suspension was consider
ed absolutely necessary
Il is also said By friends Of the firm
that they are not satisfied with the course
Of Cooper, Cramp & Beadleston in the
matter ard that the settlement with that
firm could not be made as quickly as was
at first hoped by Mr.. Johnson
Yesterday morning soon a0er the open
ing OF the market session at 70 o'clock
there was hitch Of so-ss Lind aEd the
firm did not after that hour execute any
further stock orders for customers. This.
however, did not cause any comment, as
the business Of the firm since the break
last Thursday has been exceedingly lin
tied Mr. Johnson did not intimate yes
terday that the firm must fail 1t is even
Eaid that Mr.. Gurley. senior member Of
the house, did not know Of the serious
condition Of affairs until yesterday after
noon
It is understood that an effort was
alade yesterday afternoon TO raise a large
I'LL