The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-08-03
TALES FROM CITY BANKS
MOST OF THEM RELATED AFTER
FINANCIERs HAD DINED WELL.
A Farmer That Was COMPOUNDED by
Discount The Importance of
Thousand-DOIIar Bills.

From the very nature of their business
bankers come in contact with many varied
personalities and participate in countless
incidents that are full OF interest, not in
frequently tinged with humor. Men Of
finance. however. are proverbially staid and
%dignihed. and 1t is with difficulty that they
can be induced To relax sufficiently TO in
dulge in storytelling. There is an old saw
10 the effect that the way TO a mans
heart is through his stomach" and. in har-
mony with this saying, If one approaches
a banker after he has partaken of a COM
Portable meal he may be able 10 hear anec-
dotes that are well worth repeating.
\ local banker that evidently had eaten
we'll and with comfort was found sitting
at his desk recently and. strangely enough.
he was unoccupied at the particular mo-
ment. Il was Il member Of a congenial
group the other day he said, when the
subject somehow changed 10 condolences,
and l recalled a striking one that occurred
to my father. Ii was a good many years
ago, in the days when indianapolis had no
street gas lamps, TO say nothing Of electric
lights. At that time people who went
abroad at night were obliged TO carry Ian
terms. My father was a lawyer, and one
night. in looking ever the papers in a case.
he found it necessary 10 go over on the
west side of town. across the river, and see
one Of the men whose names were men
toned in the papers Accordingly, he took
down a lantern and started out of the
house. l do not remember the name of the
man he was going to see, but We will call
him John Robinson. AS soon as father
stepped out of the gate on to Michigan
street he almost bumped into a stranger.
S~omething-he never could tell what ii was
prompted him TO say TO the stranger: DO
you happen 10 know a man named John
Robinson who lives over on the west side
of the city?' To fathers amazement the
know him very we'll. That's my name
Sure enough. ii was the very man my
father was going 70 see. Now, if father
had been one minute later he would have
had his long trip for nothing"
II remember another singular coinci-
dence," said the same banker, but this
was one that was told me and L could not
vouch for it. although personally L have no
doubt of it's truth. The central figure in
the story was William Coughlen. who used
to be vice president of a local bank. AT
that time Mr.. Coughlen lived near Military
Park, In the vicinity of the old 'crosscut
canal, as we used to call 1.-THE same
canal that runs along one side of the park
10 this day. Mr.. Coughlen was in Boston
on a business trip, and while there he
dreamed one night that the canal had over
flowed its banks and flooded the houses in
pressive that its climax awoke him When
he arrived home he found that on the very
night of his dream the canal had burst its
banks and flooded a number of cellars in the
vicinity"
lone of the best bank stories 1 ever heard
or read" said Chas. L.Farrell, assistant
cashier of the Capital National Bank, was
related by Gov. j. Hoge Tyler, of Vir-
ginia. in an address of welcome made to
the American Bankers Association, in an
nua convention at Richmond, Va, Oct. 2,
1900. AS / remember it, the story went
about like this. Soon after the war. when
banking rates, or discount rates, were
high, an old country friend in one of the
southwest counties, a farmer. went to the
bank to secure a loan of $1,000 for five years.
Oh course, this made the man behind the
grating open his eyes and look at him with
wonder and establishment, and the farmer
was told that they could not make provi-
sion for such a loan as that unless they had
the most satisfactory collateral that could
be obtained.
Collateral the banker answered.
We'll, what is that? the farmer asked.
THE banker went on to describe the
stocks and bonds and securities that are
meant by the term collateral. The old
farmer said, Well, If l had those things l
wouldn't want any money. They are better
than money he said.
Well said the banker. you can't get
the money unless you succeed in getting
some of those collaterals, and then we
might discount your note
well. the farmer succeeded In getting
some collateral and in getting some per-
sonal Endorsements, and also I'm getting his
own name upon the paper and his wife's as
well, and obtained mortgages on everything
he had. He came and dumped his collateral
down on the bankers desk. They were sat
isfactory and the cashier made out his note
for him for $1,000 and told him 10 sign IL,
which the farmer did. After signing the
note he passed ii over. Then the cashier
counted him out s2S7.52. The old farmer
mo. sir said the cashier. that is all
you can get on a note of 81 900 for five years
at our present rate Of discount
Dis WHAT said the farmer.
Discount said the cashier; that is all
you can get
What do you mean?' said the farmer.
why said the cashier, we take off the
discount for the first four months and the
next four months. and so on, and then, at
the end of five years your note will only
az am gIad did not ask you to lend me
that money for ten years CALCULATED the
farmer, or you would have had me in debt
for asking you 10 lend 1T to me-"
XXX
w. w. woollen. of the banking firm of
Woollen. Webb & Co.. which once had its
place of business in a room next TO the
one now occupied by Charles Mayors store,
on West Washington street, was the hero
of an incident that involved considerable
detective acumen. One evening, in an eff
fort TO obtain a trial balance" Mr.. Wool
len found. TO his dismay, that his cash
was short $1,000. Try as he would, he could
not locate the missing amount.
The next daV he instituted a rigid in
quirv among the other persons about the
bank in the vain hope that he might OBJ
tain some clew that would aid him in locat-
up promptly when he heard Of the loss
and said: II noticed Yesterday. when you
were cashing a check for a fellow that
looked like he might be a farmer. that he
counting over his money he chuckled and
nudge his companion and then both of
them chuckled a good deal
With this slender clew Mr.. WoOllen be-
gan his investigation: He went carefully
over the checks he had cashed the pre-
Vious day and came across one that he
believed 10 nave been the one I'm question.
Going 10 the man who drew the check. he
asked for the residence. OF the. payee.
When he secured this information Mr..
Woollen hired a buggy and drove out into
the country several miles to the farmers
place. Arrived at his house, Mr.. Woollen
approached the farmer and said abruptly:
u came after that -Ousand-dOlla bin 7
man turned red and stammered something
about not having any thOusand-dollar bill.
but Mr.. WoOllen pressed him so closely
that he finally put his hand into his trouS-
crs' pocket and drew out the bill.
Another story in which a t-housand-dolar
bill figures prominently involves a citi-