The Savannah morning news., 1903-10-29
CLAMOR FOR MONEY
KEPT FORCES OF ST. LOUIS BANK
ING CONCERNS BUSY.
MANY WANTED TO WITHDRAW
THE SAVINGS THAT THEY HAD
PLACED ON DEPOSIT.

Trust Companies Took Advantage of
the Time Limit Clause and De-
manded Notice of withdrawn.
Aid Was offered from Other Cities.
but Observation-Disclosures Think the
Unnecessary Panic Has Been Re-
1ieVed-Greater Confidence shown.
st. Louis. Oct. 2S.-The statement of
President Julius S. Walsh of the Mis-
sissippi Valley Trust Company, whose
sentiments are echoed by other trust
company officials of ST. Louis, that 1.-THE
situation is thoroughly in hand, the ex-
citment has subsidized and from this on
we expect business will be conducted
in the usual orderly manner" expresses
the opinion that prevailed tonight aft
er the unwonted finacial conditions
which prevailed here part of yesterday
and to-day.
Officials of all the trust companies
state that voluntary offers of help were
received from financial institutions in
New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, New
Orleans, Kansas City, Boston and
many of the smaller towns of Missouri
and Illinois. but were all declined for
the reason that they had sufficient cash
with which to handle their business.
Expressions of confidence and offers of
aid on the part of national banks,
financial and other institutions of st.
Louis have helped to stregthen the sit
uation and restore confidence.
Long before 10 o'clock. the hour of
nm inn nf g
away from the closed doors of the Mis-
sissippi Valley Trust Company, the
Lincoln Trust Company, the Mercantile
Trust Company, and the Missouri
Trust Company. Small crowds were
assembled before the doors of some OF
the other savings institutions also. 1t
was observed that most of those in line
were working people and many OF
them women. whose savings were not
heavy.
Owing to the action taken last night
by the officials of the eight trust COM
panies doing business in St. Louis. re-
curing thirty and sixty day notices OF
intention to withdraw funds, depositors
were not able to get any money. All
they could do was to declare their In
tention of withdrawing their deposits
at the expiration of the time limit.
Surged Into the Building.
The greatest crush was before the
doors of the Mercantile Trust Company
on Eighth and Locust streets. AT
o'clock the doors were opened and the
crowd surged in with a force that
swept aside the lines of police and bank
employees formed to preserve a regular
line to the windows of the paying tell
ers.
The policemen were unable to handle
the crowds and Festus j. Wade, presi-
dent of the Mercantile Trust Company,
mounted a chair and made statement
that unless the .depositors formed in
line they would all be elected from the
building. He explained that it was I'M
possible to wait on them If they insist
ed on crowding in such a manner. This
announcement had the desired effect,
and some semblance of order was re-
stored.
BY 10 o'clock the crowd around the
trust company's building had increased
to such an extent that the police were
totally unable to control 1t, and the OFF,
GERS stationed at the doors were swept
away from their stations almost as
rapidly as they could regain them.
Women, who constituted a large per-
centage of the crowd, were crushed In
the jam, and in the struggle their
dresses were torn and their hats knock
ed off.
The policemen, in trying 10 hanole
the crowd, pushed many Of them into
the gutter, and in several instances
personal fights were averted only by
the interposition of cooler persons.
Shortly after the doors of the Mer-
camille Trust Company were opened the
streets were crowded for a distance OF
several hundred feet. and all efforts to
keep them clear were practically aban-
doned, while the police directed their
efforts chiefly toward maintaining
some degree of order at the doors.
Began to Grow Easy i'm Mind.
At o'clock in the afternoon the un-
easiness of small depositors in the trust
companies seemed to have been remov-
ed At this hour there were only a
few depositors withdrawing daily bal
ance accounts or giving notice of
withdrawal of saving deposits at the
Mercantile and the Mississippi Valley
companies. Many persons who with
drew money yesterday deposited it
again to-day and in some instances
new savings accounts were opened.
officers Of the different institutions
made reassuring speeches to the depos-
itors before their doors, and this help
ed to send others away. The arrival OF
several boxes of gold and silver in ex-
press wagons, guarded by armed OFF,
GERS, seemed to restore a degree Of
confidence in the crowd before the
Mercantile Trust Company building.
At the other trust companies the
Withdrawals were but little in excess
of the normal. One effect of the
Withdrawals was observed at the
City Hall in the great increase in the
payment of taxes